Politics & Government

Branch Capital Will Appeal Jonquil Village Denial

A judge will decide whether or not the current zoning of the 11 acre site called the "Gateway to Smyrna" is unconstitutional.

The developers behind a planned $40 million mixed-use development near the heart of downtown Smyrna plan to appeal the city council's recent denial of their amended site plan.

Branch Capital Partners was refused permission to alter development plans currently on file for the 11 acre site of Jonquil Village at the intersection of Atlanta and Concord roads by a 4-3 vote of the Smyrna City Council on Dec. 2. Now, the developers will take the city to court to get the project started again.

Branch Capital's lawyer Garvis Sams told the Marietta Daily Journal that the developers' appeal is based on the position that the denial violated constitutional rights.

The City of Smyrna will have 30 days to respond to Branch's appeal, then the matter will be decided by a Cobb County judge. The judge will rule on the constitutionality of the zoning of the Jonquil Village site itself, but will not be making a sweeping change to the city's zoning laws.

The original 2007 plan for Jonquil Village was a $185 million development with a Publix as an anchor retail store, 160,000 sq. ft. of retail space, 30,000 sq. ft. of office space, and underground parking.

2008's economic downturn killed this iteration of Jonquil Village just as work was getting under way, and the site has lain mostly undeveloped since then.

Branch's new plans for Jonquil Village called for a $40 million project containing 24,500 sq. ft. of retail space and 288 high-end condominiums with a projected monthly rent of $1,200.

Sams says that the 2007 plan imposes an unconstitutional "significant economic detriment" upon both Branch Capital and the property's principal owners Todd and Cheri Maxwell.

However, dozens of residents crammed Smyrna City Hall the night of Dec. 2, mostly to speak out against the new proposal and its expanded apartment presence. Many speakers did not see the merit of more apartments when the city had just spent millions of dollars buying and tearing down other apartment complexes in the city.

Sams told the MDJ that he believes that many people who spoke out against the Jonquil Village apartments did not differentiate between the dilapidated, low-rent apartment complexes the city bought and tore down with the proposed high-rent family units geared towards young professionals making six-figure salaries.

Jesse Shannon, Branch's Director of Acquisitions said during the meeting that grocers or big-box retailers did not see an economic benefit to opening a store in Jonquil Village, and stressed that the area needed high-density, high income housing to serve as a foundation to build a strong retail presence.


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