Memorial Drive’s westernmost planned project to feature high end bottle shop, restaurant and additional storefronts.
In August of last year, Azar’s Package Store at 271 Memorial Drive was razed to make way for The George, a 130-unit apartment complex from Urban Realty Partners.
The group has now revealed a rendering and more details of the mixed-use development, and it looks like locals will be popping bottles from a shop a few notches fancier than Azar’s.
The six-story, 110,000-square-foot project will be situated on a 1.44 acre site described as “walkable” and of “new urbanist” nature – echoing Georgia State University’s plans for nearby Turner Field.
The complex will also feature 11,500 square feet of retail, which is planned to include a 4,500-square-foot high-end bottle shop, 4,100-square-foot restaurant, and two additional storefronts for “neighborhood-oriented retail.”
Urban Realty Partners is promoting the project as a transit-oriented development, as it is a “five minute walk” to King Memorial MARTA Station.
However, the project will be transit-oriented in more ways than one – renters will also be about 1/4 mile and 1/3 mile from interchanges at I-20 and the Downtown Connector (I-75/85), respectively.
The George is planned to be both energy and water efficient. Developers intend for this to “lower bills, save energy and create a lower cost of living for residents.”
What do you think of the project? Tell us below…
8 Responses
Planned retail and real retail are very different. There is still nothing in the bottom of The Leonard and plenty other mixed use apt complexes.
Definitely true but my guess is that more residences and retail will create a market. The Leonard spot, in isolation, is less attractive than a spot next to 130 more residences and 4 additional retail spaces. The more Memorial develops, the more appealing it will be to potential retailers.
How much more retail can Memorial handle though? The retail spaces at the Leonard sit empty while 2 new big projects are still underway at The Jane and the Atlanta Dairy project. Have to think Memorial is getting close to over-saturated.
A five minute walk to mass transit is nothing and for most of Atlanta’s progressive commuters…a dream! I hope this rejuvenation spreads throughout the area. We need MUCH more residential in and around the true downtown of this town.
Yes, but this is a good bit more than five minutes. Much more like 8-10 minutes depending on the light at Memorial. I know because I used to do the walk this path everyday as my house is equidistant from the MARTA stop in question. Still, it’s very convenient to transit even if not technically Transit Oriented Design.
“Build it, and they will come.”
The added daily presence of GSU will also drive retail in the area.
Parking????? As I understand it, The Leonard does not have enough parking spaces for its prospective tenants, let alone shoppers, and on weekends I already have trouble getting a parking space in front of my house because of restaurant traffic. Hopefully, no one is planning some monolithic parking structure to uglify the neighborhood, but these cars gotta go somewhere!