Novare Files Plans For Its Latest Copycat Midtown Apartment Tower

Is 1163 Peachtree St. the lovechild of Twelve Atlantic Station, The Atlantic and SkyHouse projects?

Is 1163 Peachtree St. the lovechild of the residential developer’s Twelve Atlantic Station, The Atlantic and SkyHouse projects?

Novare Group is moving forward with plans to develop a 31-story Midtown apartment tower.

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The residential developer submitted the first of several building permit applications to City of Atlanta Thursday to begin construction on its latest project, 1163 West Peachtree St.

The application calls for $1,850,000 in land development at the nearly 1.5-acre Midtown site, and future home of about 400 units and roughly 10,000 square feet of retail.

Einstein Bros. Bagels will relocate its existing standalone restaurant at the site into a street-level retail space in the development.

Amenities could include several pools, a club room, fitness center, yoga room and a tennis court on top of the tower’s parking structure.

Novare’s latest Midtown tower is one of 18 proposed towers planned in the immediate area, several of which are currently in development.

Critics suggest this Novare tower is suspiciously similar looking to its existing residential towers nearby: Twelve Atlantic Station, The Atlantic, SkyHouse and SkyHouse South. Agree?

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

23 Responses

  1. More Novarre GARBAGE. How the city of Atlanta allows ANY developer to build copy cat structures in its most important areas is beyond me. There are currently THREE Skyhouses in Atlanta and another on the way. Its atrocious. This would NEVER be allowed in great cities like Boston, London, Chicago. They are polluting the skyline with this crap and nobody cares because in Atlanta we let developers do what they want. The NPU, the city council and our mayor should be ashamed of themselves. These structures will be part of the skyline for decades! Pathetic.

  2. You seem to be confusing “run of the mill architecture” — which all cities have, including the three you randomly plucked out of thin air — with “great architecture” which almost all cities have, some more than others. “Garbage” on the other hand is what goes in a landfill, and “hyperbole” is a literary device you use too much of.

  3. These structures are so boring! The first couple of them were ok, but midtown Atlanta is becoming a sea of lackluster glass and concrete structures. It’s sad reall, especially when there is so much opportunity for doing something grand architecturally for the greater community. Novare has successfully created the modern day Soviet-styled residential package.

  4. “This would NEVER be allowed in great cities like Boston, London, Chicago”

    Why do we keep comparing ourselves to other cities like Boston, London, Chicago? Those are very different cities in different climates, different markets, and different continents? Yes, there are Skyhouses coming up across the country – mostly in TX, Atlanta, and Florida locations – but you’re thinking these will be the only things built from now on….get a grip these projects are popping up because they work in the economic sense to get financing. There are countless other more interesting projects in various design phases ready to “tower” over these and provide some competition – or let alone block the view of these from other points in the city.

    Novare’s only taking advantage in speculative apartment towers- that’s it – he’s not creating place – he’s only creating infill and density. Since we’re pulling out of the recession financers know this “pro-forma” works, but at some point they will oversaturate the market with the Skyhouse brand and will be forced to change.

    As far as anyone’s concerned most of the Novare projects are already background to the other commercial towers where they have popped up. All the cities you listed have what many would call “background” buildings where you start to see a TON of similarities from different eras of population growth – New York City alone houses countless areas with housing blocks of repetitive mid-high rise projects from various decades past. But you’re not looking for those in other cities because there’s too much density to warrant attention to another Skyhouse.

  5. Obviously the optimist has not been to Boston lately. Atlanta is a great city, however there are so many factors that influence the collective characteristics of any city. There must be a unity between form and function, let’s focus on the ever increasing need for urban housing options. There are so many negative post across the web, let’s be a part of the solution, not part of the problem, no municipality is perfect, just as our legal system, our governing bodies do the best they can within the limitations of there resources and what they know, let’s help them not criticize them. I have been all around this country and world and I can tell you we have a beautiful city, with awesome architecture and are experiencing phenomenal growth, from ponce city market, to krog street market, to buckhead Atlanta, what city has all of this going at once. I am just moving here and I have noticed immediately, not enough hometown pride, in other cities they celebrate the good and seek to repair the breaches. We have much to be greatful for, a strong economy, number 17 in the world, an evolving skyline, num seven in the country, great historical depth and richness. Let’s build,destroy, we have a lot to be proud of. Let’s help build this great city, helping our elected officials and public safety, trust me the grass is not greener on the other side, no city or person is perfect. And please relook at Boston’s skyline, we have downtown, midtown and buckhead. Let’s be real people

  6. The next person that pulls urbanization out of his/her hind parts, I will have a cow, let me break it down so that it will forever be broken, you can’t urbanize a city, by definition urbanization occurs when a suburban market, this is happening in perimeter and Cumberland as we speak, achieves the momentous run towards the characteristic density of an urban core, stop using this to compare us to San Francisco, Boston etc, the driving force behind this type of development is the lack of marketable land, parcels etc to develop within the confines of the central business district (s). This has not been an issue for Atlanta in the past due to the expansive land available and ever expanding sprawl, but that is changing. Atlanta is Atlanta, let’s appreciate that, and celebrate the changes.

  7. They are cheaply built and aesthetically unappealing. A few wouldn’t be too bad. But like the other commenter stated, all of midtown will be littered with these identical structures. Lame.

    I remember visiting the Twelve in Atlantic Station. I was in a bedroom. The residents of a nearby unit can sit on their terrace and look directly at me, in my bedroom.

    Also, examine Novare buildings’ exteriors — and interiors. I’ve visited several Novare buildings. They reek of cheapness. The “one bedrooms” in the Twelves are a joke.

    They’re letting them take over Atlanta. As cosmopolitan as it want’s to be, Atlanta is still backwards and the powers that be need some help in the urban planning department.

  8. Sophie, please get your facts straight, the city has nothing to do with that facet of development. Also I am up there all of the time and that is not true. Lastly known of us are in position to develop a single thing on these lots, if you do then do it, produce a better design. If not be glad for the development in progress, there are many awesome designs in the works. So negative, my God

  9. Maybe Novare builds these skyscrapers in a factory and assembles them like Lego blocks? If they don’t, they have missed an opportunity. It would be much easier to slap up a copycat building in a prefab manner.

    They have managed to turn the Atlanta skyline into an uninspired sea of blue glass and cement. 25 years from now we will look at these buildings the same we do the 1960s and 1970s monoliths along Peachtree Road today.

  10. I understand not being impressed with cookie-cutter designs, but unlike all the other developers who propose buildings and can’t get shit rolling at least Novare is capable of creating developments they actually can build. I’d much rather have more density than have the plot remain an einsteins and a couple restaurants/shops. At least this Skyhouse has nicer exterior finish that matches the taller Atlantic buildings.

  11. I love all the apologists for Novarre’s crappy work on this site as well as those who think that we should just be happy for development of any kind no matter of ill-advised or uninformed it is. Great cities (yes, great cities like Boston, London, and Chicago and let me throw in Paris, Istanbul, Tokyo, Barcelona, Charleston, Prague, etc) are very careful with their development. They don’t let developers run amok and build whatever they like. They are cognizant of the fact that once a building goes up it remains a facet of the city’s skyline for decades and decades. That the city of Atlanta allows Novarre to put up THREE copies of the SAME building in its city is simply unconscionable. People are obsessed with just filling up empty lots and will allow unscrupulous and unimaginative developers to do what they like, but that is completely stupid. Your desire to not see an empty lot is not as important as making sure that what goes there is good for the long term. Novarre wants to save on architectural renderings so it maxes out its profits and makes copy-cats. Meanwhile, people around the world look at that and laugh. Even if they were not copying and pasting their buildings in the city, the buildings they do put up are ugly. Ask anyone with a sense of architectural vision or education if they think the concrete, glass, and cheap aluminum trash they put up is considered aesthetically pleasing. Take ViewPoint as an example. They slapped it together and could not rent out the storefronts to save their lives because the storefronts were ugly and cheap. The owners of the space finally had to do a complete overhaul of that space to attract tenants. In 20 years people will look at some of our great architecture (like the Bank of America Tower, The Healy Building, the towers on 14th and downtown) and then wonder who the idiot was who approved “Skyhouse” and “Spire” They will also wonder why the city did not establish green zones anywhere along Peachtree St. The answer is that the city wants density so they can collect real estate taxes. IF they were smart they would have bought up some of the lots on Peachtree and established mini-parks. The only real green space on Peachtree is in front of the Atlanta Fed real Reserve (and its beautiful), but that is because the Federal government understands such things (and why Washington DC is so unique). Also, where is the investment public art? These are the things that make a city great.

    Why do I computer us to other cities? Because we should take a lesson from them and try to be better instead of pouting and saying “go live there if you don’t like it” Give me a break.

  12. It’s pretty pathetic and lazy that this is what they continue to build. On one hand I commend them for building and on the other hand I absolutely loathe them because they don’t care about the legacy they are creating by plopping down the exact same building over and over again. Oh, so you colored this one bronze and used 435 little spire things on the roof instead of 378 like the other buildings. The core / body of the building is the same as the others.

  13. Yes, I hate complaining about any future projects because the red-neck South desperately needs a little urbanization, but Novarre- please think about firing your architectural team. This series of Soviet-style(except for the awful blue Miami glass) buildings you keep erecting are not just not eye-pleasing. And yes, the City Council should reject plans that do nothing to give a neighborhood character. Good architecture makes life better.

  14. Remember the plans for a distinctive looking 17th street bridge for midtown, that didn’t materialize? I’m afraid the city has a rubber stamp approach to growth & other subjects. Who cares, right??

  15. For all the folks complaining about style of architecture, guess you were not around midtown during the mid seventies. Shut up and realize there is now real residential development around a Marta station, that will take 300-400 cars off the road.

  16. @Tree68 Do you work for Novarre? That’s right. We should all shut up and take it from Novarre and other lousy developers who want to pollute our skyline because these buildings are better than what was here 40 years ago. I love how people in this town are so passive about what developers do here and act like we should kiss their backsides for doing us the honor of making money off of developing OUR city. What sheep you are.

    I have a better idea. Maybe you should take your own advice, get out of the way, and let those of us who want Atlanta to be a great city hold these people and our politicians accountable for what they are building here. Then in 40 years you can brag about how great the architecture is instead of how crappy it is.

  17. tree68 is absolutely right.

    The whole idea that Atlanta has a world class skyline that is ruined by the existence of multiple buildings with similar tops is ludicrous. EVERY BIG CITY is full of buildings which look more or less alike. If Urbane Optimist’s point of view actually prevailed nothing at all would be built here. Allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good is the very definition of being in the way.

    Stop concentrating on buildings looking alike. If you want to influence the city’s development for the better, you should complain about how these buildings meet the street and contribute to a liveable urban environment at sidewalk level. That’s where it matters because we have concrete evidence that builders are seeing their sidewalk level mistakes and wanting to correct them (see the facelift at Viewpoint). You have a chance of convincing the right people there, and getting them to change course.

    Nobody is going to hire Calatrava to design every new apartment building in Atlanta just to please some ammature architecture critics and we wouldn’t want them to. If we can finally get developers thinking about how things work at street level in a real city, we will be on our way to becoming one.

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