Exploring Buckhead’s changing cityscape in 16 photos

Midtown might get the recognition as Atlanta’s development epicenter right now, but don’t sleep on Buckhead.

From the Brookhaven border to the southern reaches of the Village, the built environment of Buckhead is rapidly changing, swapping underused land and suburban-style structures dependent on surface parking for density.

For this installment of the Visual Journeys series, have a look yourself as part of this quick development tour. If you haven’t been to Buckhead for a couple of years (or a few months), it just might surprise.

Beginning at a corner (above) that’s been called the “Welcome Mat” to Brookhaven—or a gateway to north Buckhead, in the opposite direction—this mid-rise project marketed for medical office use is replacing a drive-to Subway restaurant and stand of trees.

In the 3900 block of Peachtree Road, it neighbors a building of similar stature completed two years ago that houses a Walgreens retailer and Piedmont Healthcare office space. The latter project had faced years of community resistance and legal challenges in Brookhaven before finally moving forward in 2015.

Developer Jay Gipson of The Gipson Company has described the design to The Brookhaven Post as “timeless and classic.”

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Years in the making, AMLI’s multi-pronged remake of 16 acres near Lenox Square has rounded into shape since we last visited.

An Oak Valley portion of the project (tower and mid-rise) has joined the adjacent AMLI 3464 to bring the area more than 1,000 new residences.

Rents in the newer, mid-rise buildings range between $1,530 for one-bedrooms to some two-bedroom units fetching just shy of $3,000, according to Apartments.com. The five-story building above acts as a gateway from Roxboro Road.

The communal nucleus of the entire development is a greenspace, Marie Sims Park, that opened in 2015 with a flood-controlling water feature and lawn.

AMLI took the former development site of CityPlace—a pre-recession mega proposal that was to include at least six condo towers with nearly 4,000 residential units.

A tower and mid-rise section at AMLI 3464 opened in 2016, a clear signal the Lenox Square area was ripe for investment dollars that have subsequently come.

Not all investment’s been private, as evidenced by this multi-use trail neighboring AMLI’s apartments that stretches for about a mile, from Roxboro Road to the Gordon C. Bynum pedestrian bridge. It broke ground in late 2017.

Funded by the Renew Atlanta bond package, the trail project is a joint effort by the City of Atlanta, MARTA, and the Buckhead Community Improvement District.

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Smaller architectural changes have altered the corner of Peachtree and Wieuca roads, where Ecco restaurant opened in November. Behind it, the AC Hotel by Marriott Atlanta Buckhead at Phipps Plaza debuted three years ago.

The corner formerly hosted trees and a fanciful “Phipps Plaza” sign.

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Moving around the mall, where the property’s backside is expected to have a more welcoming entrance feel, some 18,000 tons of concrete and 200 tons of asphalt have removed (all set to be repurposed, per developers) for Phipps’s mixed-use overhaul.

Robert De Niro was on hand to mark the beginning of the end for Belk and surrounding infrastructure last October.

Simon

New Phipps facets will include an 800-space, five-level parking deck as well as the 150-room Nobu Hotel and the 10,000-square-foot Nobu Atlanta Restaurant (which De Niro cofounded).

Elsewhere at the redevelopment, expect a three-level, 90,000-square-foot “healthy living and entertainment destination” by Life Time, replete with a club offering yoga and cycle classes, a full-service spa, a cafe, kids academy, and rooftop pool and beach club.

The office component—One Phipps Plaza (shown in glass above)—will be a 13-story, 350,000-square-foot Class A building with a three-story parking garage, per project leaders.

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Farther south on Lenox Road, the backside of Icon Buckhead (in the distance, at center above) is having finishing touches applied to its sweeping roof design.

The 35-story, 361-apartment project replaced one of Atlanta’s most recognizable brutalist buildings, the former Second Church of Christ, Scientist.

It’s the subdistrict’s tallest tower to rise in a decade.

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A seven-story building under construction with cars passing in front of it.

Where Lenox and Piedmont roads intersect, the initial piece of Atlanta’s latest Modera-branded Mill Creek Residential project is materializing.

The Buckhead Loop venture is bringing more than 300 rentals and some 21,000 square feet of retail in a seven-story apartment complex.

Mill Creek Residential

As reported earlier this year, the second phase of Modera Prominence could bring a 22-story tower with 407 apartments to the area, according to paperwork filed with the city last winter.

Rendering: SK+I Architecture

The development’s Lenox Road frontage will also link to PATH400, the growing, multi-use trail strung along Ga. Highway 400.

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Heading back toward Peachtree on Piedmont Road, a more modest lodging option for the neighborhood, Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Buckhead Place, debuted last year.

A newer addition at the building’s base is a third outpost for local cajun restaurant Louisiana Bistreaux, now hiring. Other locations operate in Decatur and at the airport.

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Entering the commercial core of Buckhead Village, ritzy condo development The Charles now lords over Peachtree, with a large glass pool wall offering a unique touch.

Formerly home to a one-story commercial building and a sea of parking, the site is just north of The Shops Buckhead Atlanta development, which dramatically changed the character of the neighborhood when it opened a few years ago.

At last check, prices for the 57 Charles condos were expected to range from $1.3 to north of $4 million. According to the project website, closings began last month.

Another component is 26,000 square feet of retail space.

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On Roswell Road, the swanky Hanover Buckhead apartments are getting a neighbor of almost equal stature (one story shorter) on a site that was most recently a surface parking lot.

Designed by architecture firm The Preston Partnership and under development with Lennar Corporation, the 20-story building will feature 291 residences and 6,800 square feet of retail, officials have said.

Design/rendering: The Preston Partnership

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Henry Irby, the man widely believed to have founded Buckhead in the 1800s, is soon to be honored by an apartment complex on a street named after him.

Surrounded by Buckhead’s bar scene at 61 Irby Avenue, Alliance Residential’s “The Irby” is bringing 12 stories with 277 rentals.

The Irby has topped out on what used to be the location of the popular Henri’s Bakery, which has since relocated to Andrews Square.

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Lastly, back on Peachtree and heading south, two neighboring projects have brought a new dimension to Buckhead’s skyline, along the southern reaches of the Village.

At left is another Mill Creek Residential venture, Modera Buckhead, with 21 stories and almost 400 new apartments. Rents start at $1,780 for a one-bedroom.

Beside that is The Sutton, a project (also 21 stories) once planned as upscale condos that changed course last year to become 151 rentals.