Redevelopment: The Real Story

publication date: Feb 11, 2008

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author/source: Lori Henry

Lori Henry

The City Council race of 2007 revealed what most of us on the Council knew already:  Roswellians want the blighted and underperforming areas of their city redeveloped – just not with skyscrapers or projects that further hinder traffic flow. At virtually every public gathering I attended during the campaign, citizens were quite clear that they want redevelopment that is compatible with Roswell’s historic village ambiance.

Well in advance of the election season the Council was clearing the way for exactly that type of redevelopment. A task force was formed in 2002 and through it a redevelopment strategy emerged that is now part of the Comprehensive 2020 Plan. We have a vision and strategy in place for Midtown Roswell and Holcomb Bridge East. A distinctive plan for the Historic District south of the town square is nearing completion as well. So that these plans can become reality, the Council has acted over the past six years to approve the various mixed-use zoning categories and overlays necessary.

Several development companies are poised to take advantage of the results of these intensive visioning and planning efforts. For example, the Bank of North Georgia constructed a premier banking facility that anchors the northern end of the Midtown Roswell corridor.

Coro Realty recently acquired the Southern Skillet Shopping Center and the Frazier Street Apartments. They are currently moving toward acquiring adjacent properties so the entire area can be revitalized. In the meantime, Coro has pledged to maintain the property in a manner that will be an improvement over its current condition.

Coro Realty’s Bill Bartlett states, “We got involved with the Frazier Street apartments and Roswell Plaza in December of 2005 because we saw an opportunity to create a true live, work, and play mixed-use lifestyle in the Historic area of Roswell. We also saw the support and commitment from mayor and Counsel to help us achieve our goal.

Talmar Companies is moving forward with a mixed-use project that includes a boutique hotel adjacent to our historic town square.

An important step toward the beautification and revitalization of the Highway 9 corridor between Norcross Street and Holcomb Bridge Road will soon begin with major streetscape improvements. Streetscape projects of this magnitude are proven catalysts for redevelopment.

This project began with a study, a visioning process that included extensive input from business and property owners as well as engaged and enthusiastic Roswell citizens. It resulted in a mixed-use zoning overlay for the Midtown Roswell area as well as conceptual streetscape and pedestrian safety plans. We leveraged our tax dollars and were awarded a grant for $2.2 million — an excellent return on our initial investment of $130,000.

Valuable input from citizens and business and property owners through a charette and public meeting processes should never be mischaracterized and demeaned as “yet another study.”

We have been thorough, thoughtful, and deliberate in our planning. We have engaged professionals, citizens, business owners and property owners to lay a solid foundation. So, all things considered, I am proud of our record on redevelopment.

We are now poised and ready so that when the economy regains strength and construction money is flowing again, the city you asked for will unfold.

Anyone setting high expectations for redevelopment activity over the next eighteen to twenty-four months is either ignorant of the current economic conditions or they are deliberately and cynically setting false expectations to advance a political agenda.

As anyone who follows the economy beyond the headlines should know, the housing market started to pull back in the summer of 2006 then “hit the wall” in late fall of 2007.

“Coro, as well as the entire development and building industry, was caught off guard at how swiftly the mortgage meltdown came and the devastating effects it had on the residential and other sectors of the real estate industry,” Bartlett said. “The conventional belief was this would be a 6 to 9 month set back, however it has lasted much longer and has been much deeper than all the experts had predicted.”

According to DEC International, a leading Metro-Atlanta housing data research firm, The Metropolitan Atlanta area as a whole has to work through 12 to 15 months of existing home inventory in addition to 55 to 60 months of developed lot inventory. This does not include the re-sale market inventory that competes with the new home market.

Consequently builders, developers, and lenders are working through existing inventory in order to reduce their exposure before they tackle new projects.

That may take as long as two years because the housing pullback has collided with and contributed to a general economic slowdown. We are witnessing classic down-market conditions; a decline in consumer spending, increases in unemployment, a slow down in job growth and a skittish stock market. In this environment, lenders are looking to reduce their exposure in all areas of development, not just the housing market. What does that mean for us? It means Roswell’s redevelopment projects will likely be on hold until the market turns.

Developers recognize this and are proceeding, knowing that the market will correct in time.

“Coro Realty made the decision to move forward and close these properties because we feel confident that when the market returns to normalcy, our location in the Historic Roswell area will be poised to be an area where residence and retailers will want to be,” Bartlett said.

As for armchair critics that ignore the need for a solid plan and demand unrealistic timetables, I am reminded of the words of Robert Lewis Stevenson, “Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.”

Lori Henry represents Post 6 on the Roswell City Council.