What started as a glimmer of hope in the Spring of 2004 has turned to reality with Griffin’s recent purchase of approximately 26 acres of undeveloped land on Holcomb Bridge Road in East Roswell. The development, Centennial Walk, will begin construction next year with a grand opening in 2008. The development will include 160,000 SF of retail and office space spread out in one and two story buildings positioned in a “village” style plan with a “main street” down the middle of the property. The residential will include 13 townhomes and 154 condominiums in up to 5 buildings. Although Griffin is not looking back, the history of this site is very interesting. For over 20 years, Jim Cowart (legendary investor and developer in Atlanta) owned this land as part of an original 100+ acres. Over the years, all of the land (except for the land of Centennial Walk) was sold and developed. Those developments include a Kroger shopping center, Kohl’s department store, Centennial High School, Hillside Elementary, an apartment/townhome/single family development called Centennial and some land which is now part of the East Roswell Park. However, the 26 acre parcel, the “heart” of the original 100+ acres, remained undeveloped. Many issues contributed to the parcel remaining undeveloped including annexation of the parcel into the City of Roswell and an office zoning that did not attract development. With Griffin beginning to move towards mixed-use development in 2003, Kirk S. Demetrops, President of The Griffin Company, began to think what an incredible opportunity this site offered. “We believed in the site from day one,” says Kirk. “Geographically, the site is the center of East Roswell. It is positioned on the heaviest traveled road, Holcomb Bridge, and surrounded by the wide streets of Scott Road and Eves Road. It is very unusual to have this opportunity.” For almost two years, The Griffin Company has been working with the neighborhoods of East Roswell, the Community Development department of the City of Roswell, and the Mayor and City Council to convince them that an undeveloped 26 acre piece of land on Holcomb Bridge should be the centerpiece development of East Roswell. However, the development would require a mix of uses and densities not accustomed to the City. After introducing the concept plan in the summer of 2004, Griffin spent the remainder of 2004 and early 2005 with many of neighborhoods of East Roswell. They held open house presentations at Centennial High, neighborhood presentations at the communities of Horseshoe Bend, Martins Landing, Nesbit Lakes, and Willow Springs, and sponsored a bus tour of other similar developments in the Atlanta area. With no mixed use zoning category in the City, in the spring of 2005, Griffin proposed a Text Amendment to create the Centennial Walk overlay. Many of the people came out to support and voice opposition to the Overlay. After going through the 4-month process, the Overlay was rejected by the Mayor and City Council. However, since then the project has constantly been discussed within the community and surfaced quite often in political races last fall. At the end of the day, I believe most people want this project to go forward. As always, people can be hesitant at the unknown. We have always been ‘open book’ with our plans and are prepared to make the necessary assurances,” says Joel Griffin, Chairman and CEO of The Griffin Company. Neotraditional mixed use developments are happening all over the country and Atlanta. Vickery in Forsyth County and Smyrna Market Village in Smyrna have been referenced by Griffin. “The mix of uses creates a place and allows an upgraded feel not common with single use developments. The result of these developments is that many people do more than one thing upon their visit and their visit is extended. It may be that you go to a dentist appointment in one part of the development and walk to lunch after. You may live in a condo and get up in the morning and walk to the coffee shop” says Kirk S. Demetrops, President of The Griffin Company. Griffin laid low after the denial of the Overlay last July but did not give up hope. Coincidently, some people in the City did not either. In the fall of 2005, the Community Development Committee, chaired by Council member David Tolleson, decided to use the Centennial Walk as a case study. The case study focused on “what would the community accept on the property.” Many of the neighborhood leaders, including the majority of people who voiced the greatest concern, participated in the case study. After weeks of meetings, a plan was drawn and presented to The Griffin Company for their viewing. The plan kept the same density as originally proposed with the following distinct differences. 1) The green space was greatly increased. 2) To account for less land, mid-rise condominiums were allowed versus townhomes in the original Griffin plan. The committee also favored the mid-rise condominiums as attractive to empty nesters looking to live on one floor in a maintenance free development. Griffin studied the proposed plan and agreed they could incorporate the ideas into a revised plan. In early January, Griffin presented the plan to the Committee. The majority of the Committee was extremely pleased with what Griffin came back with. “They really listened to us”, said one committee member and Griffin agreed the plan was stronger than their original plan. With a new conceptual plan in the works, the City of Roswell began to work on the zoning mechanism that could allow such a development. “The same issue still exists for Griffin in that there is no current zoning for mixed use in the City”, says David Tolleson. After months of work, the Mayor and City Council in late spring approved a mixed use zoning category called the Master Planned Mixed Use District (MPMUD). With a mixed use zoning category in place, Griffin quickly applied to zone their property MPMUD. After a three month process, Griffin received approval in August. Griffin has big plans for Centennial Walk: “This is going to be town Center for East Roswell, and it is going to be built to look authentic and promote a pedestrian experience. The demographics of this area are tremendous. We will provide a development high end restaurants and retailers are looking for,” says Kirk. Also we expect high demand for the boutique, professional office space we deliver. We are expecting accountants, law firms, doctors, etc. to find this location very compelling. And lastly, maintenance free home ownership in the form of townhomes and condominiums will be an option this market has never seen. The Griffin Company was founded by Joel Griffin 30 years ago. The company is headquartered in Atlanta (Sandy Springs), GA. Current projects include Preston Ridge Pointe, a proposed office/retail/hotel development in Alpharetta, NorthPlace, a mixed use development including 114 townhomes, and 370,000 SF of office and retail in the Central Perimeter of Atlanta, Barfield Row, a mixed use development including 250 condominiums, and 136,000 SF of office and retail in the Central Perimeter and as yet to be named redevelopment of 5 acres in “downtown” Sandy Springs into retail, office and residential.
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