North American Properties’ proposed Avalon development landed a stellar tenant in the form of Whole Foods, but now it’s obtained something even more momentous: planning approval by Alpharetta City Council. In a few years, the site at GA 400 and Old Milton Parkway that’s been a giant mud pie for the past four years could become a mixed-use tour de force of retail, restaurants, homes (single family, townhomes, and apartments), offices, and hotels. That is, if all goes as planned. Some residents of the North Fulton ‘burb had a bit of an issue with North American’s amount of apartments proposed for the site, so the developer had to do a little maneuvering. Although the details haven’t been released, North American has put forth a plan to trade the use of some of its commercial space in the project with another developer’s rights to build apartments. Problem solved, right? The issue is that Alpharetta currently has no transfer of development rights (TDR) ordinance on the books, meaning that any deal made would come up before City Council for a vote. Groans have already been heard from the citizenry about setting a dangerous precedent with such tactics; that 2013 opening date seems overly optimistic.
· Alpharetta Approves Avalon Development [AJC]
· Transferring Apartment Rights No Sure Thing for Avalon [Alpharetta-Milton Patch]
· Avalon [Facebook]