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Big Name Builders Go
"ITP"
brought to you by Chrissy Neumann 1500 Eidson Hall Drive $484,900
as the "Tuesday Tour" email the details to chrissy@castlesbychrissy.com**** Suburban
builders get citified
Homes inside I-285 are in such big demand that top companies have entered infill market. Metro Atlanta home builders didn't fuel one of the hottest housing markets in the country by thinking small, but several are keeping the fire going by doing just that. Companies such as Beazer Homes and John
Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, which made their reputations with
multi-hundred-home subdivisions in suburban counties, now are squeezing
into the smaller infill development market in established neighborhoods
like Grant Park and Reynoldstown.
They are following the demand created by a
resurgent interest in city living.
More than 16,000 people moved into Atlanta
between 1999 and 2003, reversing a 30-year trend of the city hemorrhaging
residents, according to a 2003 study by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Other cities within I-285, from College Park to Clarkston, also have seen
spurts of new housing and business development.
"A lot of Gwinnett developers are moving
farther in rather than moving farther out," said Emory Morsberger.
He should know. He's one of them. He is
developing mixed-used properties in downtown Lawrenceville and is working
on a subdivision of about 200 homes in Snellville. But his latest project
is the proposed conversion of City Hall East, the massive former Sears
building on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Midtown, to a mixed-use community.
The reasons builders are moving inside the
Perimeter are simple, said Lou Steffens, who heads up the Beazer Homes
effort. They are following the market. The demand is strong, and that can
drive up profit margins. While land is more expensive, communities are
used to allowing greater density, and people are willing to pay more per
square foot for a home.
"They can be significantly more profitable
[per home] than going farther and farther out," Steffens said.
With the financial heft of a large-scale home
building company, Beazer found it could move inside I-285 and put up
larger subdivisions than many smaller infill builders who can't afford the
larger tracts of land necessary for multihome projects.
Of course, larger scale inside I-285 is a
relative term. Beazer has projects ranging from six lofts in Castleberry
Hill southwest of downtown to its 210 houses, townhomes and duplexes --
with 61 more on the way -- at Atlantic Station in Midtown. That is
Atlanta's most visible redevelopment project at the I-85 and I-75
connector.
Change in style, too
The move inside 1-285 is also changing what
the company typically offers.
Beazer hired Christopher Jones, who has a
background in architectural history and who guided College Park's
turnaround as the city's economic development director until this year, to
envision and shepherd the Atlanta projects.
"We are evaluating what the historical styles
of the [neighborhoods] are and [asking] how can we blend in our product to
be compatible. So the idea is, when you drive by, you don't realize that
this is the same Beazer which is building out in Gwinnett County," Jones
said.
The company's next project is the Enclave at
Grant Park, a mix of nearly 200 homes, townhomes and duplexes.
Beazer continues to look for new projects,
but finding the right location is more difficult than in the suburbs,
Steffens said. The area inside I-285 doesn't have the open green fields
ready to build on, and it is hard work to find and put together
properties. Once an available property is discovered, a builder has to
move quickly to sew it up.
"It's almost like a treasure hunt," he said.
Some cities and communities are making it
easier with redevelopment programs that help developers target areas for
new growth.
"The city does seem to be reinventing itself,
capturing areas ripe for redevelopment," said Terry Russell, chief
executive officer of John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods.
He points to work by Reynoldstown
Revitalization Corp. The crumbling community south of Inman Park is
turning the corner back to prosperity. The revitalization group helped
rehabilitate about 300 houses and has helped lure in new development in
older buildings, such as the A&P and Southpark lofts.
The corporation is also a partner with
Wieland Homes on Reynoldstown Square, the conversion of a historic
icehouse into 46 condominium flats and new townhomes. The project should
be completed soon.
Wieland is building mostly townhomes inside
I-285, such as its project Olde Ivy at I-285 and Atlanta Road. That is a
mixed-use community of brick townhomes, some with commercial space. But
Wieland also plans a project of single-family homes off Cascade Road.
"A lot of people want to live close to the
city so they don't have to deal with congestion," Russell said.
Traffic not only reason
Metro Atlanta ranks fifth worst in the nation
in time drivers spent on the road, according to a study released last week
by the Texas Transportation Institute. Atlanta drivers spent more than 97
million hours stalled in traffic jams in 2002, at a cost of $1.7 billion
in wasted labor and gas costs.
At the same time, those buying inside I-285
are showing changing expectations for homes.
Greg Cagle of Cagle & Dover Real Estate,
which markets and develops property inside and outside I-285, said some
buyers make the move even if that means settling for less square footage
and a smaller yard.
And there are reasons other than traffic,
Cagle said. Some see a home purchase as a business decision, and
properties within I-285 are appreciating faster.
Single female buyers are also pushing the
market along, Cagle said, because they feel secure in close neighborhoods
and also want to be near shopping and entertainment venues.
"I am amazed by the number of single female
buyers," he said.
Also, as metro counties outside the Perimeter
continue to grow at rapid paces, developers are finding more sophisticated
community opposition and substantial lag time in getting rezoning
applications approved. Doing business inside I-285 helps keep business
going and doesn't seem as tough as it used to be.
"So it is natural transition for
builders who have traditionally built in the suburbs," Cagle
said.
BYLINE:
CHRISTOPHER QUINN
DATE: September 13, 2004 PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTY LISTED
ABOVE OR THE TIP PROVIDED
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