OT:Mixed-use complex could revitalize CDC area

[Guest guest]

I wonder how much of the requested budget will go to help fund this.

Mixed-use complex could revitalize CDC area

Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA*

By PAUL DONSKY

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/10/07

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/07/10/emor

y_0711.html

Some 30,000 people work on the Clifton Road corridor in central

DeKalb County, but you wouldn't know it from looking at the property

across from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's

sprawling headquarters, just north of Emory University.

An empty gravel lot sits next to a handful of aging, low-slung

apartment buildings. A motel is surrounded by a sea of asphalt. No

shops or restaurants are anywhere in sight. Street life is virtually

nonexistent.

But that could soon change. Emory is teaming with Atlanta-based

Cousins Properties to build a mixed-use complex on Clifton that will

include retail, restaurants and 872 condominiums and apartments, all

of it targeted to people who work or study in the area.

About 15 acres will be developed, including four five-story

buildings fronting Clifton with street-level retail space topped by

housing, said Goff, senior vice president of development with

Cousins. Plans also include a parklike " town square " at the center

of the project and at least three small plazas.

The DeKalb County Commission on Tuesday approved a request to rezone

the property, clearing the way for work to begin on the as-yet

unnamed development by early next year, Goff said.

O'Connor, a public health analyst at the CDC, said she'd

welcome more places to walk to in the area.

" We pretty much drive in in the morning and stay here until we

leave, because [driving] in and out is such a hassle, " said

O'Connor, 31. " I think if we had somewhere to walk to, a lot of us

would. "

She'd also consider living in the new development, eliminating a

frustrating commute.

" In the mornings, just to try to get into the CDC parking lot can

take about 10 minutes, " she said.

The huge labor force along Clifton provides a largely untapped

market, Goff said.

" There's very little housing options for them, " he said. " There's

been a lot of effort to house students, but this is the first time

to appeal to employees " who work in the area.

The project is significant for Emory, which is trying to create a

more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly off-campus environment.

The school is largely surrounded by leafy residential neighborhoods

and institutions like the CDC, leaving employees little option but

to jump in their cars to run errands or get lunch during the day. As

a result, local roads are often jammed and the area has become a

dangerous place to walk.

Emory and Cousins plan to bring neighborhood-level retail to the

area — perhaps a dry cleaner, a small food market, a hair salon —

and five to six upscale to casual restaurants, Goff said.

The project has several other notable features. About 20 percent of

the housing units will be priced to be affordable to average-wage

workers such as nurses. And it's the first development planned under

a new DeKalb County zoning classification designed to foster mixed-

use, pedestrian-friendly communities.