Brookhaven considers annexing LaVista Park as neighbors seek development input

The City of Brookhaven is considering annexing a significant piece of the North Druid Hills area, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The small, thin city today extends north of Interstate 85 up to the I-285 Perimeter.

Just south of its reaches is the LaVista Park neighborhood, and on Wednesday, Brookhaven’s planning commission is set to discuss making that community part of the city, the paper reported.

The annexation effort is propelled by a request from the LaVista Park Civic Association, which has argued that incorporating the 330-acre neighborhood into Brookhaven would give its residents more say in the ongoing developments of Emory University’s and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s medical campuses, per Reporter Newspapers.

Currently part of unincorporated DeKalb County, the neighborhood has lacked a “seat at the table” in talks regarding CHOA’s development, LPCA president Larry Hoskins told the publication.

If the annexation proceeds, Brookhaven’s southern border would extend down to LaVista Road, and the local government would assume jurisdiction of 601 single-family residences, two multifamily developments, eight commercial properties, four office and institutional parcels, and five industrial parcels.

In October, Emory broke ground on its 180,000-square-foot Musculoskeletal Institute, one facet of the planned $1 billion, mixed-use overhaul of Executive Park, just south of where North Druid Hills Road meets Interstate 85.

Nearby, CHOA is in the process of developing a $1.3 billion hospital, which is expected to open in 2025 featuring nearly 450 beds, two “patient towers,” a diagnostics and treatment podium, and a medical office building.

The Brookhaven City Council is expected to discuss the annexation proposal during a December 10 meeting.