by Lisa R. Schoolcraft
Staff Writer
Atlanta's most prolific condominium developer is planning to build one of the city's tallest condo towers at Atlantic Station.
Novare Group Inc. will start construction this summer on a 40- to 50-story condo tower across 17th Street from its newly opened TWELVE Atlantic Station condo/hotel, said Nelson Sexton, senior vice president at R.J. Griffin & Co., the general contractor for those Novare projects.
Novare itself declined to comment on the project, as did Atlantic Station Vice President Brian Leary. Said Leary, "We have nothing signed, nothing agreed to."
But real estate sources who have heard about the deal say the upscale condo, a joint venture with Atlantic Station owner AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., will be called The Atlantic.
If The Atlantic tops out at 50 stories it "would be one of the tallest condos in the market," said David Tufts, executive vice president and founder of Coldwell Banker The Condo Store. The Four Seasons, a hotel with condos on 14th Street, is 53 stories.
Even at 40 stories, it would still have a commanding presence in the skyline. Some of the city's tallest condos include Buckhead Grand at 36 stories, Paramount at 39 stories and 300 Park Avenue at 39 stories, he said.
The project continues a remarkable run for Novare, which already has under construction:
Realm, a joint venture with Wood Partners LLC near Peachtree and Piedmont roads;
Gallery, a joint venture with Coro Realty Advisors LLC near the Roxy Theatre, and
TWELVE Centennial Park, another condo/hotel development.
The company also plans Trilogy, a joint venture with Robert C. "Robin" Loudermilk Jr. at 855 Peachtree St. in Midtown, the site of the former Backstreet nightclub. And it has 3.3 acres under contract at 3275 Peachtree Road, the site of a Joe Muggs coffee shop.
By the end of this year, Novare will have The Atlantic, Trilogy, and Gallery all under construction, said Sexton, the general contractor for those projects.
Realm is an $80 million, 29-story development featuring 406 condominiums atop 13,000 square feet of street-level retail space and 2,400 square feet of office space. Gallery is a 26-story, 207-unit development at Peachtree and Rumson roads.
Plans for Trilogy call for three residential towers, with the first 36-story, 380-unit tower scheduled to start in May, according to information from Midtown Alliance. The second and third tower will be 33 stories each and have 350 to 360 units, and are expected to begin construction in 2007. All three condo towers are expected to have ground-level retail space.
Novare hasn't filed a rezoning application for its new Atlantic Station condo because Atlantic Station was rezoned years ago as a single development, said Harry Boxler, who files development of regional impact applications for the city of Atlanta.
"It's highly doubtful it (the condo project) requires further rezoning," Boxler said. A building permit had not been issued as of March 29, a check of city records showed.
Bill Donges, CEO of fellow Atlantic Station condo developer Lane Co., said he has heard the Novare project is "coming soon," but didn't know the details of the development.
The Atlantic's prices likely would be similar to those at TWELVE Atlantic Station, Tufts said, where Novare got $360 per square foot for the condos. Thus a 600-square-foot condo at TWELVE sold for $216,000 or so, he said.
There are 380 condos and 101 boutique hotel rooms in TWELVE Atlantic Station.
"I'm guessing they would get that or higher, but I don't know their strategy," Tufts said.
Lane, which has had its own success at Atlantic Station with condos ATLofts, element and Art Foundry, sees a cooler condo market in the Southeast.
"We are no longer seeing condos being sold out in hours or days or weeks," said Donges. "The volume of traffic and the number of investors that used to be coming in past two years have gone down substantially."
With construction costs rising and the length of time it takes to build, condo development has "gotten a little riskier," Donges said. "There is just so much supply."
But Tufts said Atlantic Station's condo market has been "hot, hot, hot," and he has no worries new condo product will sell well. "Atlantic Station is continuing to ride a wave of very great public acceptance."
On March 28, 82 condos and four single-family homes were for listed sale in Atlantic Station, Tufts said.
"That's very healthy," he said. "There are bound to be resales in any market and that's a very low number."
The condo success at Atlantic Station has spilled over into the townhouse product as well, Tufts said.
Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) recently announced new townhouse product that is starting at $530,000, "upgraded from their first townhouses."
Beazer also has new single-family homes for sale in Atlantic Station starting at $430,000.
Developers are also planning projects just outside of Atlantic Station.
Wood Partners is in a joint venture with Hendon Properties LLC to build a 33-story, 490-unit condo with 43,000 square feet of retail space at Fowler and 16th streets in the Home Park community.
The project gained approval from the neighborhood homeowners association's land-use committee March 21, said Kurt Belgum, chairman of the committee.
Charlie Hendon, president and CEO of Hendon Properties, said the project should begin construction in six months.
Hendon has said he would like to see a grocery store like Fresh Market or eatZi's take the retail space, along with a bank branch.
Reach Schoolcraft at lschoolcraft@bizjournals.com.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2006/04/03/story3.html

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