Impact of Huge Roswell Road Multi-Use Project Concerns Councilwoman

New apartment developments are a hot commodity to developers but not necessarily to Sandy Springs City Councilwoman Karen Meinzen McEnerny.

“Apartments are favored [right now],” McEnerny told Patch. “That’s why developers are going that way. They are all rushing to meet the same demand. Every seven years it’s a boon or bust. That doesn’t mean that is what our community needs – to build right now along Roswell Road.”

McEnerny has mixed feelings about a large new development proposed by JLB Realty and Core Property Capital on Roswell Road near Windsor Parkway. Versailles and Chastain apartments would be demolished. In their place would be a commercial/retail development with a 550 to 700 unit luxury apartment community.

Buckheadview.com reports that plans call for 90,000 square feet of commercial/retail space and 30,000 square feet of office space.

McEnerny has said that she is concerned about how the mixed-use development will impact adjacent neighborhoods and traffic flow. It will also exacerbate the ratio of owner-occupied to rental housing in Sandy Springs, she said.

Patch does not have exact numbers, however McEnerny estimates renters account for 50 to 57 percent of occupied housing, meaning a heavy transient community that is not invested in how the City of Sandy Springs operates and its neighborhoods, she said.

“Other apartments are coming behind this one. How much our community do we want to give up,” she said.

McEnerny indicated that she be would more comfortable with 550 apartment units, which is closer to the number of units at the two apartment sites.  

“Some supporters say don’t look at units, look at bedrooms. These apartments were built in the late ‘60s for families. What they are building now is for Generation Xers - 10-foot-high ceilings, two bedrooms,” she said.

The developers are scheduled to appear at the Sandy Springs Design Review Board and the Community Developer Resolution meeting next week.

Buckheadview.com reports that Gordon Certain, president of the North Buckhead Civic Association, estimates the completed project will generate 10,000 new car trips per day to the area.

Sandy Springs City Council members are discussing a five-lane intersection at Roswell Road and Windsor Parkway to deal with traffic flow, if the project is ultimately approved in June. Depending on the plan alternatives, Popeyes or the former church building that was rezoned for a funeral home, last year, could go away, McEnerny said.

The Councilwoman says it’s been determined by city staff that the intersection would cost at least $4.4 million, which had been allocated to other road projects, and anything over that amount would be paid for by taxpayers.

“I want it to be truly a gateway project,” McEnerny said. “I’m still pleased with the direction of the plan but it’s still too dense and I’m choking on the cost to taxpayers. And I’m still very concerned about owner-occupied to renter.”

See also:

Inaccuracies in Comprehensive Plan Helps Cit Shift Strategies in Apartments Dilemma

Apartments Remain a Thorny Issue for Sandy Springs

Patch Commenter: Displacement Will Be Tough for Versailles Resident