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Tuesday's Tour & Tip
Fresh faces and ideas - Young developers get OK to revitalize Smyrna street
Less than a mile from Smyrna's much-touted Market Village, Walker Street is one of those blocks that real estate agents describe with words like "transitional" and part of "revitalization." Recently, the Smyrna City Council approved rezoning part of Walker Street for a $5 million residential development, tentatively called Walker Street Cottages. But there's something unique about the south Cobb city's latest high-end "suburban renewal" project: The men behind it -- Colin Gallagher and Matt Junger -- are still in their 20s. They have never built more than one house at a time, let alone the 10 they plan for Walker Street during the next four months. Still, Gallagher, 27, and Junger, 28, are getting high marks from City Council members, who often are wary of developers without much experience to back them up. "They seem
like nice, honest entrepreneurs," said Councilman Wade Lnenicka. Regardless of their age, Lnenicka said, "we want to have a reputation of treating businesspeople as customers." Plans call for eight two-story homes on the south side of Walker Street and two on the other side, where Walker intersects Mathews Street. The two- and three-bedroom homes will sit on quarter-acre lots with underground utilities, new landscaping and rear-entry garages. Once building permits are secured in the next few weeks, crews will begin tearing down five of Walker Street's duplexes to make way for the new homes, which will start at about $500,000. "We want to do something of real quality here, really neat," said Junger, who has an art history degree from the College of Charleston. He said his company is in negotiations with landlords to buy the street's remaining duplexes to make way for more new homes later. Gallagher and Junger did their homework before making their case to the City Council. "We had a
vision for what we wanted to do, and [last spring] we set out to find a community that it would fit in with," said Gallagher, a Lovett School grad with a finance degree from Boston College. By meeting with the city's community development staff first, Gallagher and Junger presented a proposal that fits into Smyrna's master plan and complies with city codes, said Councilman Bill Scoggins. "These young fellas proceeded just as the city asked them to do, and consequently, it was smooth sailing for them," said Scoggins, whose ward includes Walker Street. Despite being prepared, Gallagher admitted he was "a little nervous" going before the council, whose members questioned him on the project for more than an hour before voting unanimously to approve it last month. "It was obvious to me they had listened to what had been suggested" by the city's planning and development staff, Lnenicka said. "I'm expecting them to do a nice, high-quality program. All we ask is that they leave a nice
neighborhood behind." Gallagher and Junger say they picked Smyrna carefully. With the help of Junger's mother, who is in real estate, they looked at land in Atlanta, Decatur and unincorporated Cobb before settling on Smyrna. There, they said, they found homes starting at the half-million-dollar mark and land for sale at a "reasonable" price (about $1 million). "We understood how much money was going into the area and how much people were enjoying the lifestyle," Gallagher said. "It seemed like a natural fit." What they found at City Hall was a bonus: planners willing to work with the novice developers. "They talked to us and listened to what we had to say," Gallagher said. "They answered our phone calls, which we hadn't gotten in other places." The developers incorporated Gallagher and Junger Fine Homes in 2002. Since then, they've built two high-end homes in intown neighborhoods and renovated three others. They used profits from those projects plus loans to come up with money for
Walker Street Cottages. "It's very exciting, to be this young," Gallagher said. "It's not intimidating so much as it is fun. We haven't encountered anyone who didn't want to work with us because of our age." That includes Scoggins, who last year invited Gallagher and Junger to his home to talk about their plan. "They were strangers when I met them, but they had some good guidance and good ideas," the councilman said. "I've got all the confidence in the world in their development." BYLINE: CHANDLER BROWN DATE: November 9, 2005 PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) EDITION: Metro; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution SECTION: Metro News PAGE: D5
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