29-Story Residential Tower to Rise in Midtown Atlanta

Modera Midtown will be a new 29-story high-rise apartment complex located in Atlanta’s art and technology district, the city's second-largest business center.

The mixed-use community at 90 Peachtree Place is being developed by Dallas-based Mill Creek Residential.

The development will feature 435 luxury apartment homes spanning 29 floors in Midtown, a neighborhood perched between the financial district of Buckhead to the north and the commercial district of Downtown to the south.

Bounded by 8th Street, Williams Street and Peachtree Place, the apartment tower will be in close proximity to Technology Square, which soon will be the new home of NCR Corp.

The tech giant recently agreed to a 15-year lease to occupy a new $200-million, 485,000-square-feet high-rise tower, which will be completed in 2018. The move will create as many as 4,000 new jobs across the street from the new community.

Once complete, Modera Midtown will consist of 488,000 square feet devoted to residences and 12,300 square feet for commercial space. Included is retail space on the street-facing sides of the ground floor.

The development is a one-minute walk from the MARTA Midtown Station and offers unblocked views of Downtown, Midtown, and the Georgia Tech campus, which is less than a block away.

Upon completion, the building will consist of 1- and 2-bedroom apartments and a limited number of studio and 3-bedroom units.

The complex will contain a variety of upscale amenities, including an 1/8 mile running track elevated nearly 100 feet above street level, expansive courtyards, two resort-inspired pools, sky lounge, yoga studio, fitness center, business center and rooftop terraces.

The above-ground parking structures will include multiple car-charging stations for electric cars.

Outdoor amenities will be found in three separate locations – the rooftop, the seventh floor and the 26th floor.

A dog park and grooming station, in addition to the sky lounge, are part of the rooftop layout. Multiple outdoor bars and grilling stations, movie lawn, and a pool will be available on the seventh floor.

A second rooftop pool with a hydraulic lap lane is nested on the 26th floor.

This project follows very closely on the heels of Mill Creek's Atlanta debut of Modera Morningside, a 300-unit apartment project at 1845 Piedmont Ave just off Cheshire Bridge Road in Morningside.

The Modera Midtown tower will be a welcome addition to the Atlanta skyline.

$4B American Dream Miami will be Largest Mall in the U.S.

The American Dream is alive and well in the minds of mega-developer Triple Five Group. The family-owned conglomerate, is preparing to build the nation’s largest shopping mall and entertainment complex on more than 200 acres of former cow pasture by Interstate 75 and Florida’s Turnpike, near Hialeah in northwestern Miami-Dade County. 

The massive $4 billion project is being backed by the developer of the Mall of America in Minnesota, presently the largest entertainment and retail complex in the United States.

Some of the components include a 16-story indoor ski slope, a 20-slide water park, a submarine ride in a man-made salt water lake with an artificial reef, a climate-controlled theme park, a 14-screen 3-D movie theater, a performing arts center, a 2,000-room hotel and much, much more.

The mall would also have 3.5 million square feet of retail space. In contrast, Aventura Mall, the third-largest mall in the U.S. and Florida’s biggest, has 2.7 million square feet of retail.

When completed, American Dream Miami encompass 6.2 million square feet, making it the largest shopping mall and entertainment complex in the United States.

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The project is expected to create some 25,000 construction jobs, 9,500 permanent jobs, and will provide a historic boost to the county’s economy.

The mega-mall would add $1.36 billion in taxable value and generate $1.6 billion in annual sales of goods, services and leases. That would generate $48.5 million in revenue for local taxing authorities, such as the county and the school board, and $93.6 million in sales tax for the state.

Triple Five Group hopes to break ground in early 2017 and complete the project in late 2019.

The Canadian-based development company is controlled by the billionaire Ghermezian family, which has ventures in real estate development, solar energy, oil drilling, vehicle manufacturing and mining.

This will not be the family’s first super-mall. In 1981, Triple Five built the 5.3 million-square-foot West Edmonton Mall in Alberta. Now the largest mall in North America, West Edmonton Mall has a giant water park, carnival rides, a casino and other forms of amusement.

In 1992 the Ghermezians had co–developed the 4.2 million-square-foot Mall of America in Minnesota, with an aquarium and the Nickelodeon Universe theme park among its features.

The Mall of America is the largest shopping mall in the United States; Triple Five recently broke ground on a $325 million project to expand it further.

Triple Five is also constructing American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a 4.8-million-square-foot retail and entertainment facility near MetLife Stadium.

Using $2.5 billion in private bond money and $1 billion from the state of New Jersey, Triple Five will be building hundreds of stores, dozens of restaurants, a 12-story-tall ski slope, a 200-foot drop ride, a giant aquarium and a water park.

39-Story Residential Tower Planned for Midtown Atlanta

The Related Group is preparing to construct a new 39-story mixed-use residential tower at the corner of West Peachtree Street and 14th Street in Midtown Atlanta.

The building, which will include 390 luxury apartments and 6,500 square feet of retail space, will be the tallest residential tower project built in Atlanta since 2009.

The upscale property will feature a 72,000-square-foot multi-level Whole Foods Market, a pool terrace with club room amenities and a fire pit terrace on the 39th floor.

Situated at the gateway to Atlanta’s Arts District, Piedmont Park and the Midtown business district, the new skyscraper will be anchored by Atlanta’s largest Whole Foods Market -- which will include a pub, microbrewery and cooking school -- in addition to a variety of neighborhood restaurants.

The developer has selected Balfour Beatty Construction to build its new skyscraper. The project marks The Related Group’s entry into the Atlanta market.

Designed by architecture firm Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart, the project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2018.

Atlanta designer Michael Habachy will complete the interiors, including "a grand rooftop club room, state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen, luxurious South Beach-themed 10th floor pool and more,” according to the developer.

Atlanta-based architecture firm Phillips Partnership, which specializes in hospitality, multi-family, retail and mixed-use projects, will design the Whole Foods Market.

The Related Group is also planning another residential tower with 386 units and two stories of commercial space, at Peachtree and Stratford roads in Buckhead, next to the new MARTA pedestrian bridge and train station.

Currently, Related has more than 50 projects in development, according to a statement from the company.
 

Hard Rock to Build 800-Room Guitar-Shaped Hotel & Casino

The oversized guitar has long been a beacon for the Hard Rock Casino chain, but the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood is looking to take to take that iconic symbol to new heights.

Plans for a colossal guitar-shaped hotel tower stretching 34 stories and containing 800 rooms were unveiled this week during a news conference with Gov. Rick Scott.

The tower is the feature attraction in the Seminole Tribe's $1.8 billion expansion plans. The structure looks every bit a guitar in scale but doesn't have a neck.

"We could have easily just built some rectangular building ... but the tribe is once again trying to create something that is iconic, that creates international tourism coming to Florida," said Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen. "We truly believe that that design alone will create additional tourism."

The expansion plans, contingent on the Legislature's approval of a deal brokered between the tribe and the governor, include the hotel tower and restaurants. The expansion is expected to bring nearly 20,000 jobs to Florida, the Seminoles said.

The hotel will increase the complex's rooms to 1,273 and add five new restaurants, a buffet and nightclub at its complex on U.S. 441 north of Sterling Road.

The tribe is committed to rivaling Las Vegas and other casino destinations around the world. "We truly think this will rival not only anything in Florida, but Atlantis and anything in the world," Allen said, pointing to an artist rendering on an easel.

The expansion includes spending almost $100 million on swimming pool space, Allen said. The plan adds a second pool and new pool bar. "Florida is about pools and the beaches and the ocean."

He said that while the aim is to create a destination that will continue to attract crowds many years from now, the expansion doesn't stretch far beyond the casino's current footprint.

While Allen focused on the Hollywood expansion, he also discussed plans for the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, which will have new poker rooms, stores and restaurants.

The Tampa hotel and casino will also add a new tower with 500 hotel rooms and a live entertainment venue with up to 2,000 seats.

For the more affluent gamblers, there will be a helipad.

Scott asked numerous questions during the presentation. His verdict at the end: "Impressive."

Several business owners who work with the Seminole Tribe stood at a microphone and discussed how their businesses had been affected by the casinos.

A flower shop owner who started working with the Seminoles in 2010, said her business has grown from five employees to more than 100 full-and part-time employees. She said she buys and installs over 35,000 flowers annually at the casino.

From the onset, the emphasis was jobs. "It would be devastating" if the proposed deal doesn't pass.
Scott rehashed the numbers: 3,800 jobs lost if the gambling deal isn't signed and 4,800 direct and indirect jobs created, outside of construction jobs, if it passes.

The gambling deal would bring $3 billion to the state over the next seven years. In return, the Seminoles would get the exclusive right to have roulette, craps and other table games in its seven casinos.

The deal also caps the number of slots and tables casinos can have, but critics point out that the caps are so large they are essentially meaningless, including a 6,000-slot limit at any one casino.

The agreement also states that the Legislature can approve new casinos in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, a limited amount of blackjack tables in parimutuels and even allowing the race tracks to stop racing and simply operate as casinos.

Massive Development Planned by Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody

A massive mixed-use development, known as High Street, will soon begin to rise across the street from the Dunwoody MARTA station, near the under construction State Farm campus. The project, which has been in the works for more than a year at the intersection of Hammond Drive and Perimeter Center Parkway, is just one of many that promise to bring density to the area previously dominated by Perimeter Mall, the epitome of 'suburbanization'.

Renderings from Boston-based GID Urban Development, offer a glimpse at a mini-city, complete with office high-rises and six-story apartments atop retail, all surrounding a large linear park.

The posh buildings offer an eclectic array of styles.

The 42-acre High Street development is conceived as a premier mixed-use project that will transform Atlanta's Perimeter Center area and become its urban heart.

High Street will provide a sophisticated mix of high-, mid- and low-rise buildings that integrate residential, retail, restaurant, office, hotel and parking uses with signature open spaces.

The project's master plan takes shape around a dynamic public space that forms the social core of the community.

A series of internal districts emphasize the kind of variety in architectural style and programmatic use that distinguishes authentically memorable urban settings.

Tree-lined streets and wide sidewalks accentuate the project's respect for pedestrians, deftly weaving High Street into the surrounding city.

Based on LEED Neighborhood Development principles, the project demonstrates a consistent commitment to green building and smart growth.

Upon completion, High Street will feature:

• 8 million square feet of mixed-use space
• 400,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space
• 3,000 residential units
• 1 million square feet of Class-A office space
• 750 hotel rooms
• 8,500 parking spaces
• New streets, landscaped promenades, signature parks and plazas

Energizing its living and work dynamic, High Street includes a distinctive retail and restaurant scene that will draw residents, workers, consumers and visitors.

Its adjacency to the local MARTA rail system will make High Street a destination attraction and an icon of sustainable, transit-oriented development.

Developer Plans Massive $700M Atlanta River Walk Project

ARW Group, a joint venture between Peachtree City developer Jorge Duran and the Foxfield Co., plans to build Atlanta River Walk, a $700 million mixed-use destination in Braselton, Georgia.

The 508-acre development, located just northwest of Chateau Elan off Georgia Route 211, will be centered around a man-made “river” and will resemble water-centric developments such as San Antonio River Walk and Oklahoma City Bricktown.

The project will include 265 single-family homes, 215 townhomes, 600 multifamily units, 242,000 square feet of retail space and 424,000 square feet of office space. Plans also call for a 200-room boutique hotel, 20,000-square-foot convention center, 50,000-square-foot grocery store and 60,000-square-foot theater and an outdoor amphitheater.

The centerpiece is a nearly mile-long water feature that curves through the project, along with an International Village featuring restaurants and retail. The waterfront village will feature international restaurants and high-end shopping.

A  man-made river will flow through a large park and house a "Tree of Life" – a larger-than-life LED fountain and art exhibit which serves as the focal point of the destination. The Atlanta River Walk will also include over 100 acres of green space with parks, art installations, walking trails, rivers, streams, lakes and lots of room for more fun in the future.

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“Atlanta doesn’t have a lot of water front destinations. People love being near a river, a lake or an ocean,” Duran, principal of ARW Group, said in an announcement.

“We will create a one-of-a-kind destination by constructing a man-made feature similar to a river and surrounding it with world-class mixed-use development.”

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Atlanta River Walk will be situated near Chateau Elan and Road Atlanta and straddle the county line between Hall and Jackson counties.

ARW Group created the master plan in collaboration with Wakefield Beasley Architects and engineering firm Atwell Group.

The project team also includes Road Atlanta and the city of Braselton.
  

Disney World Builds Happiest Solar Project on Earth

A new solar farm right outside the gates of Disney World and Epcot Center is causing quite a stir. Over the past year, Duke Energy built the 22-acre installation which features 48,000 photovoltaic panels arranged to look like the head of Mickey Mouse.
 
Equivalent in size to about 1,000 residential rooftop solar systems, the panels will bring peak output of about 5 megawatts of power generation to the resort and its partners.

The solar array will be operated by Duke Energy, which will sell the alternative energy to Reedy Creek Improvement District to help meet the power needs of Walt Disney World Resort and its other customers, such as Four Seasons Resort and the hoteliers along Hotel Plaza Boulevard.

But this green energy project at the Happiest Place on Earth is 50 years in the making.

In the mid-1960's, when Walt Disney selected 25,000 acres of mostly uninhabited swampland and forest to build his second theme park, the area was so remote that the nearest power and water lines were 10 to 15 miles away.

Furthermore, the property straddled 2 separate counties and neither of the counties had the services or resources needed to support a resort of that size.

The solution proposed by the Florida State Legislature, working with the Walt Disney World Company, was to create a special tax district called the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

This new district would act with the same authority and responsibility as a county government. A county government with just one tenant that is, because the Walt Disney Corporation would be solely responsible for paying the cost of providing typical municipal services like power, water, roads, fire protection, etc.

The cherry on top that sealed the deal was that local taxpayers, meaning residents of Orange and Osceola County, would not have to pay for building or maintaining those services, making it a win-win for everyone.

Fast-forward to 2015. As part of Disney’s efforts to make its resorts more environmentally sustainable, a 5-megawatt solar facility project was announced.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District accepted a fifteen-year power agreement with Duke Energy. Under the agreement, Duke Energy will lease the land from The Walt Disney Corporation and Disney will purchase the solar power from Duke.

This is another example of private industries working with local government.

Duke Energy has also said it aims to add up to 500 megawatts of additional solar energy to Florida by 2024.

The five megawatts facility is the largest solar-power project at Disney World and caused quite a stir with its unusual shape: Mickey Mouse.

Unusual perhaps for a solar plant, but quite fitting for the "Happiest Place on Earth", who can now boast of having the "Happiest Solar Project on Earth”.