Kai Lin Art gallery is leaving Midtown

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Midtown Mile loses another tenant, get’s a five yard penalty.

UPDATE (August 1, 2011): Kai Lin Art announces new Buckhead location

Midtown is losing another great contributor to culture in Atlanta.

Kai Lin Art, which first opened in January 2009, will hold its last art show this Saturday, July 23.

The art gallery located at 800 Peachtree Street is relocating to Buckhead, according to an email Friday.

“This will be our last event at our current location as we plan an expansion into the heart of Buckhead in August 2011,” according to the email. “Stay tuned for information about our expansion and move into Buckhead!”

Kai Lin Art gallery will occupy 4,200 square feet, “three doors down from Buckhead Theater,” according to a report from Project Q. The actual address has not been confirmed.

The Buckhead location will also boast a new retail feature. Project Q has those details here.

The Grand Opening of Kai Lin Art and Kai Lin Shop is set for Sept. 9 with the “Monsters 2.0” exhibit, the report notes.

DREAMSCAPE, which premiered June 3, will be Kai Lin Art gallery’s last show at its Midtown location.

Kai Lin Art was not immediately available for comment.

 

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

35 Responses

  1. Big mistake. Where is there less foot traffic and tougher to find parking? That’s right, Buckhead Village.

  2. Sounds like, in anticipation of the new Streets of Buckhead project, some retailers that aim at a more cultured/well to do crowd, are heading north. I wonder if all these businesses/cultural institutions would still have left Midtown if more people had populated the neighborhood over the past 5-10 years, bringing with them disposable income, and demand for retail, services, and entertainment. I think someone had said something about the cost of misallocation of resources on here somewhere….

  3. I agree. Urbanist, you’re the smartest…..ever. I wish I knew you. Any chance you live in a Holiday Inn?

  4. Urbanist wonders if all these businesses would have left Midtown if more people had populated the neighborhood…

    What an incredibly complex theory! I’ll have to digest and get back to you on that Einstenian thought.

  5. Urban guy, do you have a job? If so, you can’t be good at it considering the amount of time you spend blogging on this site and others.

  6. Urbanist, waiting for your next reply is so suspenseful yet agonizing! I yearn for your wisdom. You’re so smart, you’re so witty, and that sarcastic bite that you come with turns me on!

  7. Urbanist sounds like a troll from the blog City-data. The comments the way he or she writes, its seems very familiar. IF you guys are not familiar with city data its the same type sarcastic bashing that goes on.

  8. I’d feel better if you didn’t also misspell it and leave it uncorrected in the first sentence, too… It’s simply a personal pet peeve and is becoming shockingly common. Keep up the other good (and properly spelled) work!

  9. This makes me sad for midtown. It is a huge loss. However, we wish you success in your new venue, YuKai!

  10. Sad. Just another example of Atlanta spreading its attractions out. This might be the worst city in the world for someone to visit because all of the attractions are spread out.

    I will never understand the appeal of buckhead. The street layout along with the lack of transit/road access make the buckhead village a horrible place to develop. I honestly get embarrassed when I bring people in from out of town and they want to go to “buckhead” only to find out its just a bunch of highrises around a suburban style shopping mall.

  11. I did not know Buckhead has a higher concentration of residents compared to Midtown. What culture does Buckhead have? I must say it has nice malls, shiny new buildings, The Buckhead Theatre and people with disposable incomes who work in the shiny new buildings who then get in their vehicles and drive to Dunwoody and Roswell. If I had an art gallery I would probably open it there too. But if you look at how Midtown has changed over the last ten years, I would say it has changed for the better when compared to Buckhead (with regards to retail space and general nightlife). Midtown wins again when you throw in Piedmont Park, the High, Center for Puppetry Arts, Center Stage (or whatever it’s called now), The Fox Theatre, and a host of other options for people to do and walk to such as the area around Crescent Avenue. Midtown is by far more “walkable” than Buckhead. Who said Atlanta’s culture has to be expensive art and retailers who sell high-end merchandise? Midtown has a great opportunity to be a place that caters to the middle and upper-middle, let Buckhead have the rest.

  12. @ Inman Parker – Agreed. I was actually having the conversation on Friday night, about where/what I would plan for guests from out of town. I basically crammed everything that was worth doing into two days (most of which were restaurants), and when I thought about what I would want to expose people to, Buckhead wasn’t even remotely close to the top of the list.

    @ KWood – Agreed. Midtown has the amenities and the infrastructure to create a really great, in-town, urban area. And you’re right, there’s no reason Atlanta art has to be “expensive” or “high-end”. A lot of the art I see in Atlanta galleries (that are modern in scope) tends to be almost urban cartoonish.

    This issue, however, is that Atlanta is so spread out that you don’t get any co-mingling of cultures. Little 5 Points has a specific culture, and you rarely see the Little 5 points crowd in Buckhead or Midtown. The reverse is true as well. The city allocates it’s most important resource (people) poorly, and then offers them virtually no efficient form of connective transportation. This leaves people stranded in their little enclaves. It’s sad, really.

  13. Urbanist, you’re finally back! Everyone has dearly missed you. We were starting to get worried, glad you’re ok. I feel a void in my heart when you’re gone, don’t let it happen too often. You’re special.

  14. Urbanist says, “The city allocates it’s most important resource (people) poorly…”

    What planet are you from? In your world ‘The City’ has the authority, or responsibility, to allocate people? Do you think the rest of us hayseeds really swoon when you peck out ‘Agreed’ on your little Dell?

    I’m still howling over this line; “I wonder if all these businesses/cultural institutions would still have left Midtown if more people had populated the neighborhood over the past 5-10 years…”

    Keep up the hysterics!

  15. @ Clicker – (i) One of the primary purposes of city planning is to allocate resources – whether it’s people or businesses. They do this through zoning and permitting, as well as through incentives. It’s pretty common. (ii) Care to explain why you’re “howling”? I think it’s a pretty well known fact that businesses try to locate close to the areas where there is demand.

    Next time, it would be helpful if you offered some support for the criticism, instead of simply telling everyone that you’re “howling”.

  16. @Urbanist- Yes, City Planning develops land use maps. They don’t however dictate the who, what, when, or how of real estate developers. That’s what you fail to grasp. You’ve stated in another post that “….. every foot of retail, office, and residential that’s leased/owned in AS could have been leased/owned in midtown proper”. How can you not understand the absurdity of that statement? Do you honestly think that if AS had not been developed by Jacoby that other developers/tenants/landowners in Midtown would have magically gotten together and absorbed the AS s.f elsewhere? You need to realize economics are involved in all leases and what can be built in one location may not be economically feasible on the other side of street for a variety of reasons.

    As for Clicker, I believe he’s howling because it’s funny that you think more people could have populated Midtown over the past 5-10 years and seemingly fail to understand the growth that was experienced in that time frame. It therefore makes your argument humorous.

  17. @ Suburbanist: you’re aware of what zoning is right? You’re also aware that permits have to be granted for new construction, right? Just because you own a piece of land doesn’t mean you get to build whatever you want on it.

    Also, I don’t think I ever said that “every square foot…could have been leased in Midtown proper”. I don’t believe it would be a one for one. As a matter of fact, I distinctly remember saying that it wouldn’t be a 1:1 ratio somewhere on here. However, as I said in my article, I do believe some of the tenants, maybe even a majority, would have wound up in Midtown, had it not been for AS. If there is somewhere, in which I said “every” it was never meant, and probably some sort of typo, because I certainly don’t believe that.

    The growth? The entire city of Atlanta added just over 3,000 residents between 2000-2010; 300 people per year…to the entire city. That’s not a lot of growth at all. These are census numbers not some statistic off some hack broker’s site either. Empty buildings don’t mean population growth.

    So, based on this, your notion that I dont understand the economics of development is wrong, and your notion that midtown picked up a huge influx of population over the past 5-10 years is wrong. Don’t you have a yard to mow, or some Glenn Beck’ing to catch up on?

  18. @ Urbanist- Ok, now I feel like we’re getting somewhere. In regard to zoning & permits, they’re a large part of what I do, so yes, crystal clear there. I assume your comment was prompted by my point that city planners don’t dictate the who/what/when/why of real estate developers. To clarify, my point is that just because zoning exists, it doesn’t mean real estate projects automatically occur, which seemed to be your point. Perhaps we each misunderstood the other so lets move on….

    As for the issue of AS vs Midtown, you did say “every square foot…” but you’ve clarified your position to be somewhat more reasonable. I disagree that the majority of the AS tenants would have wound up in Midtown but whatever. You’re entitled to have an opinion.

    Regarding growth, you’re being misleading. Yes, the City of Atlanta, per the 2010 census, only added approx. 3500 residents. But we’re talking Midtown. If you dig further into the stats you’ll see the midtown zip codes showed anywhere between 7 & 20% growth while other areas of the city showed declines. Thus, you can’t base your argument on the city as a whole.

    As for mowing my yard, it’s small, so I still have time to do that AND prove passionate urbanists wrong. Also, I’m more John Stewart than Glen Beck.

  19. @ Suburb: a gain of one over a base of one is a 100% gain, but it means virtually nothing. 7 & 20%, means very little when applied to a very small base. Considering that the people that were part of that 7 & 20%, were also part of the grand total of just over 3,000 people, it’s nothing to be proud of.

    Regarding permitting and zoning, yes I’m aware that just because zoning exists it doesn’t foster development. That’s why I included the term “incentives” for something that the city can do to compel businesses to come into the city, to congregate in certain areas, etc. Cities absolutely can influence where and what kind of development happens through zoning, permitting, AND incentives.

    Keep trying.

  20. @Urban: I encourage you to dig into the census numbers. And you keep switching your argument between City of Atlanta & Midtown population figures. Decide on your position and remember, Knowledge is Power.

    Regarding incentives, a common method is the creation of TADs. Look it up.

    Keep failing.

  21. Aren’t the census numbers up for debate?. Anyone living in the city of Atlanta knows the city added way more people than that. That’s why its up for debate. I bet there were lots of people that were not counted.

  22. Yippee! More exhausting, sophomoric lessons from the ‘urban expert.’ This time we get schooled on zoning and census numbers!

    Tell us Professor Urbanist, do you think that if more ‘people had populated’ Midtown over the past 5-10 years, less retailers, restaurants and cultural institutions would have moved out?

    We are all quivering in anticipation of your learned response.

  23. @ Suburb – I’m not switching any argument. I’m sorry that you’re not able to connect the dots without so much Han holding, sonhere goes. Midtown is within the city of Atlanta. The city of Atlanta added 3,000 people in the last 10 years. Midtown therefore added no more than 3,000 people over the past 10 years. Since it’s reasonableto assume that not every net positive increase in population was in Midtown, it’s also reasonable to assume that midtown added less than 3,000 residents in the past 10 years. Therefore, it reallydoesnt matter what the percentage increase was, as the absolute number (which is more important in this case) was extremely small. Is that simple enough for you?

    I’m well aware of what TAD’s are.

    @Blkspie – yes, that’s a common claim nationally, but until someone can prove it, they are what they are. It’s kind of like saying “Clicker doesnt add value here”. Regardless of how much he wants to contest it, the current facts point towards that conclusion.

  24. Urbanist, you do understand that other parts of the city LOST population which means other parts of the city would gain more than three thousand people because the parts of the city that LOST population are mixed in with the parts that gained. Midtown could have gained two hundred thousand residents if there was a loss of 197,000 residents elsewhere. Obviously those numbers are extreme to make a point which I suspect you are intentionally not getting. Yes, other parts of the city also gained population. My census block not in Midtown had an over hundred percent increase (which, yes, was partially due to having such a small previous population). I don’t know what axe you are trying to grind but keep at it… you’ll eventually motivate someone enough to go look up the easy to find numbers.

  25. “The city of Atlanta added 3,000 people in the last 10 years. Midtown therefore added no more than 3,000 people over the past 10 years. ‘

    Omg, did you really just say this? Usually your commentary is elementary, but not ridiculously wrong!! AHAHAH!! Because the City of Atlanta net population increased 3,000 people in 10 years, that means Midtown atlanta couldnt have increased more than 3,00 people? omg… please, whoever writes this blog, please read this comment!!

  26. Haha I guess it is unfathomable that anyone would have moved from one area of the city to another. NOBODY moves from Buckhead or any other area to Midtown, unthinkable! Oh wait, I moved from Buckhead to Midtown, so theres one.

  27. The question is not the addition of residents, its the percentage of residents in the city who lived in Midtown 10 years ago compared to the percentage of residents today who live in Midtown. The beginning of the Midtown rebirth was 1998-2001 with a huge number of residents within the city relocating to Midtown, not so much new people moving to Atlanta. New residents are just now within the past 3-5 years becoming knowledgeable about Midtown.

  28. Why didn’t he move to Atlantic Station?

    Isn’t that THE SPOT!

    He could have rented one of those garage spaces…

    hahahahahahhahahah

    I forgot, he didn’t want to fail.

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