The upside of commercial vacancies (not)
I suppose if you had a whole bunch of empty storefronts under your control and New Line Cinema came along and said, “Hey we’d like to film a Farrelly Brothers movie called ‘Hall Pass’ that stars Owen Wilson in your empty shops,” you’d say yes.
But isn’t it a bit sad that that’s how you’re using these empty shops, recession or no?
Isn’t a bit sad, and potentially a sign that your strategy isn’t working, if the only use one particular corner shop has seen is as a fake Borders and now a fake real estate office?
That’s what’s happening at Glenwood Park (above), the planned, new urbanist community between Grant Park and East Atlanta.
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More on 525 Moreland
Ben King at Terminal Station blog picks up on what I wrote about the proposed development at 525 Moreland in East Atlanta and adds some great information about the developer. Check it out!
Even if you don’t care about 525 Moreland, you should check out Terminal Station just to see a fantastic archival photo of one of Atlanta’s majestic old train stations — alas long gone.
As I mentioned on Ben’s blog, the proposed mixed-use development at the corner of Moreland and Glenwood avenues is of interest to me because I think it could be a good gateway to East Atlanta from the Glenwood Avenue neighborhoods of Ormewood Park and Glenwood Park. Plus it could begin the transformation of Moreland, which is just ugly and uninviting in that section (and most sections, actually).
In addition to the parcels on Moreland, the complex includes two houses on Glenwood Ave. that are just beyond saving.
People listen to me!
Last week, I was bemoaning the retail vacancies in Glenwood Park, where a Borders bookstore sign appeared briefly last month, but only because a film company was shooting a movie and I guess the shop was part of the script.
But today I saw a sign that says Snap Fitness is expanding its location there!
Clearly the gym folks saw my post here and thought, ‘We better expand!’
Right?
Ok, no. Not at all. Not even a little.
BUT, what a good omen. The sign announcing the expansion was in a large corner space on Glenwood Ave. (next to the gym’s current location) that appears to have been vacant since it was built (it’s raw inside).
And of course, it’s good news that a business can think about expanding in this economy. In fact, those cheeky Snap Fitness folks wrote on the sign: “We’re expanding so you don’t have to!” Good one!
The gym may be counting on the new apartment complex that’s going up on the opposite corner of Glenwood. More density should mean more businesses and services.
I’ll keep you posted on the comings and goings at Glenwood Park.
Now you see it, now you don’t (BORDERS)
Yesterday I wrote about a 325-unit luxury apartment complex that’s going up in Glenwood Park in southeast Atlanta. And it occurred to me that maybe with more buildings that boost the neighborhood’s density, the area might rate a Borders bookstore.
Now why would I think that?
Well, because briefly last month a Borders bookstore sign was attached to a building in Glenwood Park across from the Shed at Glenwood restaurant (and indeed across from the construction site for the new building).
Books were arranged in the window, the name was engraved on the door and workers appeared inside with ladders and other tools, as though they were setting up a bookshop.
At some point, they took down the sign, and removed a “B” from the BORDERS etched on the door (see the photo above). Now the door doesn’t even read “ORDERS.”
What a freakin’ tease.
I live a short walk away from Glenwood Park, a mixed-use, New Urbanist development near I-20. After I saw the sign on the building, I began to imagine the benefits of a large bookstore moving into “the hood.”
I was a bit skeptical — mainly because there are so many vacancies in Glenwood Park, and the other tenants are small, locally-owned businesses — not national big box chains.
So I went over to Perk, the coffee shop in Glenwood Park and asked if the Borders sign was too good to be true. “Yes,” said the guy behind the counter.
Construction starts on green building in SE Atlanta
Work in progress at 880 Glenwood Ave.
The five-acre plot of land at 880 Glenwood Ave. in Southeast Atlanta is now just a huge mound of dirt.
But by the end of next year, those five acres (see photo at left) will have morphed into a 325-unit luxury apartment complex that will also include retail (sound familiar?).
WSB Radio reported on this green development back in January. (The AJC also reported on it then).
Site preparation, including demolition of an existing low-slung 50s-era building, however, just began recently. The long narrow sliver of land actually runs behind the Shed At Glenwood restaurant in the Glenwood Park planned community off of I-20. The project abuts the Beltline, and fronts two streets, Glenwood and Bill Kennedy Way, also known as the Glenwood-Memorial Connector. The developer is Capital 33, which is working in conjunction with the Trust for Public Land.
What’s notable about the mixed-use development, in addition to the (expected) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, is density.
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