Brookhaven's odds of becoming a bona fide city are up in the air until tomorrow's vote, but physically there's no doubt it's headed in a more urban direction. Consider the planning victory back in June when the Dekalb County Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a plan for a standard suburban bank branch on Peachtree Road. The requested variances would have flown in the face of the Brookhaven Overlay District's standards which seek to guide redevelopment in the sprawly area's main corridors with traditional urban forms; the land owner is now said to be considering a building of mixed uses that meets the sidewalk.
Speaking of crazed apartment construction, two complexes going up behind the MARTA station on Dresden Drive are set to make that thoroughfare even more of a Main Street for Brookhaven and will concentrate multi-family housing where it should be: next to transit. Hines has a 215 unit rental project (their first in Atlanta) underway, while Wood Partners is looking to develop the 230 unit, four story Atla Brookhaven apartments directly next door. Add to that the hybrid form of Town Brookhaven, and it's apparent that Buckhead's neighbor to the north is growing up, literally.
· More shops, apartments targeted for downtown area [Reporter Newspapers]