The developer of the proposed Belmont Hills site at the corner of Windy Hill and Atlanta roads has made a move toward getting the project off the ground. Earlier this month Halpern Enterprises filed a zoning change request with the city that will be reviewed at the Sept. 10 meeting of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.
Steve West, Halpern’s vice president of development, outlined what comes next.
“We requested to change the layout of some of the stuff that’s on our previous zoning plans,” he said “That requires going back through the zoning process again so we’ve submitted to do that. On top of that there’s market studies and site studies that have to be looked and reviewed before we can move forward with anything.”
Halpern is proposing moving the site’s multifamily component to the back side of the site between the new elementary school being built at the back of the lot and Windy Hill Road.
“If you looked at our old plans the site was developed into a number of pods—smaller development sites,” he said. “We had the multifamily component of that on Pod C. What we’re basically doing is taking that multifamily component and moving it back to Pod F, which didn’t have anything shown on it at the time.”
The Belmont Hills project has been in the works for several years. In 2008, the city approved a development agreement with Halpern Enterprises for a $250 million mixed-use redevelopment of the former Belmont Hills shopping center at the corner of Atlanta and Windy Hill Roads. West said the project was put on hold while developers waited to see what impact the economic downturn would have on the changing real estate market.
The Planning and Zoning Board will review the plans at the next meeting. If the body reaches a consensus its recommendation will go before the Smyrna City Council the following month.
See Also:
* In order to be feasible, Steve says it's necessary to make these apartments high-end luxury units at the top of the rental market for the area. They will have all modern features expected including high ceilings, luxury features, and other amenities people expect when they are paying top-dollar rents. Comparables for the kind of quality will be units like the Highlands of West Village though he did warn that each community is unique. Exact details of the units are TBD. * The buildings will be between 3-4 floors. * The front of the pod F buildings will be incorporated into the walkable community by providing select ground-level units sidewalk-level access similar to townhomes. * However, the buildings' indoor cooridors will be inaccessible except for tenants and parking area for pod F will be secured and gated to help keep it as a top-notch apartment community. * There will be some single-car garages in the apartment's parking lot available for rent, as shown on the diagram, along with a couple carriage houses per every block of garages, similar to townhomes. (I forget the exact terminology) In my opinion, this is a walkable, urban development and a new page for the city of Smyrna. It'll be quite a gateway to the city, and I'm very excited.
The Kroger shopping center is not having luck leasing storefronts. Market Village is continuing to struggle. Jonquil Village is sitting vacant with no news. Who is going to finance Halpern? Who is going to rent a store from Halpern? He's rezoning to unload property.
State guidelines require an alcohol-serving business to be at least 300 feet away from a school, Cobb County code requires businesses wishing to serve alcohol within 600 feet of a school to be approved by the License Review Board. I believe that it took Marietta Pizza Company 3 years to get a license for their West Cobb location - which is near a daycare center. The new elementary school is a market condition in itself.
You bring up a great point. That same thought occurred to me this weekend and I'm in the process of getting more information about what this means for the development. Thanks for your comment! Sydney Busby
I never got an answer about liquor and the new RaceTrac on Spring Rd. It's just across the street from a church. And close to a school. No one brought up the 300 or 600 ft. requirement.
Could this happen? If so, how? Would it be worth it? Any other ideas to connect the city other than the normal public transportation methods? We need something unique that brings people to Smyrna. What makes Smyrna stand out? Why would someone move here? I know there are negatives to every city but what are the positives of Smyrna that give a positive living experience? Also, you know how communities adopt highways? Why not adopt shopping malls/business communities and work with the property owners and shopping mall businesses to provide volunteer help where it is needed (i.e. clearnup surrounding areas, repaint parking spot lines, landscaping)? Would the city/business help fund and provide resources for this effort?
http://www.100urbanentrepreneurs.org/our-funding/adopt-a-business-overview/