DUNWOODY MARKET REPORT
INDUSTRY FOCUS • APRIL 17-23, 2015 • SECTION B
The Mercedes effect
PHOTO ILLUSTR ATION BY JAMES C. WAT TS
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A CLOSER LOOK
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legitimacy of the market, Alan Shaw,
a partner with The Shopping Center
Group, said.
“There are other large employers in the
market like Cox, UPS and IBM, as well
as State Farm, that recently announced
it was coming to the market, and now
Mercedes-Benz,” he added. “I think this
is just the beginning of a large-scale
development cycle for the market.”
Shaw thinks the Perimeter market is
developing into an urban-like market,
thanks in part to development all around
Atlanta, including downtown, Midtown,
Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, Buckhead,
Roswell and Alpharetta. He also credits the accessibility to Dunwoody via
I-285 and Georgia 400, as well as three
MARTA stations and Perimeter Mall,
nearby retail and Atlanta’s largest office
corridor — there are so many positive things
happening, he said.
While in discussions with Mercedes,
Davis said the company had some criteria
in mind including being in a tier 1 city in
the South and in the Eastern Time Zone
to better communicate in Europe.
Mercedes told Davis that the Atlanta
market was one of the top two or three
markets for its cars, and since it built cars
in Alabama and trucks in South Carolina,
it made sense to have a headquarters
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unwoody is a getting a
boost of luxury after Mercedes-Benz USA said it
would temporarily move
into Sterling Pointe while it
waits for its 250,000-square-foot headquarters to be built nearby in Sandy
Springs.
The Daimler AG car brand will be in
Dunwoody for about three years, but city
officials and real estate experts say that
is enough time for Mercedes’ presence to
“rub off” onto the area in terms of prestige and possibly the attraction of other
companies.
Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis considers this good news for the entire area.
“The real key here is the brand,
Mercedes-Benz, coming into the Perimeter area, telling the entire corporate
relocation market worldwide that this is
the place to be,” he said. “A lot of companies are coming into the area — great, big
names, but the Mercedes-Benz name is a
step above all the rest.”
The combination of good weather,
taxes, economy and location is why he
calls the Perimeter area “the economic
engine of all of Atlanta.”
From a real estate perspective, the
move to the Central Perimeter market
by Mercedes-Benz simply reinforces the
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TEMPORARY MERCEDESBENZ HQ MAY BRING DUNWOODY PERMANENT PRESTIGE
R 8.1 million square feet of office space
R 1,500 hotel rooms
R 5.7 percent retail vacancy rate
R Number of jobs within 3-mile radius:
132,000
SOURCE: CITY OF DUNWOODY
somewhere in between, he added.
When Mercedes began considerations
of relocating, they decided on the central Perimeter area, some based on what’s
happening in the market, and the bright
future of the entire corridor, Shaw said.
“There’s a solid transportation network with plans for improvement, both
north/south and east/west connectivity,
a worker pool, affordable housing, good
public and private schools, restaurants,
hotels, shopping and access to medical
care,” he added. “It just makes the area
so conducive to live, work and play.”
As a result of Mercedes’ move to
Dunwoody, the area has the potential to
gain additional notoriety.
Atlanta has always had the foundational elements of an attractive
environment for corporate entities like
Mercedes-Benz, said Rob Metcalf, senior
managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle
(JLL).
In addition, having Fortune 500 companies like United Parcel Service Inc.
and Newell Rubbermaid Inc. in the area
continues to put a stamp of approval on
the area, he said.
He agrees that cost of living and doing
business as well as amenities like the
airport, mean great quality of life. In addition, the economy has offered up opportunity for corporations to make moves
like this one again, he added.
“Some people said maybe Atlanta has
lost its mojo, but I don’t believe that,”
Metcalf said. “Others like State Farm and
Mercedes-Benz choosing to relocate here
significantly reconfirms what has always
been here.”
Shaw has seen this effect on other
areas as well, including Cumberland Mall market, where The Shopping
Center Group’s Atlanta offices are located.
When it moved there in 1984, there were
some office complexes and Cumberland
Mall, and not much else. Then additional
office space was developed, followed by
retail, restaurants and eventually SunTrust Park , the
new home of the
Atlanta Braves ,
currently under
construction.
Davis has been
talking up the Mercedes-Benz news,
and every speech
he has given over
Alan
the past five months
Shaw
has included Mercedes-Benz at one point, he said.
As more companies become aware of
Dunwoody, it could lead to other wins for
the city, including new retailers and real
estate development.
Most retailers in the Perimeter enjoy
sales above the national average in terms
of revenue, and there are other retailers and restaurants looking to get in on
the action, Shaw said. Mixed-use developments, with office and multifamily
residents, are also being worked on.
“With all of the positive momentum
and optimistic outlook,” Shaw said, “I
expect that other large and small companies will stop and take a look at the
Dunwoody market.”
REAL ESTATE
HOSPITALITY
RETAIL
Georgetown
adding homes
Treetop
Quest opens
Mixed-use development
adds single-family,
townhouses.
Attraction’s location
in Dunwoody is just
second in U.S.
Perimeter
Mall set for
expansion
RANDY SOUTHERLAND, 4B
KAREN COHEN, 10B
Renovations will include
new restaurant.
JANET JONES KENDALL, 4B
2B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
APRIL 17-23, 2015
MARKET REPORT
Office market tight throughout Perimeter
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USA leased around 90,000 square feet
at Sterling Pointe, a mid-rise office project in Dunwoody, where it will house
its headquarters pending completion of
facilities on a new, 12-acre headquarters
campus at Georgia 400 and Abernathy
Road in Sandy Springs.
Central Perimeter is not a bad place to
be these days, especially for an office
landlord.
After a stretch
of hard times,
landlords here are
enjoying office
market dynamics
that have finally
shifted back in David
their favor, said Tennery
Bob Voyles, principal and CEO of Seven Oaks Co.
Following the recessionary years of
2008-2009, “It’s been a tough six years
for landlords our market,” said Voyles.
“It took a long time to bounce back.
The slowness of the Atlanta economy to
recover contributed to vacancy that has
taken a long time to fill.”
It’s another story for tenants, though.
“For space users, there are limited
blocks of space from which to choose,
and for those desiring class A space, the
choices are even slimmer,” said David
Tennery, managing director of office
investor services and director of agency
leasing at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).
Many of the class A “trophy buildings” in this market are less than 6 percent vacant, according to Tennery. “The
larger class A projects have recorded rate
increases of 20 to 25 percent, or more,
over the past six to eight quarters.”
This kind of
market makes a
tenant rep’s job a
lot more challenging, according to
David Rubenstein,
principal at Cresa
Atlanta. “From the
time we start lookDavid
ing at space [in
Central PerimeRubenstein
ter] for a client, to
the point when we get to negotiating for
the space, we often find that the rent has
escalated 25 cents to 50 cents per square
foot in just a matter of a few weeks,” he
said.
Managing client expectations in
today’s market can be tough. “If the last
time they were in the market looking for
space was five years ago and they go back
in now, they tend to get hit with sticker
shock,” Rubenstein said. “We need to
make sure they understand the current
environment, so that they know what to
expect when they get out in the market.”
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Thanks at least in part to a couple of
major corporate “transients,” the supply
of available office space has decreased
dramatically over the past couple of years
in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket,
resulting in a rapid increase in rental rates
as businesses scramble to snap up decentsized blocks of space in which to expand
or relocate.
Spanning Dunwoody and neighboring
Sandy Springs, this 29 million-squarefoot submarket ended 2014 at the 13.6
percent vacancy level, according to statistics from Colliers Atlanta. This figure is
down from 16.5 percent at the end of
2013, and the best among all metro-area
submarkets except Buckhead, which rang
up a 13.4 percent rate at the end of last
year.
The available space squeeze is
especially apparent in the high-priced
end of the market. After ending 2013
at 12.2 percent, the vacancy rate in
Central Perimeter’s 20.2 million-squarefoot class A office segment was 10.2 percent at the end of 2014, lower than any
other major Atlanta submarket.
Dwindling availability has been
accompanied by a surge in rental rates.
Scott Amoson, vice president and
director of research for Colliers Atlanta,
reports full-service rental rate quotes by
Central Perimeter landlords, averaging a
little over $22 per square foot overall at
the end of 2014, have gone up 6 percent
over the past year, compared with a metro
Atlanta average of 3.8 percent.
In the class A sector, Central Perimeter rates, which ended 2014 averaging
$25.78, have risen 9 percent during the
past year, according to Amoson, and 16
percent over the past two years compared
with metro rates of 5.8 percent and 5.7
percent, respectively.
The tightening of this market is the
result of elements including a recovering economy; Central Perimeter’s wellearned popularity as a prime venue for
office-based businesses, based upon its
advanced transportation infrastructure,
including interstate highways and three
MARTA rail stations, a plethora of business-friendly amenities, and its location
in the heart of the Atlanta region.
Major corporate relocations have also
contributed to the space squeeze. Beginning in 2012, insurance giant State Farm
spent two years leasing 1.5 million-squarefeet of Central Perimeter space, which it
is now occupying as it awaits completion
of the 600,000-square-foot first phase
of a 2 million-square-foot-plus regional
hub campus at 17-acre Dunwoody Park
Center in 2016.
Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz
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BY MARTIN SINDERMAN
Contributing Writer
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Dunwoody’s housing market was robust
before Mercedes-Benz USA and State
Farm announced plans to relocate their
headquarters to the area, but with the
addition of two more corporate giants,
the city’s housing market is expected to
become even more vigorous.
Dunwoody is already home to nearly
40,000 residents and as more people are
expected to move to the city inventories
are becoming tight.
Carol T. Grantham, a Realtor with
Atlanta Communities Real Estate
Brokerage, said homes in Dunwoody are
flying off the shelf.
“The lack of inventory is becoming a
situation of searching constantly for new
listings, often having multiple offers in a
matter of a couple of days,” she said.
In 2014 nearly 570 homes were sold in
less than 90 days on market. In 2015 thus
far, 157 homes have closed after 46 days
on market, Grantham said.
“As of today, we have a 3.5-month
inventory of homes actively listed for
sale,” Grantham said. “Residents who
may have hesitated in years past are taking advantage of these new opportunities.
Demand for homes in the area is at an all
time high and prices are very strong. It
is an opportune time for owners to revisit
thoughts about selling.”
And as new money enters the city and
inventories tighten more homes are being
torn down to allow for a new build.
Lauren Zgutowicz, a Realtor with
Beacham & Company, Realtors, said buyers that want open floor plans, kitchens
open to the family room, outdoor entertaining space with fire pits and kitchens,
high ceilings, and
large master closets
gravitate towards
newer construction
as opposed to some
of the more traditional Dunwoody
floor plans.
“We are seeing
builders purchase Carol
lots or tear-downs Grantham
in Dunwoody and
putting up new construction or doing
full home renovations after taking a home
down to the studs,” Zgutowicz said. “There
is a strong demand for new or newer
construction in Dunwoody.”
Bonneau Ansley III, president of
Ansley Atlanta, said now is the time to
build in Dunwoody.
“Builders are starting to build again,
and banks have begun to lend again to
builders, and if you are priced within the
market, sell immediately,” Ansley said.
“People always like new homes, and with
the shortage of new homes, it is a great
time to build.”
©
BY PHIL W. HUDSON
[email protected]
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Dunwoody’s housing market robust
Ansley said there has been a slow,
steady increase in home prices since 2012.
“(There are) definitely some variations
in it, but right now we’re up about 5 percent in sold prices this quarter over this
quarter last year but up about 31 percent
from two years ago this quarter,” he said.
“Last June, we peaked in sold pricing and
have leveled out
some since.”
Ansley added
that another bright
spot in the market
is pending sales.
“In February, we
were up 65 percent
over February last
Bonneau
year,” he said.
Grantham said
Ansley III
sales prices on
resale homes have increased 15 percent
over last year.
“In 2014, the average resale price was
$450,000 after being on the market an
average of 90 days,” she said “Thus far in
2015, the average resale price is approximately $475,000 after 46 days.”
Additionally, Grantham said the average sale price on a new construction
home during 2014 was $775,000.
“The 2015 average list price for new
homes listed in the Dunwoody area is
$1,010,000, and increase of 35 percent,”
she said. “Sales turn over quickly in the
new construction arena. Current new
construction listings in the area range
from $675,000 to $1,850,000.”
But not all the activity is in the single family market, rentals are also picking up steam.
Grantham said rentals are available
in Dunwoody, but they’re leased very
quickly. “Homes can be leased at monthly
rates between $2,000 and $3,800 while
townhomes can be found for $1,500 to
$1,800 per month,” she said. “There are
occasions when an executive moves into
the community for a shorter duration and
wants to lease a home.”
Zgutowicz says rentals have been in
high demand, just like home purchases.
“The rental market doesn’t seem to be
tied to a certain demographic either,” she
said. “I’ve had clients with various backgrounds and needs express interest in the
Dunwoody rental market.”
Zgutowicz said several of her clients
are medical professionals working at or
near “pill hill” who want a rental for a
year or so prior to purchasing a home,
parents who want to leverage Dunwoody’s schools, professionals working at one
of Dunwoody’s businesses who want to
rent to avoid a long commute.
There are rental options, but Ansley
said single-family home rental inventory
is tight.
“Right now the rental rates for these
are mostly between $1,000 and $3,000,”
he said.
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With 6 million square feet of Class A office
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space, lower tax rates than surrounding
areas, and award-winning sustainability
efforts, Dunwoody gives you a real
business advantage.
©201
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o
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Add to this a forward-thinking city
with an efficient government, strong
economic growth, a central market
location, and you’ve made a brilliant move.
4B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
APRIL 17-23, 2015
MARKET REPORT
Georgetown adding residential units
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Karen
Cannon
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The new homes, which are now starting to be built, sit on the edge of three
parks which will be connected by a multi-use trail.
The city is spending $4 million on the
new parks and the multi-use trail that
will connect them to surrounding neighborhoods. The trail system will also connect the surrounding neighborhoods and
eventually make access to proposed commercial and retail in the area easier.
Homes here are selling as fast as they
can built, reflecting an upsurge in the residential real estate market.
“I do know that (residential real estate
is) extremely strong and you’ve got three
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Dunwoody’s economic development
director. “We had enough apartments
in this area and what we really wanted
was single family. So the city bought that
16 acres to protect it from becoming an
apartment community and very soon the
old Emory hospital property came on the
market and we also bought it.”
These 35 acres are in the heart of a
commercial area that is now getting an
increasing amount of attention and inquiries from developers. John Wieland’s JW
Collection was selected to purchase part
of the property for single-family and
townhome sites. Plans call for more than
100 homes to be built in two phases.
rci
SPECIAL
major drivers,”
said John Wieland,
president of JW
Collection. “First of
all is the large number of new jobs in
Central Perimeter. Second thing is
good schools. And,
the third thing it’s
absolute nightmare to drive fur-
ther out.”
With companies such as State
Farm, Cox Communications and Mercedes-Benz USA bringing large numbers of jobs to the Central Perimeter area,
the demand for housing that is close to
work, but offers convenient access to the
rest of the metro area is growing. In addition, Dunwoody has a shortage of available land that can be used for either commercial or residential.
“Dunwoody is certainly an older community — meaning of older homes,”
Karen Cannon, owner of Karen Cannon
Realtors. “There’s not a ton of new construction, so these kinds of opportunities
for people who want move in ready and
quick access to the things for their life
style, is very popular.”
Most new single-family homes are in
the $500,000 to $600,000 price range
with townhomes going for $300,000 to
$400,000, she said.
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An area of Dunwoody once best known
for a hospital, medical office and an abandoned subdivision known as the “pipe
farm,” is rapidly being transformed into
a live/work/play development for the
area’s hot real estate market.
The area is a good example of the
approach to residential that is taking hold
in Central Perimeter. The city of Dunwoody has recruited developers to construct a series of single-family and townhome developments around new parks
in the Georgetown area on the southern
edge of the city. Land has been set aside
for retail development that is expected to
include restaurants and shops to cater to
the surrounding neighborhood.
Georgetown, along with nearby Dunwoody Village and Perimeter Center, are
part of Dunwoody’s plan to jump start
declining areas of the city. Here it purchased a 16-acre site called “the pipe
farm” by locals. The site had been slated
for a mixed-use development that collapsed along with the real estate market.
The focus here is on new home building while avoiding an increase in the
number of apartments in the area.
“We knew it was going to become
another apartment (development) and
the community has about 3,500 apartments already,” said Michael Starling,
Single-family homes,
townhomes are being
added at Georgetown.
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BY RANDY SOUTHERLAND
Contributing Writer
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When Perimeter Mall opened in Dunwoody in 1971 near the intersection of
I-285 and Georgia 400, it was the fourth
mall to open in DeKalb County and the
first mall in metro Atlanta to be located
outside the I-285 Perimeter. Anchor
stores were Rich’s and JC Penney.
Forty-four years later, the mall not
only still stands and operates but boasts
a whopping 1,554,288 square feet of gross
leasable space, making it the second-largest shopping mall in the state, behind
only Gwinnett County’s Mall of Georgia,
according to the International Council of
Shopping Centers..
This year and next, the mall will be
undergoing a two-phase renovation.
Phase one, taking place this year, will
include upgrades of new ceramic flooring, new lighting, modern seating areas,
updated restrooms and new signage,
some of which will be replacing the mall’s
original 1970s decor, according to Bill
Baker, Perimeter Mall general manager.
While Baker will not discuss phase two
in detail, or announce a dollar amount
associated with the renovations, he will
say the second phase, which is scheduled to begin in January 2016 and focus
on interior improvements in the wing
that includes Dillard’s and Macy’s, “will
include exterior
cosmetic upgrades
and the addition of some great
amenities and
technology.”
“Perimeter
Mall continuously
strives to provide
the best possible
Penelope
shopping experiCheroff
ence for our guests,
and we believe the combination of cosmetic upgrades and upgraded amenities will greatly enhance the shopping
environment,” Baker said. “This project
begins right on the heels of opening a
number of new retailers and restaurants
in 2014, including H&M, Microsoft, The
Pub, and Panera Bread and it comes just
in time to welcome the addition of TUMI
and Varasano’s Pizzeria this spring. This
is shaping up to be an exciting year for
the center.”
While Baker said the renovations only
include plans for one additional eatery,
restaurants are a crucial component to a
mall’s overall success, according to Penelope Cheroff, president and founder of
The Cheroff Group, an Atlanta-based,
full-service brokerage and consulting
firm specializing in local restaurant and
retail real estate, servicing restaurateurs,
retailers and property owners.
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BY JANET JONES KENDALL
Contributing Writer
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Renovations will boost Perimeter Mall
“They’re the front door to any mall,”
Cheroff said. “I think it is very important that those restaurants give the same
image that they want the mall to project.
They are projecting their image to their
market and they are drawing people there
to go to those restaurants that then will
think about going shopping. The restaurants will draw them in.”
Ray E. Uttenhove with SRS Real Estate
Partners Southeast said the renovations
will help Perimeter maintain its position
as the most significant mall in the city,
second to Lenox Square.
“When you think about Perimeter and
it’s position in the market, it is as strategically located as you could possibly be
on the north side,” Uttenhove said. “It sits
right at 285 and 400 in the middle of the
market so it pulls east and west and really
is, in my view, kind of the dominant highend center outside the Perimeter. It’s the
center of that sub-market so this renovation will be an important addition. It’ll
just help to keep the retail relevant and
dynamic.”
With the area set to welcome major
corporations Mercedes-Benz USA and
State Farm, the mall is operating in a particularly hot market and is a major contributor to the area’s economic development, said Greg Eisenman, vice president
of the Retail Services Group of Colliers
International, which has represented
R
CLOSER LOOK
Perimeter Mall renovations
broken down:
R Additional square footage added
through renovations: 0
R Current number of retail stores/
number to be added: 1
R Current number of restaurants/
number to be added: 1
R Year original mall was built: 1971
SOURCE: LATESHA LYNCH, MARKETING
MANAGER, PERIMETER MALL
Perimeter tenants
who have opened
retail stores and
leased and managed major office
properties in the
area.
“As one of the
top malls in the
Ray
state, the economic
Uttenhove
impact Perimeter
Mall has had on
Dunwoody is massive. While the location is crucially important, the mall is a
major source for jobs, tax revenue, and for
bringing in consumers from many miles
away who may not otherwise come to the
area,” Eisenman said.
DINING & SHOPPING IN DUN WOODY
PA R K PL ACE SHOPPING CEN T ER H A S I T A L L
it’s yours, morning until late night,
every day.
McKendrick’s
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Atlanta’s classic
Steak House since 1995
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A classic American steak house, McKendrick’s has become one
of Atlanta’s dining destinations. Locally owned and operated
since 1995 by Doug & Claudia McKendrick, McKendrick’s
specializes in serving only prime steak and the freshest
of seafood. “Extraordinary”, said Zagat’s, rated one of Atlanta’s
“Top Five Power Bars” by Southern Season’s Magazine. This
timeless Steak House menu is complemented by an extensive
wine list that has received the Wine Spectator’s Award of
Excellence annually since 2003. Join McKendrick’s for lunch
or dinner where a seasoned and finely educated wait staff will
provide the finest dining experience.
-N
ot
SM
Park Place, across
from Perimeter Mall
770.512.8888
www.mckendricks.com
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4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road Atlanta, GA 30346
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6B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
APRIL 17-23, 2015
MARKET REPORT
Move to city hall will encourage partnerships
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building where we can effectively communicate and share ideas on a regular
basis,” Katie Bishop, executive director
of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of
Dunwoody. “Having our team working
alongside the city’s team and the chamber’s team will create a lot of, not only
collaboration, but energy, too. And it will
reinforce our understanding that we are
all part of this vision to make Dunwoody
a great place.”
As these three agencies solidify their
relationship and partnership internally
they are using this common bond as a
springboard to also work with their counterparts in neighboring cities to ensure
the strength of the entire Perimeter area.
“We are now
regularly meeting
with the cities of
Sandy Springs and
Brookhaven. This is
something we have
talked about for
four or five years
— since the cities
Katie
have been formed,”
S ta rl i ng
sa i d .
Bishop
“While we have
always had a good working relationship,
getting together to sit around a table
and discuss some of the commonalities
we have, and what are we working on,
allows us to make sure we aren’t stepping
on each others’ toes and that we working together as neighbors to be part of a
larger mission.”
Bishop is excited to begin new programs with her CVB counterparts in
Sandy Springs and Brookhaven.
“I really believe we can work together
and cross promote the entire Perimeter
Center,” she said. “While Dunwoody CVB
is focused on Dunwoody, there are many
times when marketing Brookhaven,
Sandy Springs and the Perimeter market as a whole makes sense. If you work
in a silo you are going to miss so many
opportunities.”
The announcement by Mercedes-Benz
USA to move its U.S. headquarters to
Atlanta is one example of a recent competition among neighbors. Dunwoody
was pushing hard for the company to
land there but Mercedes picked Sandy
Springs. While it wasn’t the perfect outcome Dunwoody leaders were hoping for,
they are still pleased for their neighbor
and the entire Perimeter area.
“It is fantastic they found exactly what
they wanted in Perimeter Center. It just
so happens this time around it is Sandy
Springs. It is disappointing but in the long
run they will be a good corporate citizen
and we will benefit from that as well,”
Starling said. “A rising tide lifts all boats.
We understand that long-term benefit
and we will be in line for the next deal.”
sJ
Collaboration, open communication and
strong partnerships are keys to success
for the various organizations charged
with supporting and securing the economic development prosperity for the
city of Dunwoody.
In the spirit of further opening those
communication lines, the Dunwoody
Chamber of Commerce and the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Dunwoody will
move this summer into Dunwoody City
Hall where the city’s economic development office is already located.
Together, these three agencies have big
plans for the city’s future and the move
is a tactic to more closely work together
to make Dunwoody a great place to live,
work, visit and play.
While the agencies have been meeting once a month for about the last four
years to talk strategy, Michael Starling, director of
Dunwoody’s economic development, believes this
move, which will
occur July 1, will
allow them to meet
more often, stay on
Michael
each others’ radar
Starling
and tap into the respective talents and
resources that each agency brings to the
mission of growing Dunwoody’s economic landscape.
Stephanie Snodgrass, president and
CEO of the 325-member Dunwoody
Chamber, agrees the public will certainly
benefit from the move. “A business person will be able to come to city hall to
get their business license and then walk
across the hall to our office where they can
learn how we can help grow their business,” she said. “I think it is an important
step in helping us all better collaborate.”
As the move takes place, the chamber is
also working on growing its membership
and supporting the area businesses. It is
focused on retention and developing committee and
councils where
members will have
an avenue to discuss what they
need from the city
in order to grow.
Stephanie
“We are really
working on that
Snodgrass
advocacy piece,”
she said. “We want to give our businesses
the opportunity to have their voices heard
and a place where they can also give back
to the community.”
“It makes sense to have us in one
ou
BY TONYA LAYMAN
Contributing Writer
Bu
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PCIDs projects boost community
Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and
Brookhaven and DeKalb and
Fulton counties. The work includes
synchronization of 99 traffic signals
within and adjacent to PCIDs to
improve traffic congestion in the
Perimeter business district.
R Perimeter Traffic Operations Program.
The three-year, $3 million Georgia
Department of Transportationfunded project involves a partnership
between PCIDs and the cities of
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R The $515,000 Hammond Mid-Block
project is a partnership between
the PCIDs, MARTA and the city of
Dunwoody. The project will help
make pedestrian passage in the area
safer with a mid-block crossing
at Hammond and the Dunwoody
MARTA station.
©
John Heagy sees first hand the payoff from
the Perimeter Community Improvement
Districts’ traffic solution initiatives as he
drives in from his East Cobb home.
“Once I’m in the district, all of a sudden that PTOP [Perimeter Traffic Operations Program] signalization kicks in.
That wasn’t true even five years ago,” said
Heagy, Central (DeKalb) Perimeter CID
chair and Hines’ senior managing director of Southeast region.
Among the PCIDs’ initiatives are three
projects that will
help its ongoing
branding and traffic solution goals.
PCIDs organizers
say no one project
dominates the other
in importance.
“I think they’re
all very imporYvonne
tant together. You
Williams
wouldn’t have one
without the other,”
said Yvonne Williams, president and CEO
of PCIDs.
ty
BY LESLIE JOHNSON
Contributing Writer
R $2 million in signalization and
other improvements will come to
fruition in 2016 and 2017 through the
Transportation Control Center at the
Dunwoody City Hall.
The upgrades and changes come at a
crucial time as GDOT irons out plans for
a $1 billion Georgia 400 and I-285 interchange improvement project.
In addition, the PCIDs are seeking a
grant for improvements around the Dunwoody, Medical Center and Sandy Springs
MARTA stations. The stations play an integral part not only in moving people, but
in setting the stage for more growth.
“The word is vitality,” Williams said.
“The vitality of the atmosphere is very
much part of the future of where we
want to be. Having opportunities to build
around these stations will be a visible
improvement for the overall region.”
Massive expansion projects around
the Perimeter area include State Farm’s
planned mixed-use complex near Perimeter Mall, with a hotel, office towers and
retail component on the drawing board;
the proposed Perimeter Park near the mall,
viewed as a leisure or recreational spot for
those visiting the area as well as for nearby
residents; multi-million dollar renovations
to Perimeter Mall, happening in phases to
the property that dates back to the early
1970s; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s
relocation to Sandy Springs, to the campus of its parent company, Cox Enterprises Inc., from its Dunwoody offices a
short distance away; and the new Sandy
Springs headquarters of Mercedes-Benz
USA, which will bring up to 600 jobs.
The projects are happening “around
major parts of the Dunwoody area where
we’re having the highest growth,” Williams said, and will become even more
important to the larger transportation
puzzle in the works.
“C o l l e c t ive ly,
they’re all pieces
of the puzzle that
fit together in one
form or another,
all for the betterment of the area,”
said Peter Dunn,
Central (DeKalb)
Peter
Perimeter CID
Dunn
board member and general manager of Le
Meredien Atlanta Perimeter, said of the
three projects.
Founded in 1999, the PCIDs have been
addressing the district’s residential and
commercial growth with a host of improvements and changes to ease congestion and
encourage smart development.
“There’s nothing too terribly scientific
about any of this. We started as a PCID
years ago just trying to start tackling the
area in terms of traffic and coordination.
Over the years we’ve been successful in
doing some big projects clearly designed to
streamline or open up traffic,” said Heagy.
“One of the first projects was installing
sidewalks. Believe it or not, it was something that was nonexistent in the marketplace,” Heagy said. “These three projects
are kind of just that ongoing process of fine
tuning things.”
The PCIDs have undertaken several
large-scale projects, including:
R Ashford Dunwoody Diverging
Diamond. Completed in 2012, the
total cost of the Ashford Dunwoody
Interchange was $5.6 million, with
the PCIDs contributing $400,000.
R A northbound on-ramp to Georgia
400 and a southbound off-ramp from
Georgia 400 to Hammond Drive
R Perimeter Center Parkway and Flyover
Bridge. This project was finished in
2008.
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ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
APRIL 17-23, 2015
MARKET REPORT
Perimeter Zoning District revisions coming
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The project is still in its drafting phase.
The city of Dunwoody is working
closely with property owners and the
community to balance land use and
design concessions with development
incentives so as to implement the vision
for the Perimeter Center area.
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Q: How would you describe the vision
for the Perimeter area? We base the
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city’s vision for the Perimeter area on
the city of Dunwoody’s communitydirected comprehensive plan, developed
in 2010. The vision contained therein
was to create a “livable regional center
with first-class office, retail and highend restaurants in a pedestrian and
bicycle-oriented environment that
serves as a regional example of high
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The unique characteristics and needs
of the Perimeter Center market require
a separate zoning district to ensure
high quality development as the
area continues its transition from a
suburban commercial district into a
more contemporary, urban center. As
a function of this project, the city will
develop a zoning tool that will provide
the proper regulations and incentives
for redevelopment in appropriate areas,
maintain and enhance areas not likely
to redevelop, and have lasting effects
on the evolution of the Perimeter
al
Q: Why are the changes necessary?
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goal is to cultivate
and advance an
interconnected, unified business district
with clear guidelines and criteria for
future growth. The Perimeter Center
Zoning District, as defined by the
regulating map within the code, will be
distinguished by four unique “context
areas,” each varying in intensity, land
use, and development characteristics.
Conceptually, these contextual areas
were devised using what exists
today within each area in concert
with the anticipated and/or desired
characteristics for each district. They
have been identified geographically
with the most intensive district
Q: What is the process for the changes?
ot
A
Q: What are some of
the changes coming to
the Perimeter Zoning
District? The overall
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Center area while protecting the area’s
valued single-family neighborhoods.
As the project is currently underway,
the city has identified two ultimate
components: first, an overlay district
that will define the street edge and
second, a standalone zoning district that
will establish architectural standards
and land uses, among other, more
substantive, wholesale changes that
might occur on a site.
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Changes are coming to the Perimeter
Zoning District, which will affect areas
including the city of Dunwoody.
Rebecca Keefer, city planner and
director of sustainability for the city of
Dunwoody, explains how this will affect
residents and businesses.
initiating at the
MARTA station,
and tapering out
concentrically.
The city of Dunwoody has been
collaborating with
the city of Sandy
Springs, city of
Rebecca
Brookhaven, and
Keefer
Perimeter Community Improvement Districts (PCIDs) to develop a code
that can be replicated to foster a cohesive central business district, regardless
of city geographical boundaries.
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BY LISA R. SCHOOLCRAFT
[email protected]
&URZQ+ROGLQJV*URXSUHFHQWO\DFTXLUHGRQHRIWKHPRVWVRXJKWDIWHU
parcels in Atlanta, the 15-acre site at 244 Perimeter Center Parkway.
Crown plans to create a world-class, multi-use development that will
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HEADQUARTERS
4828 Ashford Dunwoody Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30338
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quality design standards.” The city
of Dunwoody recognizes the value of
creating mixed-use, transit-oriented
development within walking distance
of public transit stations. All of this
is done with a close eye towards the
potential impact of such development
on the city’s infrastructure and schools,
helping to ensure appropriate growth in
the Perimeter Center.
Q: How will this affect the city of
Dunwoody? Dunwoody is committed to
implementing its comprehensive plan
and ancillary policy guiding documents.
The Perimeter Center Zoning District is
another tool to implement those plans
by guiding and regulating the design
of the character of development. While
always a moving target, implementation
will anchor Perimeter Center as a
competitive business district and bolster
the economic sustainability of the city
by creating a sense of place unique to
this market.
Q: Will the zoning mostly affect
commercial areas, or will residential be
affected? The zoning will directly affect
the Perimeter Center character area
boundaries, which is comprised of both
residential and commercial land uses.
APRIL 17-23, 2015
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
9B
MARKET REPORT
VIEWPOINT
Changes at chamber better serve community
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Brent Morris is chairman of the
Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce.
K-12 and higher education.
The chamber’s leadership
understands that we have to evolve to
stay relevant just as any business does.
Our community deserves a first-class
chamber presence which is to be
reflected by our building, website, and
Board of Directors’ governance values.
This year, we are pursuing a new brand
strategy, launching a new website
and will join the city of Dunwoody
and Convention & Visitor’s Bureau
have developed a Partners in Education
and Workforce Development Council
which is “dedicated to developing a
qualified workforce for the region
and that begins with education. The
council is charged with defining the
chamber’s role in education around
advocacy for improvement, connections
and workforce readiness.” The group is
focused on building a knowledgeable
and skilled workforce by engaging the
business community in early childhood,
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ou may have heard that there
have been many changes at
the Dunwoody Chamber of
Commerce over the past year including
a new staff, renewed visioning, and an
emphasis on collaboration.
As a member of the chamber since
2008 and the current chair of the
Board of Directors, I believe that these
progressions are helping to move
the city of Dunwoody and the entire
Perimeter area forward as it pertains
to both community and economic
development.
The businesses of Dunwoody
contribute 70 percent of the total city
tax digest and we are advocates for these
business, whether they are members of
the chamber or not. We represent their
interests locally as well as in front of our
state government.
Though the greater goal is to make
this region the best place possible
to live, work and play, strategy and
planning are also defining factors
in how we reach these goals. At the
chamber, under the guidance of
our president and CEO Stephanie
Snodgrass, we are working to make sure
that we are governing our organization
in ways which will help to facilitate our
members the best possible return on
investment.
We strive to give our members the
opportunity to be engaged in every
aspect of our organization. Traditionally
this has meant joining a committee or
attending networking and educational
events as the basis of receiving a
return on investment. Technology is
changing these traditional ideas by
allowing our members to take part
in webinars, have online brochures,
offering specials and allowing us to
send information instantly to our
members via social media, emails
and eventually text messaging. Why
is technology so important outside of
general membership communication
and education? As time progresses, we
are seeing that there are times when
decisions must be made quickly and the
board may need to vote on items almost
instantly in order to best advocate for
our businesses and their needs.
As we have engaged with our
members, asking them what is
important to their businesses, one of
the main points concerns is always
education. Based on this finding, we
Dunwoody at 41 Perimeter Center East,
where we will all be on the same floor.
Our hope is to better enable all three
entities to work together as needed, a
situation that will not only benefit the
business community but our residents
as well. As the city grows in population
and in the diversities of businesses, our
job is to continue evolving our programs
and values to meet the needs of these
persons by being their collaborate voice
for business development and retention.
10B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
APRIL 17-23, 2015
MARKET REPORT
Treetop Quest zips into Brook Run Park
BY KAREN COHEN
Contributing Writer
CLOSER LOOK
R Number of obstacles:
No less than 52
R Number of zip lines: 12
R Number of courses: 4
R Number of new jobs created: 5
full-time, the rest part-time
R Months it took to construct: 7
weeks for the obstacle courses
and about 2 months for the site
development.
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R Percentage of revenue the city of
Dunwoody receives: 5%
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natural environment,” said Julien Hatton,
development manager at Treetop Quest.
“We want to reconnect people to nature
by providing an aerial adventure park
where people can discover Brook Run
Park up in the air, making them active
through a self-guided activity where they
are the real actors of their own ride.”
The company’s goal is to preserve
nature in every way possible through
environmental sustainability. Therefore,
the obstacle structures are treatment-free
with no nails, screws or piercing of any
tree. And, wood wedges are used to protect the tree bark from the wire ropes.
Treetop Quest arrived in the U.S. five
years ago with its first American park
in Gwinnett, located on campus at the
Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage
Center, which has had more than 60,000
visitors in the past five years.
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and exciting activity in Brook Run Park.
With the addition of this amenity we hope
to make our park a premier destination to
enjoy the outdoors,” said Walker.
Children as young as four can enjoy
an age-appropriate course and net trampoline. While there are more challenging
level courses and zip lines for kids ages
seven to 11. And ages 12 and older have
access to all the different level courses.
After receiving specialized safety training and equipment, participants are given
two and a half hours to navigate through
the courses at their own pace, while
always being attached to safety harnesses
and gear. Professionally trained guides
are also situated throughout the courses
should participants need assistance or
want to stop mid-way through the course.
“Treetop Quest offers a new educational and outdoor concept based on the
R Number of visitors in past five
years at Gwinnett location: 60,000
R Cost to construct: $500,000
R Number of acres Treetop uses at
Brook Run Park: 7
SPECIAL
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Treetop Quest offers
tree obstacles and
zip lines.
“With Gwinnett, we continue to attract
more and more people,” said Hatton.
“We went from 15,000 people in 2013 to
25,000 people in 2014. As the U.S. development manager, I am in charge of finding new locations to build and operate
new parks.”
When looking for another location,
Treetop Quest was searching for park
space in metro Atlanta.
“Brook Run Park is an ideal location,”
he said. “It is close to Atlanta, close to the
Perimeter, in a city park which is dynamic
and highly maintained with a kids playground, skate park, dog park, a new hiking trail and welcomes several big events
and festivals each year.”
Treetop Quest, a branch of French
holding company Altiplano, operates
eight aerial adventure parks in France,
one in Canada and two parks in the U.S.
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If you are looking to climb through tree
obstacles and zip line through the forest
without having to leave metro Atlanta,
then look no farther than the new Treetop Quest adventure at Dunwoody’s Brook
Run Park.
At heights up to 55 feet above the
ground, and zip lines stretching more than
200 feet, Treetop Quest Dunwoody provides self-guided exploration for kids and
adults alike.
And, through a public-private agreement, Treetop Quest operates the obstacle course at no cost to the taxpayers and
shares 5 percent of revenues back to Dunwoody as part of its leasing agreement
with the city.
“Dunwoody works on a public-private
model,” said Brent Walker, Dunwoody
Parks and Recreation manager. “This
partnership with Treetop Quest is another
way to provide recreational opportunities
and amenities to Dunwoody residents and
visitors without having overhead cost to
taxpayers.”
The obstacle course is situated on 7
acres previously unused at the park.
“Brook Run is a beautiful park and this
type of attraction will allow visitors and
residents to experience a special part of
Dunwoody that they may not have originally considered,” said Kimberly Trawick,
marketing director at Convention & Visitors Bureau of Dunwoody.
The outdoor adventure offers another
activity supporting Dunwoody as a healthy
and active community.
“The city of Dunwoody Parks and Recreation Department is very excited to partner with Treetop Quest in offering a new
R
The city of Dunwoody is in the process of
updating its comprehensive plan, a task
government officials conduct every five
years.
Here, Dunwoody City Manager Eric
Linton explains the goals and process of
the update.
Q: The city of
Dunwoody is
&
about to update its
comprehensive plan.
Why? With the increase
in development activity
since the city’s incorporation, the
five-year update to the comprehensive
plan is critically timed so that the
community may assess the vision and
policy guidance in the current plan as
well as make revisions to meet future
planning desires. The city was less
than two years old when the original
plan was adopted. While a lot has been
Q
A
©
BY LISA R. SCHOOLCRAFT
[email protected]
Am
eri
City updates comprehensive plan
accomplished
since then, it
is important to
reflect on the past
plan and make
revisions where
necessary for
future growth.
Q: How long
will the process
take? The final
plan is required
to be submitted to the Department of
Community Affairs (DCA) by Oct. 31,
2015. The public input process during
the drafting phase is expected to last
until June. When a complete draft
is ready for review, it will be taken
through the process for transmittal to
DCA; eventually, arriving back before
City Council for adoption in October.
Eric
Linton
Q: What areas will the comprehensive
plan update target? The update will
reflect on the work accomplished since
the 2010 adoption of the comprehensive
plan, maintain the components that
are still representative of the collective
vision, and make necessary revisions
for the community priorities that
have changed. Geographically, more
detailed sub-area master plans for
Dunwoody Village, Georgetown,
and Perimeter Center were adopted
subsequent to the comprehensive plan,
so those recommendations will also
be incorporated. Likewise, there are
some other character areas that require
additional attention. Organizationally,
the update will focus on land use,
population and housing, and economic
development. The updated plan will
feature a character area map that will
guide the overall design and character of
particular areas, and the future land use
map will guide land use decisions.
Q: Do you expect the new
comprehensive plan will add density
to certain areas of the city? The
new comprehensive plan will focus
on growth management by guiding
development and intensity where it
belongs while protecting the suburban
character of the remainder of the city.
Ultimately, the updated comprehensive
plan will be accessible to the
community, reflective of values, and
implemented through policy decisions
and other tools.
Q: How will the updated plan play
into economic development strategy?
With such successful commercial
districts, the city wishes to conduct a
very thorough economic development
analysis and recommendation
section, robust with data, trends, and
recommendations. The update will
coordinate the assessment of new
demographic and economic data and
trends, consider the current version
of the comprehensive plan, make
amendments based on community
input, and focus heavily on economic
development analysis and policy setting.
APRIL 17-23, 2015
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
11B
MARKET REPORT
VIEWPOINT
Dunwoody High School Academy of
Finance preparing future business leaders
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90 seniors.
The class is heavy on project based
learning and the students are part of a
number of group competitions in which
they will compete against their peers.
Projects range from establishing an NFL
franchise to starting and designing a
restaurant to developing a new product
and giving a 90 second elevator pitch.
Also, the students are to start their own
business in the community. There were
a number of strong Internet businesses
started in this school year. The final
competition has the students selecting a
Fortune 500 company and developing a
business plan for a brand extension into
a new industry for that firm.
Examples from recent years include
Samsung developing an app allowing
young diabetes patients and their
parents to better monitor their health
and Under Armour starting a line of
women’s athletic and hygiene products.
All of the competitions are judged by
business leaders in the community
which raises the stakes for the students
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Dunwoody High School Academy of
Finance.
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The Academy is in its 16th year at
Dunwoody. Teaching is a second career
for me, having left the business world
after 10 years to pursue my passion of
teaching. I returned to my alma mater
to establish the Academy of Finance
after the parent organization, the
National Academy Foundation, selected
Dunwoody High School to have an
Academy. It started with a small group
of students in 1999, and has now grown
to an Academy that has 95 juniors and
and also allows for networking and
relationship opportunities take hold as
the students follow up and meet with
the leaders after the competition.
For example, with the NFL franchise
project, members of the local media,
as well as executives of the local teams,
including the Falcons and Hawks, came
to judge the competition. Students
loved interacting with media members
like Bob Rathbun, Fred Kalil, Brandon
Leak, Jason Pullman, Matt Chernoff and
Kendyl Moss.
The Dunwoody High School Academy
of Finance is a program that has
provided many unique experiences,
sharpened career focus and developed
leadership skills.
One of the best parts of the job for
me is seeing so many former students
enjoying great success in their chosen
career.
The Academy is looking to continue
to grow and add new experiences and
student run business opportunities in
the coming school year.
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ne of the most important
missions that a high school
has is to properly prepare
our students for the ever increasingly
competitive global workforce.
The Dunwoody High School Academy
of Finance looks to fulfill this mission
and graduate students who are focused
and ready for the challenges that await
them. The DHS Academy is a two year
program (11th -12th grades) in which
students are exposed to many facets of
the business environment. It is likened
to a “mini” MBA, as students take
courses in corporate finance, marketing,
entrepreneurship, personal finance,
AP macroeconomics and international
business. Further, the course is heavy
in group projects, team competitions,
and interaction with many local
business leaders that sharpen the
students networking skills. It is a
program that provides students with
unique experiences and a real world
curriculum that allows them to begin to
focus in on their potential career path.
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to be part of the
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DUNWOODY TEAM
Contributing to the success of city operations since 2008.
We are proud to be a part of the City of Dunwoody team.
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