Environment
Monarchs slow-dance to Mexico as numbers dwindleDecember 2, 2024
By David Pendered
June 13 – The questions developers have asked about Atlanta’s plan to flip the 2 Peachtree office tower into housing shine a light into their thoughts on how the deal might come together.
A five-page document lists 52 questions submitted by potential redevelopment partners, along with responses from Invest Atlanta. The city’s redevelopment arm is overseeing the 2 Peachtree project and disclosing information on the project’s website.
While this information is available, the identity remains sealed of any companies that submitted to a city agency their qualifications to do the job. The deadline for responses was June 9.
An Invest Atlanta spokesman said Monday the agency is not releasing the names of respondents because the names are part of a pending real estate project. Georgia law provides that local governments don’t have to reveal certain details of pending real estate projects.
Here are five examples take from the document:
Q: “What is the city proposing as far as other grants, Atlanta Housing authority assistance, other tax abatements, or otherwise to bridge the market rate gap in addition to LITHC, New Market Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits etc.
- A: “Invest Atlanta has a broad set of financial tools that may be applied to projects on a case-by- case basis. For additional information, please refer to [a project website].
Q: “How does the city expect the phasing of the delivery of units to be delivered? Number of phases, timing, timing for student housing versus affordable housing etc.
- A: “Invest Atlanta is seeking input from the development community on this question related to phasing and the integration of various use components.
Q: “What is Invest Atlanta’s capacity and/or to guaranty loans, bonds, financial instruments etc. in order to deliver the project.
- A: “To be further discussed during the RFP stage.
Q: “Do you all have a current schedule for the improvements being made at Five Points MARTA and Broad Street Plaza?
- A: “Refer to https://www.fivepointstransformation.com for current MARTA improvement plans and schedule.
Q: “With the new upper development of the 5 Points Station, is there any direct tie-in subgrade or above grade that might be possible?
- A: “Invest Atlanta encourages respondent creativity in connecting to the new Five Point Station.”
The next deadline affects the public. June 23 is the due date for public responses to requests for ideas about the reuse of more than 100,000 square feet on the first five floors of the building. These responses are to be made public in late June, according to Invest Atlanta’s Request for Ideas – which includes information on submitting ideas.
The conversion of 2 Peachtree from office to residential and potential office or mixed use stems from Atlanta’s efforts to increase the number of homes in the city. Some units are to be affordable, though terms are yet to be determined. The city purchased the structure and surrounding properties from the state with the intent to provide additional housing in the historic heart of Downtown Atlanta and near the planned Centennial Yards Atlanta, a mixed use development west of MARTA’s Five Points Station.
These early steps in the 2 Peachtree project are part of an emerging national conversation about flipping office buildings into residences.
Conversions are a potential solution to two emerging urban challenges: Declining property values, and tax revenues, as tenants reduce their demand amid hybrid work schedules; and a shortage of housing. The issue filled an entire Special Briefing hosted March 30 by the Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research.
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