Atlanta Intown - July 2017

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Sally Bethea, Kathy Dean, Steve Eberhardt, Grace Huseth, Benjamin Kweskin, Asep Mawardi, Isadora Pennington, Clare Richie, John Rutherford Seydel III, Tim Sullivan, Megan Volpert

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July 2017

On the Cover

Our contributing photographer Isadora Pennington toured the new AIDS Memorial Quilt headquarters in Downtown last month. Pictured on the cover are Julie Rhoad, President of The Names Project that oversees the Quilt, and visitor Andrew Connard using the interactive QuiltTouch to read about the thousands of panels that now make up the Quilt. Read more on Page 6.

AIDS Quilt

For the love of books

Enjoy free admission and special programs from 1 to 4 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month.

July 9

Designed for little kids, big kids, and the whole family, Second Sundays are for everyone. Visit us each month and experience new interactive, innovative family activities inspired by our collections and ever-changing exhibitions. Second Sundays are sponsored by the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation. Special thanks to Publix Super Markets Charities for their support of Second Sundays in June and July.

featured listing from your neighborhood expert with global reach

While I was going through security at Los Angeles International Airport last month after a week-long visit to perform new poetry from my collectionin-progress, I was forced to remove all the books I had purchased from my carry-on bag. I protested to the TSA agent, but he said it was a pilot program being tested at LAX. I forgot a book stashed at the bottom of my bag and was pulled aside for extra screening. Sigh.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Another TSA agent pawed through my bag, flipped through the pages of each book and even inspected the copy of Vanity Fair with Carrie Fisher on the cover. Maybe he was a secret “Star Wars” fan. I had not heard about this new procedure and continued to press the agent about why they were inspecting flyers’ reading material. I was, naturally, suspicious this was some new government ploy to pry into our lives. To the agent’s credit, he patiently explained – I’m guessing I wasn’t the first person who had gotten a little snippy about it – that the x-ray technicians sometimes couldn’t clearly see all the contents of a carry-on bag if there were too many books stacked inside. That made sense, but it still hacked me off.

Kelley collin@atlantaintownpaper.com

While I waited, I watched as my fellow travelers were told to remove their reading material. There were more complaints, questions and protests, and while I was incensed at the delay, I was secretly thrilled to see that just about everyone had books in their carry-on luggage. From big novels to young adult, reading physical books still hasn’t gone out of style.

As I flew west to south, I settled into my window seat and read Joan Didion’s new essay collection, “South and West” (it’s fantastic, by the way). By the time I landed in Atlanta, I had finished the book and was figuring out how to better pack for my next trip in case this removing reading material becomes a regular thing. My love of books trumps the hassle.

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The Neighborhood

Stitched in Memory

AIDS Memorial Quilt has new Downtown headquarters

By Clare S. Richie

In 1987, a small group gathered in a San Francisco storefront to honor those who had died of AIDS. They sewed the first panels of what would become The AIDS Memorial Quilt and later formed the nonprofit NAMES Project to facilitate healing, increase public awareness, advocate for a cure and raise money for community-based AIDS organizations.

The NAMES Project, which has called Atlanta home since 2002, just relocated its headquarters to another storefront, this time in Downtown Atlanta. Located at 117 Luckie Street, this 2,500 square-foot space serves as a visitor and education center. Panels of the 54-ton Quilt are also housed at a warehouse in Tucker.

“The Quilt is an amazing cultural record, used in the beginning to give energy to a movement. It’s the most democratic memorial I can think of, made by thousands of everyday people for those they lost to this epidemic. We would love for you to come Downtown and experience it,” said Julie Rhoad, NAMES Project President & CEO.

Each panel commemorates the life of person taken too soon by AIDS and is 3’ by 6’, the size of a human grave.

“We were going to lay out our dead on the National Mall to get people and Congress to recognize that this is not an epidemic about statistics, but about people whose lives were important and cherished,” Rhoad reflected.

On June 27, 1987, the NAMES Project displayed the first 40 panels at San Francisco’s City Hall. Four months later, half million people viewed nearly 2,000 panels on the National Mall.

“It wasn’t just the gay community standing next to these panels, it was our families and friends,” Rhoad said. “If Washington wasn’t going to listen to the gay community, they were certainly going to listen to our moms and dads.”

“Thirty years ago we thought – we will make this Quilt, it’s going to change the world, we’re going to end AIDS, and once back in San Francisco, we’ll take it apart and return the panels.”

But, they returned to find thousands of boxes of new panels. “The founders knew we had to go on,” Rhoad said.

The next year, they launched a four-month, 20-city, national tour that raised more than $500,000 for hundreds of AIDS service organizations. The Quilt had quadrupled in size to more than 8,000 panels by the time it reached Washington, D.C. Celebrities, politicians, families, lovers and friends read aloud the names of the people represented on the panels, a practice that continues today.

The Quilt symbolized the enormity of the AIDS epidemic and its extended human toll. It galvanized a generation to sway government policy and funding decisions and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2002, the NAMES Project decided to move its headquarters to Atlanta. ‘The choice to move was very intentional as the South was becoming the epicenter for HIV and AIDS,” Rhoad said. “And there isn’t a better city that models civil rights leadership both on a domestic and international level.”

The Quilt was declared an official American Treasure in 2005 and awarded $100,000 to help ensure its survival for future generations. The nonprofit now photographs the panels and puts them online at aidsquilt.org. Visitors to the website can search for a panel by name or block number (8 panels are connected on 12’ by 12’ blocks). Onsite, you can also explore the quilt in its entirety on a digital browser, Quilt Touch, or come make a panel at a free workshop.

The next step is to digitally link each panel to the individual’s backstory and ephemera items like letters, photos, wedding rings and ashes.

The new Downtown location seeks to attract a variety of visitors in a space that doubles its previous capacity for on-site programming.

“Panel-makers or those tied to the 100,000 names come because it’s their linking object to their loved one,” Rhoad said. “We give them time with their panel and tell them every place it’s traveled.”

Rhoad recalled a family from Knoxville who held their reunion in Atlanta to include Eric, who’s remembered on The Quilt. His mom was overheard saying, “Well, Eric got to go to Hawaii before anyone else in the family.”

As The Quilt continues to grow, it’s a reminder that the epidemic rages on. AIDS has already claimed 35 million lives and the CDC reports that more than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV.

“Science, public health and medicine have made extraordinary advances telling us that if we test and treat enough people we can bring about an end to this disease – but society hasn’t kept up,” Rhoad commented. “That requires a huge investment of money, time, infrastructure and resolve.”

For more information, visit aidsquilt.org.

Photos by Isadora Pennington Julie Rhoad, NAMES Project President & CEO

City council creates trust fund for Turner Field neighborhoods

By Collin Kelley

The Atlanta City Council has approved the creation of a trust fund to benefit the neighborhoods surrounding Turner Field.

The council was confronted by an overflow crowd of angry residents during its June 19 meeting as the body prepared to vote on creating a trust fund for the neighborhoods around Turner Field and financing bonds for renovations to Philips Arena.

Residents from Summerhill, Peoplestown, Mechanicsville and Pittsburg were outraged when it was announced that money from the sale of Turner Field to Georgia State University (GSU) was going to be used to renovate Philips Arena in order to keep the Atlanta Hawks in the city.

Councilmember Carla Smith introduced a resolution to create the Stadium Neighborhoods Trust Fund Committee, which will get $5 million from the Turner Field sale. The committee will have nine members who are residents of the impacted neighborhoods around Turner Field, and will be tasked with presenting projects and recommendations for expenditure of funds.

The city received $30 million for the sale of Turner Field after the Atlanta Braves decamped to its new SunTrust Park in Cobb County. None of that money was slated to go to the Turner Field neighborhoods, whose residents have been fighting for a Community Benefits Agreement to make sure improvements are

made to the area.

GSU and its development partners closed on The Ted in January and is transforming the venue into a football stadium for The Panthers. A new baseball stadium will be built on the site of the former Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which is now a parking lot. Around the sports complexes will be student housing, office buildings, retail/restaurant space and apartment buildings.

The council also agreed to a pair of resolutions authorizing Mayor Kasim Reed to execute an intergovernmental agreement with the City of College Park and the Fulton County Recreation Authority regarding the extension of the rental car tax. Revenue from the tax will be used to finance bonds to fund renovations at Philips Arena.

The car rental tax will generate $142 million for the nearly $193 million project. The city will contribute an additional $32.5 million from one-time funding sources, while the Atlanta Hawks will contribute $50 million to the project.

The project will add new amenities to every level of the building, 360-degree connected concourses at all levels, improved sight lines and state-of-theart video. Renovations are expected to begin this summer, with an expected completion by the start of the 2018-2019 season, coinciding with the Hawks’ 50th Anniversary in Atlanta. The Hawks also committed to an 18-year lease extension to stay in Downtown through 2046.

Public comment on these issues

went on for several hours and included comments from other elected officials including Sen. Vincent Fort, who is also running for mayor. Fort said he came to show solidarity with residents who live around Turner Field. He said residents were in negotiations with GSU in good faith over the last months as they worked toward a community benefits agreement.

However, Fort said the good will went down the drain when GSU sent its police to Turner Field to remove the “Tent City” set up by protestors. “As gentrification marches on, thousands of people in these neighborhoods could be displaced,” Fort said.

Deborah Scott, executive director of Georgia Stand-Up, a nonprofit that promotes economic justice, accused

the mayor and council of being “disingenuous” to the Turner Field neighborhoods. “You work for the citizens of Atlanta. What have you done for them lately?” Scott asked. “It’s a shame you care more about sports teams than people.”

Councilmember Felicia Moore said the sports teams are important to the city, bringing tourist revenue, jobs, tax dollars and making the city more vibrant. “I have no problem with sports teams, but what I’ve heard over and over again are the people asking, ‘what about us?’”

Moore said residents and neighborhoods should be prioritized first. “If the city can find millions of dollars to fund projects like Philips Arena, we need to let residents know their concerns are a priority.”

A rendering of the redeveloped Turner Field area along Capitol Avenue.

ON THE AGENDA

MEETINGS

The Atlanta City Council meets July 5 and July 17 at 1 p.m. at City Hall, 55 Trinity Ave. Information: citycouncil.atlantaga.gov.

The Atlanta School Board will not meet in July but will resume Aug. 7 at 2:30 p.m. and for a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 130 Trinity Ave. Information: atlantapublicschools.us.

The Decatur City Commission meets in open session on the first and third Mondays of each month at City Hall, 509 North McDonough Street, at 7:30 p.m. Information: decaturga.com.

NEWS

The Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on June 21 to freeze property assessments at 2016 levels.

Mayor Kasim Reed announced in June that MARTA will take over operations of the Atlanta Streetcar at a date to be determined.

The Atlanta City Council has unanimously approved a $2 billon 2018 operating budget, which includes salary increases for firefighters and raises the city’s minimum wage to $13 per hour beginning July 1.

The Georgia Dome will be imploded on Monday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 a.m. to make way for a community greenspace and parking next to the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

A set of resolutions to create a Downtown Atlanta Entertainment District and allow lighted “Times Square-style” signage and video boards were approved by the city council at its June 19 meeting. The boundaries of the new district will be Cortland Street on the east, Ivan Allen Boulevard on the north, Northside Drive on the west and Mitchell Street to the south. The idea for the district comes from Central Atlanta Progress, which wants to boost tourism and nighttime activity in Downtown.

Pavement Cracks

PEDS advocates for sidewalk repairs and pedestrian safety

By Grace Huseth

If you’ve ever walked in Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward or just about any other Intown neighborhood, you’ll notice that many of Atlanta’s sidewalks are in poor shape.

The current city sidewalk ordinance requires homeowners to repair sidewalks adjacent to their property – even when the sidewalk isn’t technically their property.

“More and more cities are replacing laws similar to Atlanta’s with ones that treat sidewalks as shared resources,” said Sally Flocks, President and CEO of PEDS. “If they can do it, so can Atlanta.”

Flocks and nonprofit PEDS, originally known as Pedestrians Educating Drivers, have made it their mission to make Atlanta’s sidewalks, bus stops, streets and crosswalks safe and accessible to everyone who walks.

PEDS has called on the City of Atlanta to take responsibility for fixing broken sidewalks and to allocate funding that makes it possible. Flocks said 2017 is an election year, and mayoral candidates should commit to replacing Atlanta’s sidewalk ordinance and including a $25 million line item for sidewalk repairs in the annual general fund budget.

Flocks said that voter approved sales tax increases will help fund numerous street upgrades, including new sidewalks. However, none of the tax money has been allocated for routine maintenance on the city’s miles of sidewalks.

Due to epilepsy, Flocks hasn’t driven most of her adult life. She gets around by walking and using public transportation, but grew weary of getting cut off in the crosswalks by drivers.

“I assumed the problem was that drivers

didn’t know people had the right of way in crosswalks, but I quickly learned that it also has to do with road design,” Flocks said. “A lot of the work PEDS has done since then focuses on road design.”

Now she serves on the technical advisory committee with Atlanta’s Transportation Plan to better design the city with pedestrians in mind.

PEDS has reached many milestones in 21 years, from inspiring agencies to use crosswalk beacons to providing workshops that have helped transportation officials design for pedestrian safety.

“What I have is the perspective of a pedestrian,” Flocks said. “I come in as a user and someone who walks for transportation, which gives me a closer understanding of what it’s like for people who don’t drive cars.”

Two decades of pedestrian advocacy has resulted in making high visibility crosswalks the state standard and better compliance with crosswalk laws, at least in Intown neighborhoods. Flocks and others at PEDS have inspired agencies to install median islands, high-tech beacons and other safety improvements on Buford Highway, Ponce de Leon Avenue and other streets.

Flocks said safety for pedestrians in the city has increased under new Public Works Commissioner William Johnson. He has paid attention to permits and many streets under construction include covered walkways and plastic barriers in the road. “It’s not perfect,” Flocks said, “but we’re seeing big improvements.”

New city parking management program launches

By Collin Kelley

SP Plus Corporation (SP+) has been selected to manage the City of Atlanta’s on-street parking program, which will be called ATLPlus. The municipal division of SP+ will provide parking enforcement, meter maintenance, collection and citation processing services.

The new program replace the controversial PARKatlanta, which was criticized by residents and business owners for its heavy-handed and inconsistent enforcement.

“With the addition of upgraded equipment and integration of smartphone apps, ATLPlus will minimize the time it takes for residents and visitors to safely and legally park their vehicles,” Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. “In addition, customers will now have an opportunity to dispute tickets through an administrative review process. We are confident that SP Plus will bring a new level of experience and service to parking in our city.”

ATLPlus will allow customers up to 14 days to contest a citation online, in person or by mail. Each contested citation will be reviewed by the Department of Public Works’ Administrative Review Process to determine if the citation is valid or invalid.

Administrative reviews will be conducted by specially trained staff in the Department of Public Works and within 15 business days each contested citation will be reviewed and individuals will be notified of the validity of their parking citation. Citations that are invalid will be dismissed, while citations that are upheld can be paid or further disputed at the Atlanta Municipal Courts.

SP+ will upgrade the city’s 2,400 metered parking spaces, including upgrades include the conversion to a program using license plate recognition technology for enforcement. Over the coming months, SP+ plans to meet with neighborhood stakeholders to discuss the impact of the new program, enhanced customer service and operational efficiency.

“We are excited to have earned the City’s trust to make needed improvements to this valuable public service. Our objective will be to enhance the parking experience for customers by deploying new

equipment while our staff maintains the southern hospitality for which Atlanta is known,” said Thomas Hagerman, Executive Vice President for SP Plus. For more information, visit spplus.com.

Historic streetlamp moving from Underground to Buckhead

By Evelyn Andrews

The historic “Solomon Luckie” streetlamp that is currently displayed in Underground Atlanta is moving to Buckhead.

The Atlanta City Council voted unanimously June 5 to sell the gas-fueled lamp for a token amount to the Atlanta History Center, where it will accompany many new exhibits, including the “Battle of Atlanta” cyclorama painting.

“To me, this is an iconic artifact to Atlanta,” said Gordon Jones, the center’s senior military historian. “It has many stories to tell.”

The streetlamp is named for an African American barber who was killed when an artillery shell fired during the Union Army’s shelling of Atlanta in 1864 ricocheted off the streetlamp and struck him. He was carried by bystanders to a hospital, where his leg was amputated, but he did not survive more than a few hours, according to Franklin Garrett’s book “Atlanta and Environs.”

Luckie, one of the few black entrepreneurs in Atlanta at the time, ran a barbershop in the Atlanta Hotel, which was near the current site of Underground Atlanta. The hole left by artillery shell remains on the streetlamp. Downtown’s Luckie Street is named after the barber.

Jones said the city contacted the center in October 2015 about selling the lamp in preparation for the redevelopment of Underground Atlanta.

The property was officially transferred to a South Carolina developer March 31 and the city has 120 days to remove any property, such as the streetlamp, that is not part of the sale. The sale specifically excluded any items of historical or cultural significance to the city, according to the ordinance.

The streetlamp was valued by the city at less than $500, which allowed the city under state law to sell or

donate it without advertisement for accepting other bids. The Atlanta History Center purchased the streetlamp from the city for $10, according to the

The lamp was first lit along with 49 others on Christmas Day in 1855. It was originally located at the corner of Alabama and Whitehall (now Peachtree) streets, and was moved several times before its installation in

The streetlamp will provide a lens into African American life in Atlanta during the Civil War, Jones said. It will stand near the painting depicting the Civil War

“The exhibitions will speak to both what white and black Atlanta experienced at the time,” Jones

It will also be surrounded by several artifacts that have never been displayed to the public, including an original photograph of Solomon Luckie and his wife,

“Getting the streetlamp gives us the ability to connect artifacts that haven’t been connected

The Atlanta History Center will also be able to provide context and history to the lamp, as the only plaques on the streetlamp now are about the Confederacy. It was proclaimed the “Eternal Flame of the Confederacy” during the 1939 “Gone with the Wind” movie premiere celebrations in

Similarly, the cyclorama was painted in the North to celebrate the Union victory, Jones said, but was later altered to make Confederate troops appear more

“The two historical pieces provide a great story on how an artifact changes identity depending on who is controlling

The “Battle of Atlanta”

painting and historic locomotive “Texas” are other famous artifacts of Atlanta’s Civil War era that came to a new home in the Atlanta History Center this year. Unlike the streetlamp, they are both leased by the city to the history center. The “Texas” exhibit is expected to open in the fall of 2017.

The streetlamp will be installed in the hall that will house the “Battle of Atlanta” painting, which is expected to open in the fall of 2018. The streetlamp remains lit in Underground for now, but will make the move to Buckhead sometime this summer.

Photos courtesy Atlanta History Center

The “Solomon Luckie” streetlamp shown here in Underground Atlanta on June 16 will move to the Atlanta History Center this summer. (Top right) The hole left by an artillery shell that hit and killed Solomon Luckie remains on the streetlamp. (Top left) A plaque on the streetlamp says it was named the “Eternal Flame of the Confederacy during “Gone With the Wind” premiere celebrations in Atlanta in 1939.

Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter to close in August Life in Balance

By Collin Kelley

The controversial Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter in Downtown will close in August and the building sold to nonprofit community development organization, Central Atlanta Progress (CAP).

CAP released a statement to the media about its purchase of the building but did not offer details on a purchase price or the future of the historic building at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets.

“The parties involved in the Peachtree-Pine Homeless Shelter lawsuit have settled their differences over various legal matters. As part of the settlement, the Peachtree-Pine property will be sold to Central Atlanta Progress. The settlement agreement also authorizes Central Atlanta Progress, working closely with The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, to proceed with plans to place the current residents of the Peachtree-Pine shelter into other suitable facilities. The Task Force will continue to provide services from the Shelter until August 28 of this year. With the exception of the current residents awaiting transition to other facilities, however, the Peachtree-Pine property will no longer operate as a homeless shelter. As part of the settlement, the Task Force for the Homeless will receive funds to continue its mission. All parties are relieved that the dispute has been resolved and that the current residents of Peachtree-Pine will be transitioned to other facilities in a humane manner.”

The City of Atlanta has been trying to close the Peachtree-Pine shelter for years as community concerns about crime and disease continued to mount. Mayor Kasim Reed has said he wants to transform the building into an emergency operations center for the city, while Curbed Atlanta reported that Emory University Hospital has shown interest in buying the property.

Westside Trail Update

Our contributing photographer Asep Mawardi recently did a little exploring around Atlanta BeltLine’s Westside Trail, which is slated to open by summer’s end. The 3-mile corridor runs from University Avenue in Adair Park north to Lena Avenue at Washington Park. For a half mile along White Street, the trail will use the existing West End Trail. The project funding includes the 14-foot wide multi-use trail, 14 points of entry (11 of which will be ADA-accessible) with ramp and stair systems, greenway and preservation for future transit. To keep up with progress on the trail and for the official opening date, visit beltline.org.

A rendering of the completed bridge over Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Go West!

Atlanta Streets Alive debuts new route on Westside

By Grace Huseth

The first Atlanta Streets Alive route on the Westside broke a record with 110,000 people participating in four miles of openstreet extending down Howell Mill Road to Marietta Street.

“We were thrilled that this new route saw such high levels of interest, which we believe shows public support for the movement to make Howell Mill Road and Marietta Street more people-friendly,” said Rebecca Serna, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, which hosts Atlanta Streets Alive.

Along with closing the street to vehicles and opening it for walkers, cyclists and skaters, the event also featured fun activities for all ages and local businesses and restaurants opened their doors to welcome the foot traffic. There was also a wedding held during the event and REI set up a pump track and bike cleaning station on the route.

The city will soon turn its attention to bike safety on the Westside, Serna said.

“Marietta and Howell Mill are in the city’s Cycle Atlanta Plan and are slated for bike lanes and other safety improvements through the Renew Atlanta bond program,” she commented.

The area surrounding the Atlanta City Water Works was especially striking to Serna. “I could really take the time to appreciate its beauty without fear of traffic.”

The next Atlanta Streets Alive is set for Sept. 24 from 2 to 6 p.m. on Peachtree Street from Downtown to Midtown. For more information, visit atlantastreetsalive. com.

Photos by Asep Mawardi

Serving Women

Catrina Williams’ passion for helping new moms recognized

By Clare S. Richie

For Catrina Williams, serving women just comes naturally. Her own experience as a young, single mother and lessons learned from a nurturing grandmother help her support low-income women through pregnancy and parenting.

Williams was recently honored as an “Inspiring Mother of Georgia” at the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia (HMHB) Mother’s Day Luncheon alongside six First Ladies of Georgia, including Sandra Deal, for their work to improve maternal and infant health in Georgia.

“We received nominations from all over the state, and the women we read about blew us away. The stories shared about Ms. Williams and her work with the Center for Black Women’s Wellness really stood out,” said Elise Blasingame, HMHB’s executive director.

“I was surprised but excited to receive this award,” Williams reflected. “What I do –it just comes from my heart.”

Since 1988, The Center for Black Women’s Wellness (CBWW) has worked to address the physical, mental and economic needs of Atlanta’s African American women through comprehensive services.

For nearly 12 years, Williams has served as a Family Support Worker in CBWW’s, Atlanta Healthy Start Initiative. It’s a home visitation program for low-income pregnant

women and parenting moms of children under age two.

“I provide prenatal and postnatal education, ensure each client has a medical home, and connect them to any social services they need,” Williams shared.

As of May, her caseload was 40 women, seven of whom were pregnant. She visits up to five women a day.

“I remember those experiences I had as a single mother being 21 with two kids in the inner city,” William said. “If your light bill is due, your focus is more on that light bill than going to your prenatal appointment. I come in and try to alleviate those worries.”

She connects these new moms to needed baby supplies, health care, transportation, food assistance and as well as employment and training through partners like Atlanta Workforce Development Agency.

Williams also knows what it’s like to live on government assistance and then work to achieve financial self-sufficiency.

“I stayed in Carver Homes, but I got to a point where I was like, I don’t want my kids to think this is it or this is how we’re going to

live,” she said.

She put her children in childcare, took public transportation, kept a grueling work schedule and completed her GED. Williams volunteered in WIC’s Resource mother program and trained be a doula. WIC hired her and that’s where she learned about the work of CBWW, which she joined 12 years ago.

Williams has walked in her clients’ shoes but respects that each one has her

own unique journey. During home visits, she listens more than she talks. Her clients open up about what’s happening in their lives, knowing that Williams is there for support. She also became a certified lactation consultant to help with breastfeeding.

“I don’t go in judgmental. I try to meet people where they are,” Williams said. “It’s surreal going to the place where I lived with my kids and going into these homes and serving.”

Photos by James Hammond

From left at the Mother’s Day Luncheon: Isabel Marsh, First Lady Sandra Deal, Britney Asbel, First Lady Marie Barnes, Jennifer Sapp, Eva Elmer, Fulton County Commissioner John Eaves, City of Atlanta Women’s Entrepreneur Institute Director, Thea Washington Smith, Catrina Williams, WSB-TV Channel 2 News Journalist, Nicole Carr.

Pet Pick

Jett is as sweet as they come! This handsome boy is a quick learner and very treat motivated – he’s always eager to please. He was in a foster home recently and was the perfect gentleman. Jett is house-trained, crate-trained and knows some basic commands. If you are looking for a buddy to hike with, throw a ball for or just lay

the couch to watch a movie with, he would make

The summer of ‘adulting’

Have you seen the internet meme “adulting” that highlights the unfun tasks of adulthood? Well, this summer the noun-verb has achieved crossover status to my offline life.

I think it started when we bought the kids a trampoline. We caved after a year’s worth of pleading, but delivery was a couple weeks off so we had time to lecture about the stringent rules of engagement. Privately, Kristen and I discussed emergency room protocol as we were certain a visit was in our near future. By the way, if you’re interested in jumping you’ll have to first meet with my attorney and sign a waiver.

TIMMY DADDY

British accent to the household mix. Aaron is a gem of a guy and now we’re all using descriptors like “quite lovely” to assess things like a nice piece of toast. The extra laundry isn’t too bad, and a ride here and there is no worry, but the food detail is for real.

By Tim Sullivan

Because unless adults engage attorneys for various aspects of their lives they’re basically just drifters, right? That’s why we forked over a sizable chunk of money to an attorney to properly update and organize our Living Trust and Will which is a gentle euphemism for When I die, do this. Planning the nitty gritty that follows your own demise is so adult we needed a witness. By the way, thanks Becky.

Tim Sullivan grew up in a large family in the Northeast and now lives with his small family in Oakhurst. He can be reached at tim@ sullivanfinerugs.com.

To further beef up our adult resumes, Kristen signed us up to host a coach from England who was coming here to work the Soccer in the Streets camps. So we’ve added a red headed, college kid with a

Each night Kristen takes a deep breath and says, “Ok, I’m going to prepare the lunches” with all the gravity I imagine a heart surgeon might impart upon the first cut. The abundant lunch sacks are tailored to individual specifications to keep all three of our kids happy at their respective camps the next day. Aaron relayed that the other soccer coaches tease him about how mothered he’s been and Kristen just beamed.

Aaron’s last name is Simpson, so while the kids were anxiously awaiting his return home one evening they decided to find “The Simpsons” on Direct TV. I was in the dining room reviewing our newest tax bill (which went up by 37.5 percent!) trying to calculate exactly how much more expensive our adult lives just got when I overheard Kristen say, “I’m not sure this

episode is appropriate for you guys.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s all about sex.”

“What’s sex?”

Just then I noticed the real-life Simpson, who had only been here a couple

days, walking up the front steps. And there’s me with my tax bill, frozen, wondering what happens next.

She told them. She just up and told them! Who does that? As our 19-year-old Brit keyed open the door I heard from the family room, “Ewww! So you and daddy had to do that? Twice? Ewww!!”

Suddenly the tax bill was of little concern because apparently I’d rather be impoverished than find myself in a terribly awkward situation. I ran misdirection to prevent our houseguest from jumping headlong into the weirdness. I think I may have asked him to tell me all he knew about property tax appeals. Margo and Elliott made certain to share their new knowledge with him once he broke free though.

The trampoline arrived and, honestly, it was great. The kids were having a blast and being careful enough to ease our concerns. I thought, “well, this sure beats them sitting in front of the TV,” because that is the sort of thing adults think. And then Margo jumped off the trampoline, walked inside and rode down the hallway on her scooter just like she’s done a thousand times. Only this time she tripped on the rug, flew over her handlebars, and broke her arm. It’s okay though, we can handle it. We’re adults.

British houseguest Aaron Simpson with Elliott and Margo Sullivan.

Old and New

Ford Factory Square and 725 Ponce to live in harmony on BeltLine

By Benjamin Kweskin

When it was announced that the infamous “Murder Kroger” was going to be demolished to make way for the mixed-use 725 Ponce development, many wondered what would happen to its neighbor, the historic Ford Factory Square building.

Thanks to a partnership between Ford Factory’s owners and 725 Ponce developer New City LLC, Ford Factory is not only staying put but getting an upgrade as well. A portion of the parking garage structure that faces the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail is being converted into restaurant and retail space.

Jim Irwin, president of New City, was employed by Jamestown Properties to spearhead Ponce City Market from inception to completion. He said that Kroger approached Jamestown to reimagine the site where “Murder Kroger” sat. Through this, Jamestown supported New City – an independent company – to work on revitalizing the area.

The result is 725 Ponce, a 360,000-square-foot, 12-story office tower with a brand new Kroger supermarket on the ground floor set to open in late 2018. Ford Factory will adjoin the new development thanks to a large breezeway and a series of indoor/outdoor lobbies and stairs where workers and visitors can hang out, use free wi-fi and enjoy food from the Ford Factory eateries or from Kroger.

“The BeltLine has only begun to scratch the surface regarding capitalizing its full potential for being a corridor in the area,” Irwin said. “We are focused on forward-thinking architecture like we did for Ponce City Market and will continue at 725 Ponce.”

For Irwin, 725 Ponce is a way to “challenge people” with better, more sustainable architecture. Irwin said he was excited that the Ford Factory building and surrounding area will be “redeemed” and will be able to “give back to the community and continue upon the success of Ponce City Market.”

This area of PonceyHighland has come a long way since “Murder Kroger” actually lived up to its name, but Ford Factory Square co-owner Don Lippman recalls edgier days in the early ‘90s when the area remained largely forgotten and neglected, awash with homeless people, drug dealers and truck drivers picking up prostitutes. Soon after purchasing Ford Factory Square, Lippman was chagrined to see the neighborhood’s troubles featured on an episode of the TV show “Cops.”

But then the City of Atlanta decided to move into the mammoth and derelict Sears

& Roebuck building.

“Once City Hall East moved into the old Sears Building things started to change. Many people didn’t think the BeltLine would work, but we always believed in the Ford Factory building,” Lippman said.

By now, you’d have to be living under a rock not to have noticed the dramatic changes made to the neighborhood, led by the revitalization of City Hall East that became Ponce City Market, largely assisted by the BeltLine and steady gentrification in the form of retail, apartments and lofts.

Ford Factory Square has been named in the National Register of Historic Places, which to some degree also restricts renovations to the 102-year old building. The three-story building maintains its original brick exterior on the second and third floors facing the BeltLine, with the lofts pricing around $1,500 per month.

The first floor is fully commercial, made up of neighborhood gay bar Model T, Iron Tribe Fitness, Chinese restaurant Chin Chin 2 and the space formerly occupied by Cameli’s Pizza.

With its original ceiling, columns and windows, Model T is the only space in the building bearing any resemblance or link to the original factory – one of the first in the Southeast – built by Henry Ford in 1915 to assemble Model T’s and other automobiles. Ford sold the building to the federal government in 1942 to make military equipment during World War II.

Clockwise from top: Ford Factory Square was built in 1915; Model T is a favorite community bar and hangout spot for the LGBT community; a rendering of the completed 725 Ponce next door to Ford Factory; and Ford Factory and 725 Ponce will be connected through a series of terraces, stairs and breezeways.

Under Contract

Under Contract

Go with the Float Little Five Points spa offers floatation chambers

By Grace Huseth

Ever go for a stroll to help your thoughts flow? Try going for a float instead. The newest trend in spa and relaxation therapy extends past massages to sensory deprivation flotation chambers.

FLO2S (pronounced flo-tus) in Little Five Points has custom made chambers perfect for flotation therapy. The name FLO2S is a nod to the lotus flower – a symbol that represents rebirth, purity and spiritual awaking.

Spa owner Edward Tomilov said each session in a flotation chamber is a safe, isolated experience that gives the sensory and nervous system a respite from the world of stimuli, eases the body and opens the brain up to clarity. Highly concentrated salt water helps you float for a gravity free sensation; it’s nearly impossible to distinguish whether you are floating or flying.

Tomilov has been floating for eight years, but he said he never tires of the unique experience flotation therapy offers.

“If you don’t float for two or three weeks, you feel like you really need it. It gets in your blood,” Tomilov said. “When you are still,

you have an out-of-body experience where you melt into the water between reality and dreaming.”

As an artist, Tomilov said he was drawn to the Little Five Points area for its diversity, but soon discovered a basement space which had been vacant for two years.

The back entrance separates FLO2S from the hip, urban feel of Little Five and invites guests inside a tropical, rustic spa. FLO2S isn’t concerned with having a manicured, sleek

spa experience, so don’t think you will be pampered with luxury appliances and fluffy towels. Their specialty is floatation therapy offered in a go with the flow atmosphere.

Tomilov himself made the three flotation tanks, using his artistic eye to make the tiled chamber walls, as well as researching the right type of equipment to handle the highly concentrated salt. Each chamber holds 1,200 pounds of Epsom salt, which is noted for relieving muscle tension and inflammation in joints.

Sessions cost $75 for a 90-minute float, and $90 for a 120-minute float. During that time, you lay back, allowing the water to effortlessly hold you up in silence and darkness. There are no vibrations and the water is the same temperature as your skin.

“It’s always hard to shut the brain, but after two or three floats you learn how to get completely unplugged from this world,” Tomilov said.

As a first time floater, I spent the first 30 minutes swimming and experimenting, which Tomilov said is typical for a newbie. I kept the small strip of LED lights on while music softly played to help me acclimate to the new environment. My most surprising discovery was being able to float on my side in the fetal position – a feat that can only be accomplished with the highest concentration of salt.

I was nervous about being alone with my thoughts, in silence and darkness, for 90 minutes. Prior to my appointment, I prepared thinking points, but once I started soaking up the experience, I turned off the lights, listened to the sound of my breath and simply let my mind wander.

The best part of the experience was being in pitch black, something most of us never encounter in our daily lives. Within the calming darkness, I also found a stillness that is hard to achieve simply by meditating. It’s truly an experience you must try for yourself.

FLO2S is located at 427 Moreland Ave., Suite 800. For more information, visit flo2s. com.

Float away your troubles at FLO2S in Little Five Points.

Combining 40+ years of Intown Atlanta expertise with the largest international luxury real estate company in the world!

BUSINESS BRIEFS

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management and consulting firm, will create more than 200 jobs and invest $9.2 million in a new regional support center in Atlanta. The new jobs will include highly skilled positions in creative visual services, finance, client and business support, legal and information technology and other areas. BCG expects to create more than 500 jobs over the next 10 years with this new facility, according to a media statement. The new support center, which is to be located in a building yet-to-be-named in Downtown Atlanta, will consolidate and expand operational functions in support of BCG’s North American and global businesses. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported the center could land at the Equitable Building.

The Woodruff Arts Center has announced that Doug Shipman has been named President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 18. Shipman

was the founding CEO for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. He succeeds Virginia Hepner, who is retiring from the position after five very successful years leading the Midtown arts center, home to the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the High Museum of Art.

and The Painted Duck plan to open later this summer. Stockyards occupies three acres on the corner of 10th Street and Brady Avenue in West Midtown, Atlanta. The tract is one of the last remaining pieces of Atlanta’s historic industrial core. Stockyards, a joint venture between Federal Capital Partners and Westbridge, is adapting three historic warehouses into a 142,500 square-foot mixeduse project. The development is now 75 percent pre-leased ahead of the completion of phase one, which will be delivered later this summer.

appointed Robert B. Aland as Atlanta Market President. Aland most recently served as Birmingham Market President for National Bank of Commerce, and takes the helm at Private Bank of Buckhead from Charles B. (Charlie) Crawford, Jr., who is departing to take on the task of helping a Philadelphia community bank recapitalize and grow.

The Stockyards development in West Midtown has landed a 19,000 square-foot lease with New York-based co-working provider, Industrious. The co-working company joins Fitzgerald and Co. and Momentum Worldwide, both owned by InterPublic Group; Mannington Mills Inc., and Donetto, a new restaurant concept from The Indigo Road. The Painted Duck, a sister concept to the Painted Pin in Buckhead, signed a 24,500 square foot lease. Both Donetto

The Ellis Hotel in Downtown has completed a $2 million renovation project. Along with updates to the 127 guest rooms, the boutique hotel also refreshed the patio for the Terrace Bistro, added a new fitness center, redesigned lobby and new awnings on the Peachtree and Ellis Street sides of the historic building.

Shipt, a new grocery delivery company that recently raised $40 million in funding, has expanded to Atlanta. Shipt will deliver grocery and household items from local Publix and Kroger supermarkets directly to your kitchen counter. For more information, visit shipt.com/atlanta.

Private Bank of Buckhead has

Kroger’s Atlanta Division donated $5,000 in gift cards to Lost-N-Found Youth, the nonprofit that provides shelter, food, services and helps young adults find permanent housing. The donation was made in observance of Pride Month in June.

Stackfolio, one of the ventures at TechSquare Labs in Midtown, was selected as the Judges’ Choice at Google’s Demo Day, a pitch event featuring startups from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Stackfolio is an online marketplace for loan trading, powered by a data research platform. In just over six months, more than 450 banks have signed up for the marketplace and platform. As part of Stackfolio’s winnings from Demo Day, Tech Square Ventures’ Allen Nance has committed an additional $150,000 in funding to the company, and entrepreneur Steve Case has also committed to fund 20 percent Stackfolio’s upcoming Seed Round.

Stockyards

Go Green

The Chattahoochee: Our 185 million-year-old riverr

When the mountain range that fed the original Colorado was destroyed by faulting about 25 million years ago, the river reversed its course. New plateaus rose and the sediment-laden river “played the part of a stationary band saw”, cutting through two million year old rock to create abysses like the Grand Canyon.

Closer to home, the Brevard Fault Zone, a prominent geologic feature of the southeastern U.S., extends for nearly a thousand miles across the southern Appalachians. Its parallel ridges are responsible for the Chattahoochee River’s northeast-to-southwest course through north Georgia and its long, linear character.

LINE

By Sally Bethea

Sally Bethea is the retired executive director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (chattahoochee.org), a nonprofit environmental organization whose mission is to protect and restore the drinking water supply for nearly four million people.

Did you know that the Chattahoochee River, which flows southwesterly through Atlanta, has one of the oldest and most stable river channels in the United States? It has been “locked in place” along the Brevard Fault Zone for at least 185 million years.

By contrast, the Colorado River, which drains seven states, is relatively young; geologists say that plateau uplift, resulting in the river that we know today, took place just five to six million years ago. There is some evidence that tectonic activities which occurred 70 million years ago also contributed to the river’s creation. Even assuming this earlier “birth,” the Colorado is still a youngster, when compared to our Chattahoochee.

I have always been fascinated by streams and rivers: where they begin, how they formed and the type of landscape that makes up their drainage basins, or watersheds. Not surprisingly, my vacations often revolve around rivers.

In May, I traveled to southeastern Utah on a Sierra Club trip to paddle the Colorado and Green Rivers and hike in several national parks. The buttes, bluffs and mesas towering over these rivers proved to be mesmerizing: massive, eroding rock shapes built of layer upon layer of sandstone, limestone, volcanic rock, salt and shale over millions of years. In this stone fantasyland, I envisioned the profile of iconic desert writer Ed Abbey in one of the formations.

The ancestral Colorado River formed after the landscape uplifted from an inland sea; water from the higher elevations then drained to the northeast, the opposite direction of the flow of today’s river.

ECO BRIEFS

Keep Atlanta Beautiful is moving one of its community recycling centers from Old Fourth Ward to Kirkwood beginning on Sept. 9. The new center will be located at Coan Middle School, 1550 Hosea L. Williams Drive. Electronics, metals, glass, latex paint, paper shredding, Styrofoam, textiles and books are all accepted at the monthly recycling events, which are held on the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The last recycling day at Walden Middle School in the Old Fourth Ward

will be Aug. 12. For more details, visit KeepAtlantaBeautiful.org.

Piedmont Park has replaced oftenphotographed Climbing Magnolia, which toppled over last summer after to rot. Based on its rings, many believe the magnolia dates back to the Cotton States Exhibition in 1895, which was held in what is now the grounds of the park. A 20’ magnolia, with a 70” root ball, weighing over 8,000 pounds has been

Millions of years ago, there was more water in the Chattahoochee River system, until a geological phenomenon called “stream capture” occurred. Eroding rivers battled each other for supremacy and ultimately the top of the Chattahoochee watershed was cut off, its water diverted into the Savannah River basin. Prior to this event, the ancestral headwaters of the Chattahoochee extended up into what is now North Carolina, incorporating a much larger land area and collecting more rainwater, which increased the river volume downstream.

The Tugaloo River, at the top of the Savannah basin, had eroded through a ridge over thousands of years and captured the Chattooga and Tallulah Rivers, formerly tributaries to the Chattahoochee. Their waters began to crash dramatically over what is now Tallulah Falls, flowing to the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Gulf of Mexico. Atlanta’s loss was Augusta’s and Savannah’s gain.

Today, the watershed upstream of Atlanta – about a thousand square miles – is one of the smallest drainages in the country that supplies a major metropolitan area with river water. When rain fails to fall over this small watershed for months, especially in the summer, the water level in the Chattahoochee system begins to drop. Our water supply challenges in Atlanta are largely a function of our geological history – and a decision made nearly 200 years ago to locate our metropolis near the top of a river basin on the banks of a small river. Our country is blessed with nearly three million miles of rivers. Each one of them has a geologic story to tell with chapters that will continue to unfold through the millenia.

successfully installed in Piedmont Park to replace the Climbing Magnolia thanks to $20,000 donation from the Vasser Woolley Foundation.

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta named Trees Atlanta as one of the recipients of its 33rd annual Managing for Excellence Award. Trees Atlanta and co-recipient Literacy Atlanta will each receive $75,000. The nonprofit has planted more than 119,000 trees since 1985, helping to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.

The Wylde Center will host the second annual Mulberry Fields Gone Wylde on Saturday, July 15, from 6 to 9 p.m. The festive outdoor evening will feature live music by Webster, food and

drinks for purchase from Fox Brothers and other vendors, children’s games and much more. After sunset, the Chickabilly, a metal sculpture/fire bowl will be set ablaze. The event is free for Wylde Center members and children 12 and under, and $10 for non-members.

Mulberry Fields is located “down the alley” at 1301 Iverson St., in Candler Park.

Mulberry Fields

Gone Wylde will be held rain or shine and is sponsored by the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization, Premier Grease, Small Business Services and the Harris Bathrick Basch family. Proceeds will benefit Mulberry Fields. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit wyldecenter.org/mulberry-fields-gonewylde-2017.

By John Rutherford Seydel III

Recently, Atlanta hit a milestone that proves a major metropolitan area can clean the air its residents breathe, while increasing the number of jobs and industries that keep them working. As the City’s newest Director of Sustainability, I wanted to highlight what this means for Atlanta’s present and future air quality.

The Atlanta metropolitan area was able to meet ozone standards that were established in 2008 and put them in place by 2012. This may not seem like much of a feat, but make no mistake, this is a significant achievement for an area working to balance vitality and livability.

For much of the South’s modern history, growth and ozone went hand-in-hand. Emissions from cars, trucks, factories and coal-fired power plants all reacted with the hot southern sun to create that ground-level ozone that has vexed metro areas for decades.

Breathing ozone is harmful to your lungs and it’s especially hard on children and those with asthma.

But for a long time, there was this notion that cleaning the air meant hurting businesses and industries, and jeopardizing the wages of the workers. Atlanta proves that’s no longer the equation. The metro area has added jobs and people, while at the same time cutting the number of high ozone days.

According to the American Lung Association, Atlanta had the fewest number of high-ozone days since the association started keeping count 18 years ago. That means there are fewer airquality warnings in Atlanta. Fewer days where you have to worry about exercising outside. Or worry about your kids at recess. Or your grandparents on their walk around the neighborhood.

This is certainly worthy of celebration, but we understand that the metropolitan Atlanta area still has much work to do. And we’re doing it.

While President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement to address worldwide climate change, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is moving forward.

Mayor Reed and 70 other mayors have pledged to continue improving the health of our cities. They will do it by pushing for fewer harmful emissions, building better public transportation and embracing modern, clean and sustainable energy.

As someone dedicated to building Atlanta’s sustainability, I stand with Mayor Reed and his efforts to improve the South’s environment. I’m proud of the progress this city has made to improve the air, and proud that we are working even harder for a cleaner future.

Yes, Atlanta has a ways to go. But I take inspiration from folks like my grandfather Ted Turner’s example that you can create jobs, build industries and grow cities while still taking care of the place you call home.

John Rutherford Seydel III, the eldest of Ted Turner’s grandchildren, is Atlanta’s Director of Sustainability. He is a trustee in the Turner Foundation.

John Rutherford Seydel III

The Studio

Summer Reading

Fiction, poetry, young adult, nonfiction – and a little music

By Collin Kelley

If you’re looking for something to read on your beach trip, or just to curl up by the air conditioner as the humidity increases, there are plenty of new books by Atlanta authors to keep you busy all summer long. And we’ve included a couple of soundtracks to go along with it. Read on!

You and I and Someone Else

By Anna Schachner

Frannie Lewis has a lot of bad history with men, starting with the first one she ever met. She’s watched her aloof father disappear in the summers to work with a traveling carnival, seen her mother grow ever more suspicious and resentful. All her life, Frannie has kept their secrets and told their stories. Now thirty-six, she remains a pawn in their longstanding marital chess game – and at this point, it has devolved into a grudge match. (Mercer University Press)

Disrupt This! MOOCS and the Promises of Technology

By Karen Head

Atlanta poet and Georgia Tech professor Karen Head describes her experience teaching a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and the pressure on professors, especially those in the humanities, to embrace new technologies in the STEM era. And yet, as she argues, MOOCs are just the latest example of the near-

religious faith that some universities have in the promise of technological advances. (University of New England Press)

The Almost Sisters

By Joshilyn Jackson

Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs’ weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comics convention, the usually level-headed graphic novelist is swept off her barstool by a handsome and anonymous Batman. It turns out the caped crusader has left her with more than just a nice, fuzzy memory. At 38, she’s having a baby while her family life implodes around her. (William Morrow)

Orphan Island

By Laurel Snyder

Nine young children live on a utopian island, where the only change is that on one day each year a boat arrives to carry the eldest child away and deliver a new child. The story follows Jinny, the eldest, in the year before the boat arrives to take her away from the only home she’s ever known.

(Walden Pond Press)

Now Hear This

From Tupelo to Memphis

By Kodac Harrison

The Decatur poet and musician’s new compilation of recordings from 1984 to 2004 with his bands Luckie Street and The Blue Groove. Tracks include favorites like “Young Boy Blues,” “I Like It,” “Temporary Thing” and the title track.

A Man’s World: Portraits

By Steve Oney

A Man’s World is a collection of 20 profiles of fascinating men by author and magazine writer Steve Oney written over a 40-year period for publications including Esquire, Premiere, GQ, Time, Los Angeles and The Atlanta JournalConstitution. Subjects include Harrison Ford, Robert Penn Warren, Herschel Walker, Nick Nolte, Harry Dean Stanton and John Portman. (Mercer University Press)

Mountain Mother Poems

By Alice Teeter

In 25 connected poems, Mountain Mother Poems tells the mythical and magical story of a remarkable mother who chases eagles by “flapping her apron,” surrounded by the beautifully realized landscape of a mountain, and leading us toward an understanding of forgiveness.

(Finishing Line Press)

Atlanta Noir

Edited by Tayari Jones

Fourteen writers explore the complexities of Atlanta’s neighborhoods with

Don’t Go Back to Sleep

By Franklin Abbott

This double disc features 44 of Abbott’s poems and 14 songs featuring lyrics derived from the works of Shakespeare, Blake and fellow poets James Broughton, Bob Vance, Ann Le Marquad and Coleman Barks’ translations of Rumi.

contributions by Tananarive Due, Kenji Jasper, Dallas Hudgens, Jim Grimsley, Brandon Massey, Jennifer Harlow, Sheri Joseph, Alesia Parker, Gillian Royes, Anthony Grooms, John Holman, Daniel Black, David James Poissant and Jones herself. (Akashic Books)

Flight Path: A Search for Roots Beneath the World’s Busiest Airport

By Hannah Palmer

In the months leading up to the birth of her first child, Hannah Palmer discovers that all three of her childhood houses have been wiped out by the expansion of Atlanta’s HartsfieldJackson International Airport. Having uprooted herself from a promising career in publishing in her adopted Brooklyn, Palmer embarks on a quest to determine the fate of her lost homes—and of a community that has been erased by unchecked Southern progress. (Hub City Press)

The Hidden Light of Northern Fires

By Daren Wang

When escaped slave, Joe Bell, collapses in her father’s barn, Mary Willis must ward off Confederate guerillas and spies, Joe’s vengeful owner and even her own brother to help the handsome fugitive cross to freedom. (Thomas Dunne Books)

High Museum’s Andy Warhol exhibit runs through Sept. 3

By Grace Huseth

The High Museum has mounted a staggering retrospective of the pop art of Andy Warhol, with more than 250 prints and ephemera representing all phases of the artist’s storied 40-year career.

The collection, on loan from Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, ranges from early drawings and sketches to iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Mao, Liza Minnelli, Mick Jagger, Muhammad Ali, Truman Capote, Jackie Kennedy and the Campbell’s Soup can.

According to Schnitzer, the exhibition is curated to tell the story of Warhol, from his obsession with media to postwar American life.

Artists in the early 1950’s were shaking up the art world, creating abstract art like Jackson Pollock or playing on images in the media.

“Pop artists, popular culture artists, were challenging people to keep a sense of identity and self while being manipulated by advertising,” Schnitzer said. “Graphic artists said that art is not just in the museum, but also in the Safeway store, on streets and on billboards. It’s all around us.”

Warhol used Campbell’s soup cans to take an item from everyday life and show it is art. But not everyone was impressed. Out of Warhol’s first 32 soup can prints, only two sold for $100 each. They are

now worth millions.

Schnitzer said Warhol reproduced the iconic Marilyn Monroe print in varying colors in a way that extended past visual appeal. As colors evoke different emotions, each print of Marilyn makes viewers notice something different about her while questioning her true colors, or identity.

“This was something he intentionally did, and in the end, it’s one of the most famous images in the world,” he said.

Likewise, Warhol was a celebrity fanatic who wanted to understand the world of the famous. Schnitzer said the prints could imply that Marilyn, or Norma Jeane, was so distorted by the media’s pressures that she soon lost sight of her colors, literally.

Warhol also wasn’t afraid to make a political statement, such as the famous print of communist Chinese leader Chairman Mao.

“What better political figure to use than Mao? The official image of Mao was used in the Book of Mao and every house had to use this image. It was the most publicized image in the world at the time,” Schnitzer said. “Here you have Chairman Mao, the purest Communist leader of the world, depicted by Andy Warhol, this freak, spiky haired gay guy in New York City. Can you image what Mao must have thought when he saw this pop artist do this image of him?”

For details on the Warhol show and events, visit high.org.

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By Isadora Pennington

Every Sunday afternoon, The Shed at Ponce City Market on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail transforms into the WonderRoot Artist Market. The event is a valuable resource for local artists and creatives who seek to sell their wares and market themselves to potential new clients.

Occurring regularly since February, the market offers vendors a monthly table at the event for $125 to $150. They also offer scholarship tables for creatives who have economic disadvantages or are new to selling in a market setting.

By engaging with the public in such a popular spot with easy access from the BeltLine, the WonderRoot Artist Market aims to bring together creatives and an eager audience for their work. Programs that have been introduced include the Activist Screen Print Studio, which features prints designed by local artists to highlight specific social issues, Artists Helping Artists workshops, youth programming, and gallery exhibitions.

“Ponce City Market is a community hub and year-round destination point,” said WonderRoot programs manager Amanda Mills. “With a mission to unite artists and community to inspire positive social change, WonderRoot is an arts organization that works to improve the cultural and social landscape of Atlanta through creative

initiatives and community partnerships.“

Beyond simply connecting artists to potential investors, WonderRoot also hopes to highlight social justice issues within the local community. “We facilitate the connection between the art and the issues by partnering with organizations that are already doing the important social justice work in our community,” Mills said.

This month’s focus on housing justice and equity has incorporated partnerships with City For All, Living Transit Fund and the Housing Justice League.

“We want to increase the visibility of local artists and creatives in Atlanta in lowbarrier to participation avenues,” explained Mills. “It’s essential that art makers and supporters have opportunities to engage and build relationships with each other, and this face-to-face, organic weekly market provides fertile ground for that. We most of all believe in working at the intersection of arts and social change, and showcase this belief in our organizational practices of the market: making it low to no cost to participate, connecting it with our Activist Screen Print Studio efforts, hosting it every week for sustained exposure and interaction, and further providing information to attendees and artists about how to be involved with WonderRoot’s other programs.”

For more information and to get involved as a vendor, sponsor, contributing artist, or volunteer, visit wonderroot.org.

Photos courtesy Modou Jallow WonderRoot’s program manager Amanda Mills and artists at the weekly artist market.

Folk Art Park in Downtown has a new lease on life thanks to a nearly three-year restoration process.

Located on the bridge that spans the Downtown Connector, the installation at the intersections of Piedmont Avenue at Baker Street and Courtland Street at Ralph McGill Boulevard features the work of Eddie Owens Martin, R.A. Miller, James Harold Jennings, Vollis Simpson, Archie Byron and Howard Finster.

The restoration project of the weathered outdoor art also included interpretive signage about the artwork, pedestrian signage and increased safety and protection features.

The 21-year-old park was the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT) first public art project, originally created for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Reclaiming several leftover portions of two cement interstate bridges above Interstate 75/85 in Downtown, the park was designed to enhance the large empty concrete bound spaces while leaving the bridges’ structural integrity intact – with the ability to withstand near-constant vibration caused by vehicular traffic atop and below the bridge.

The Atlanta Public Art Legacy fund (APAL) successfully applied for transportation enhancement funds from the GDOT, which provided $300,000 in

Folk Art Park in Downtown has been fully renovated to showcase work by accliamed artists including Howard Finster.

support of the project to preserve the public art, while the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID) provided the mandatory local match contribution of $100,000 for the preliminary design and engineering. Design work was originally completed and continued

through this project by Robinson Fisher Associates landscape architects. Patricia Kerlin Architect, who managed the original park installation, supported the current project design, and the art assessment and restoration process.

Unexpected

Jewel New Catalyst Arts Atlanta group attracts theatre lovers

By Manning Harris

In Atlanta’s evergrowing theatre scene, sometimes unexpected jewels show up in unlikely places.

Such an experience occurred this spring at Colony Square at the Midtown Players Club, a hitherto unknown (to me) artists’ haven, gallery and makeshift intimate theatre.

I saw an astonishing, moving, funny twocharacter play called “Gruesome Playground

Emily Kleypas and Justin Walker in ‘Gruesome Playground

Injuries,” by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph. The play’s power, beauty, humor and aching humanity just about did me in. The play only ran for two weekends, and I am hereby starting a campaign to get this work back on the boards. And I want the actors, Emily Kleypas and Justin Walker, of whom I am now a confirmed fan, to play the parts. They were subtle and powerful and kept a childlike innocence. They were sublime, as was the direction by Rebekah Suellau.

The work was produced by a small, creative group of artists called Catalyst Arts Atlanta. Their mission statement: “We are a group of seven Atlanta-based artists who are passionate about creating provocative experiences that both challenge and connect audiences.” The founding members are Joel Coady, Barrett Doyle, Emily Kleypas, Liz Schad, Chelsea Steverson, Bennett Walton and A. Julian Verner.

In late July, Catalyst Arts will begin workshopping a new local play – the name of which was still under wraps at this writing. In the fall they’re going to explore “other artistic mediums.” I know – maddeningly nebulous. But now I’m hooked.

For more information, visit catalystartsatlanta.com.

Be sure to read Manning Harris’ theatre review at AtlantaINtownPaper.com.

Courtesy Catalyst Arts Atlanta

Injuries.’

Photos courtesy CAP

Your family’s most

comprehensive online guide to arts and cultural entertainment

Visit AtlantaPlanIt.org for more upcoming events.

Visual Arts

Karen Schwartz: Making Sense: Visit HATHAWAY | Contemporary Gallery to see an exhibit of works by Karen Schwartz, who makes marks on or affixes variable elements on her surfaces, letting the materials lead each composition. Closes July 11. Free. hathawaygallery.com

Mammoths and Mastodons: Journey back in time millions of years ago to explore caves, joust with mammoth tusks, touch mastodon teeth and feel mammoth fur in Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s summer exhibit. Open Daily. Free to $18. fernbankmuseum.org

One Voice: View a collection of Jack Simonetta’s recent mixed-media works that sometimes feature simple, distinct shapes and at other times take on complex layering patterns in an exhibit at pj&j gallery. Open Daily. Free. pbj-gallery.com

The Blue Man Group – Making Waves: This exhibit at The Children’s Museum of Atlanta – designed to bring together science and art – takes the whole family through a multi-sensory exploration of sound that provides an opportunity to play together while discovering the fun of music. Daily. $15.95. childrensmuseumatlanta.org

Walls Without Borders: Visit Atlanta Contemporary Art Center to see Paul Anthony Smith’s oil-on-canvas paintings and unique picotages on pigment print that explore the artist’s autobiography, as well as issues of identity and the African Diaspora. Closes July 30. Free. thecontemporary.org

JA ZZ ON THE L AWN

SUMMER OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES

RHONDA THOMAS JUNE 16

JOE GRANSDEN JUNE 30

JOEY “PAPA J” SOMMERVILLE JULY 14

VIRGINIA SCHENCK & FREE PLANET RADIO JULY 28

BOB BALDWIN AUGUST 11

Summer Swan Invitational: For this exhibit Swan Coach House Gallery turns into a craftoriented “shop” for the summer with a wild assortment of textiles, hand-made sculptural work, and vessels produced in clay and other mediums. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Free. swancoachhouse.com

Luba Lukova: Designing Justice: On view at Museum of Design Atlanta, designer and artist Luba Lukova creates thought-provoking posters addressing essential themes of humanity and injustice worldwide that she hopes will catalyze action and change in the world. Tuesdays through Sundays. Free to $10. museumofdesign.org

The Jim Henson Collection: See characters from The Muppet Show and Sesame Street and learn about the life and legacy of an American Icon in Center for Puppetry Arts’ exhibit, which is the most comprehensive exhibit of Henson’s work in the country. Tuesdays through Sundays. $12.50. puppet.org

Fair Play: The Bobby Jones Story: Discover the man who transcended sports during the Great Depression and became an American hero at a time when the nation most needed one in this exhibit at the Atlanta History Center. Daily. $11 to $16.50. atlantahistorycenter.com

Performing Arts

Blackberry Daze: In Horizon Theatre’s play it is the end of The Great War and a small Virginia town is rocked by secrets and seduction as Herman Camm, a provocative gambler, weaves his magic on the lives of three unsuspecting women. Opens July 14. $25 to $35. horizontheatre.com

Cinderella Della Circus: Cinderella Della Circus brings high-flying thrills to the Center for Puppetry Arts in a show that balances both puppetry and the circus through fairytale magic. Tuesdays through Sundays. $11.25 to $19.50. puppet.org

Little Shop of Horrors: Don’t miss Actor’s Express’ horrifically hilarious take on one of the longest-running musicals in off-Broadway history in which budding botanist Seymour Krelbourn discovers a new species of plant that he thinks will bring him unending fame and fortune but turns out to be a bloodthirsty carnivore bent on world domination. Opens July 15. $21 to $45. actors-express.com

Heathers The Musical: Based on the classic cult film, this homicidal musical by OnStage Atlanta has a bit of heart and takes an honest look at the joys and dangers of high school. Opens July 7. $15 to $25. onstageatlanta.com

Tapas II: Steady As She Goes: This event is Academy Theatre’s second play festival of ten-minute shows, and the collection includes playwrights from around the country and renowned regional directors at Hapeville Performing Arts Center. July 7 to 23. $20 to $25. academytheatre.org

Joey “Papa J” Sommerville: Callanwolde Fine Arts Center’s summer concert series Jazz on the Lawn continues with jazz trumpeter Joey Sommerville. July 14. $20. callanwolde.org

Sam Hunt with Maren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese: Country star Sam Hunt headlines this summer concert tour to Alpharetta’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. July 13. $26 to $65.50. vzwamp.com

Atlanta African Dance & Drum Festival: The Atlanta African Dance and Drum Festival at Covenant House Gymnasium features a diverse range of music and movement workshops, an African inspired craft market, food vendors, a Kid’s Camp and a finale concert. July 28 to 30. aaddf.org

A 501c3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to preserve the historic Candler Estate and to offer fine arts and outreach to the community.

980 Briarcliff Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30306

Jazz on the Lawn is a great way to spend time with friends, unwind, and listen to an evening of live music. Guests are invited to bring a blanket and a picnic and enjoy these concerts surrounded by the natural beauty of the Callanwolde Amphitheater.

Bring your own drinks and food, or purchase food and drink onsite from Sun In My Belly and Callanwolde’s cash bar.

BUY TICKETS TODAY: CALLANWOLDE.ORG

The Dancing Granny: Kids and adults will be tapping their feet at Alliance Theatre’s show at Spelman College as Ananse, the clever spider of African folklore, tries to trick Granny into dancing away from her garden so he can take her vegetables. July 8 through 16.

$8 to $15. alliancetheatre.org

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Two pairs of lovers (one requited, one... not so much) and a rag-tag group of thespians find themselves lost in the woods right as the fairy kingdom is turned on its head by its quarreling leaders in Atlanta Shakespeare Company’s production. July 7 to 30. $15 to $39. shakespearetavern.com

Barenaked Ladies: The band is still touring after nearly three decades, 15 studio albums, millions of sales and the theme song to one of TV’s most popular shows, “The Big Bang Theory.” See them at Atlanta Botanical Garden. July 21. $65.50. atlantabg.org

News You Can Eat

Restaurants � Reviews � Events

Latin Flavor

Five places to get your south of the border sandwich fix

By Isadora Pennington

It’s hard to beat a sandwich. The act of putting meats, veggies, condiments and other tasty goodies between bread is a tried and true American favorite. So how does one kick it up a notch? The answer is simple: turn your attention south of the border to add some Latin flavor to your sandwich combinations.

One of the better known Latin sandwiches is the Cuban, a dish that’s commonly made with ham, pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and sometimes salami on Cuban bread. These sandwiches are typically pressed in a grill called a plancha, which is similar to a panini press but without the grooves.

The popularity of these sandwiches trace back to the influx of immigrants from Cuba and other South and Central American regions, and once this distinctly different take on the classic dish became available on menus in Miami and Tampa, it was not long before demand began pouring in from communities across the country. As with many popular eats, the recipes have evolved, changed and diversified as they have been incorporated into different cultures and regional taste preferences.

This month, I visited five spots where you can get your Latin sandwich fix around Intown.

LOTTAFRUTTA

Just Veggin’: creamy havarti grilled paninistyle in a sweet latin loaf then stuffed with fresh avocado, tomato, cucumbers & sprouts - $6.25 590 Auburn Ave. NE lottafrutta.com or (404) 588-0857

AREPA MIA

Sifrina: shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato, avocado, guayanes cheese, Thai chili, fried sweet plantains - $9 N. Clarendon Ave., Avondale Estates arepamiaatlanta.com or (404) 600-3509

HAVANA SANDWICH SHOP

Milanesa: breaded fried chicken, lettuce, tomato, cheese, potato sticks - $8.25 2905 Buford Highway NE havanaatlanta.com or (404) 636-4094

EL SUPER PAN

Cubano Mixto: pan cubano, Cuban roasted pork, ham, salami, pickles, yellow mustard, Swiss cheese - $13 Ponce City Market, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, NE elsuperpan.com or (404) 600-2465

PAPI’S CUBAN & CARIBBEAN GRILL

Jerk Sandwich: chicken breast, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, onions and tomatoes on Cuban bread - $7.25 216 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE. papisgrill.com or (404) 607-1525

QUICK BITES

Black Restaurant Week (BRW), originally created in Houston, is expanding to Atlanta. BRW will kick off its Inaugural Annual Summer Culinary Series, in the city of Atlanta, Georgia July 31- Aug. 13. Diners can enjoy casual dining options for $15 to $25 per person, and fine dining options from $35 to $45 per person. Visit atlbrw.com to see the full list of participating restaurants.

Gourmet popsicle maker Steel City Pops has popped up at The Shops Buckhead Atlanta. The pop cart will serve handcrafted frozen treats made with locally-harvested ingredients in Center Plaza through the end of October. Steel City Pops’ menu features fruity favorites such as Strawberry Lemonade and Watermelon. Creamy pops flavors include Buttermilk and Chocolate. Seasonal and exclusive flavors specially crafted for the Atlanta location will be introduced throughout the summer as well.

Emerald City Bagels is slated to open later this summer in the previous home of Gravity Pub on Glenwood Avenue in East Atlanta Village. Fresh bagels will be made daily and the menu will offer bagel sandwiches and craft sodas made from house-made syrups and seltzers. For more information, visit emeraldcitybagels.com.

Chef Darius Williams has opened Greens and Gravy in the Westview neighborhood at 1540 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. The menu includes fish and grits, spare ribs, lemonpepper honey fried chicken, brown sugar salmon, banana pudding and more. For more, visit facebook.com/ greensandgravy.

The 7th annual Atlanta Ice Cream Festival will be held July 22 at Piedmont Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The free event will offer all kinds of ice cream, food, fun and music. For more information, visit atlantaicecreamfestival.com.

Chicken Salad Chick is now open at 4365 Roswell Road in Buckhead. The fast-casual eatery offers more than a dozen flavors of chicken salad made in-house daily. For more information, visit chickensaladchick.com/Buckhead.

Concentrics Restaurants will be opening a new Italian concept this month called ALLORA that will be located in the former Lobby space at TWELVE Hotel Midtown in Atlantic Station. Executive Chef Chris Maher was still finalizing the menu at press time.

The Halal Guys

“Hey, where did you get that gyro?”

“The halal guys on West 53rd and 6th Avenue.”

That’s how a legend was born. In 1990, a simple hot dog cart run by a trio of Egyptian immigrants became the hottest lunch line in New York City. Twenty-five years later, they began licensing franchises and now boast over two hundred locations worldwide. As the fastest growing fast casual chain in America, The Halal Guys has finally landed on Buford Highway with more locations expected to follow. Simply put, this is some of the most consistently excellent half-hour dining available in Atlanta.

Tasting Intown

By Megan Volpert

them in a pita wrap with lettuce and tomato or you put them over a bed of rice with lettuce, tomato and pita on the side.

It’s the same all over the world: a couple of tables in a fairly small but conveniently located space, that red and yellow color scheme, and a limited menu where everything is done with consistent quality and correctness. If you’ve eaten at any of the locations, you’ve eaten at them all, and you can literally order one of everything on the menu for just under $50. The staples are lamb, chicken and falafel, and you put

Then you add one or more of their two excellent sauces: white and red. The white sauce is some kind of mystery mayo, more creamy than tangy. It’s not a tzatziki sauce. The red sauce is super spicy and made with red peppers. It’s not a harissa sauce and you’ll feel the burn all the way down your throat for an eye-watering adventure that is both delicious and slightly scary. If you’ve ever accepted some ludicrous hot wings dare, this red sauce will be your next big thing. Some locations outside of NYC, including ours, have a barbeque sauce that is more sweet than spicy.

For sides, you have four choices: fries, hummus, baba ganouj and falafel. The fries are just fries, golden brown and not at all soggy. The hummus, which is made of ground chickpeas, has a nice garlic flavor. The baba ganouj, which is made of pureed eggplant, has a wonderfully smoky aftertaste. The falafel is crisp on the outside, bright green on the inside and not too dry or crumbly. You can top it all off

Megan Volpert lives in Decatur, teaches in Roswell and writes books about popular culture.

with a baklava for dessert, jam packed with crushed nuts and dripping delicious honey everywhere, as messy as anything made with layers of filo dough should be.

Every meal I’ve ever had at The Halal Guys, no matter what city, it’s been ready in less than four minutes. They’ve got strong procedures in place and everything moves along in an orderly manner without making customers feel like they are part of a cattle call managed by robots. You can

be in and out with a full belly in a half hour. If a half hour is too much, carry it out in five minutes. Or if you absolutely cannot forsake the comfort of your own couch, several online delivery services will pick it up for you, so just check your local preferred apps. The wrappings are unpretentious, unbranded foil for the sandwiches and the platters come in those generic rounds made of foil with clear plastic tops. The wrapping isn’t microwave safe, but hey, their food is also super delicious when served cold if you’re saving any for later.

Do I need to state what “halal” means? Have you heard of “kosher”? These words refer to foods it is acceptable to eat if you’re following Islamic or Jewish law. The acceptability is based upon certain techniques used during animal slaughter. It has no bearing upon the taste of the meat, so feel free to be as oblivious to the meaning as ever. However, I’m happy to point out that although the Buford

Highway corridor has long been Atlanta’s go-to for diverse foods, it has been lacking in offerings suitable to practicing Muslims. Yes, The Halal Guys is an exceedingly trendy place to grab a bite, but it also welcomes more families to the table.

The Halal Guys is located at 4929 Buford Highway in Chamblee. For more information, visit thehalalguys.com.

Home & Real Estate

By Kathy Dean

The entire Highlands-Cashiers Plateau in North Carolina has been drawing people there to get away or retire for generations. It’s a beautiful stretch, set in the Nantahala National Forest, with old growth trees meandering around the Blue Ridge Mountains, serene lakes, rushing streams and picturesque waterfalls.

Because of the higher elevation, the climate is considerably cooler than Atlanta. It’s easy to understand why many Atlantans head there to find a home, whether for full-time living, weekends, vacations or retirement. And that’s causing real estate in the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau to heat up.

“The Highlands-Cashiers market is strengthening since the 2008 adjustment,” said Jody Lovell, Broker/ Owner of Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty. “In 2016, the market was up 8 percent in unit sales and 19 percent in volume. So far this year, the market is up 19 percent in unit sales and 12 percent in volume.”

The outlook for real estate is very optimistic, she added, as more people appreciate the serenity of the mountains, the culture, activities and fine dining that’s available, as well as

North Carolina real estate market heats up

the many opportunities to enjoy nature.

“Low inventory is not a problem,” Lovell said. “Since inventory was stockpiled during the recession, it’s still a buyers’ market, making it a good time to purchase. There are some amazing homes on the market right now.”

She pointed to several current listings. There’s a small cabin named The Love Shack, listed at $280,000; a 20-acre horse farm with a 6-bedroom main home, a log cabin guest home and barn with skeet shooting and two large ponds for $2,390,00; and a sophisticated home on a large waterfall at $3,595,000, “…with lots of inventory in between,” said Lovell.

Each year, there’s a trickle of buyers who are moving here permanently, she added. Lovell expects to see that number

increase, especially as temperatures continue to rise.

“There’s a wide diversity of buyers right now, from young couples looking for a small cabin to retirees searching for a mountain sanctuary to enjoy with family and friends,” Lovell continued. “The Old Edwards Inn is of the top ten places in the U.S. to have a wedding, according to some reports, and it has attracted younger people to the area.”

Bill Gilmore, Provisional Broker, Highlands Cove Realty at Old Edwards Inn, and Realtor with PalmerHouse Properties, reported that in the last year, from June 2016 to June 2017, there have been 582 closings in North Carolina’s Jackson and Macon counties, according to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) statistics.

The town of Highlands, a popular mountain destination, is located in Macon County, just past the Georgia and North Carolina border. From Atlanta, it’s only about a two-hour drive to the northeast. Continue another 15 minutes or so, and you’ll reach the village of Cashiers, N.C., set in Jackson County.

“We have a strong market. This is a big region geographically and we

have something for everyone,” he said. “Between Cashiers and Highlands, you can get the best of both worlds, and it doesn’t have to be expensive to get into the area.”

A townhome in Sapphire, N.C., about eight miles east of Cashiers, recently sold for $43,500. With the walkability trend, however, in-town properties cost more and sell fast. As an example of the difference, Gilmore said that the recent purchase price for an in-town Highlands townhome was $1,122,000.

But there are more options for people wanting the convenience of a walkable lifestyle. “Cottage Walk is a new construction, in-town community in Cashiers that still has inventory available,” he said. Gilmore also noted that the rental market is especially hot, and allows potential

Continued on Page 38

A home in Cashiers, NC

A home in Lonesome Valley, NC

Whiteside Mountain overlooking the Cashiers Valley

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IS NOT DIRECTED TO ANY PERSON OR ENTITY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK BY, OR ON BEHALF OF, OLD TOCCOA FARM, LLC OR ANYONE ACTING WITH OLD TOCCOA FARM, LLC’S KNOWLEDGE. NO OFFERING OR PURCHASE OR SALE OF ANY PROPERTY SHALL TAKE PLACE AS A RESULT OF THIS OFFERING, UNTIL ALL REGISTRATION AND FILING REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE NEW YORK MARTIN ACT AND THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL’S REGULATIONS ARE COMPLIED WITH; A WRITTEN EXEMPTION IS OBTAINED PURSUANT TO AN APPLICATION IS GRANTED PURSUANT TO AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH COOPERATIVE POLICY STATEMENTS #1 OR #7; OR A “NO-ACTION” REQUEST IS GRANTED.

homeowners to try before they buy.

“During the first six months of 2017 the real estate market has been an interesting ride, and has emphasized the uniqueness of our area,” said Kenneth Taft, Broker-In-Charge/General Manager of Landmark Realty Group. “We’ve enjoyed good, stable activity. A total of 270 homes and properties have sold during the first half of 2017, which is up 23 percent from the same time last year.”

Taft explained that Highlands-Cashiers prices, inventory and activity have remained strong and consistent. Since it’s a resort community, specializing in the second home market, there is definitely enough inventory to meet the demand, he said.

“The Highlands-Cashiers Plateau is truly one of the premier vacation spots on the east coast,” Taft added. “Like any resort

and second home market, the people who typically buy here are those who have visited before and fell in love with the area. They want to have a ‘home base’ here, whether they’re using it as a weekend getaway, during the summer or as an investment until they can retire here full time.”

When it comes to what’s a hot property, Taft said that it entirely depends on what people like to do. For golfers, there are several desirable neighborhoods that surround awardwinning courses such as Wade Hampton, Mountaintop and Wildcat Cliffs.

“If the buyer prefers water sports, they’ll focus on properties near Lake Glenville or Lake Toxaway,” he explained. “If they just want to get out and enjoy the great outdoors, they may want to live in a community such as Whiteside Cove or Lonesome Valley. We have a wide variety of properties to choose from.”

Susie deVille, Owner/Broker-in-Charge, White Oak Realty Group, also sees an exceeding strong market in HighlandsCashiers. “Demand for properties across all price points is high, with walk-totown properties of particular interest,” she said. “Highlands’ lively shopping, dining, cultural activities and evening entertainment options are abundant and are driving the desire for properties with proximity to Main Street.”

There is a shortage in new construction, according to deVille, and a high demand for homes within walking distance to town.

“We have a younger demographic than has historically been the case for our market, with the average age of more than half of my buyers under 50 years old,” she said. “More and more, wealthy investors under 50 are purchasing their retirement properties now.”

She added that in many cases, these

properties are income producing and serve as wonderful vehicles for offsetting ownership costs. Many investors come from the Atlanta metro region, and given the proximity to Highlands, they enjoy their properties nearly every weekend. Some even find creative ways to telecommute during the week, deVille said.

“Overall, the real estate market in Highlands-Cashiers is continuing to improve, with varying performance levels within different communities,” said Thomas Bates, Development Planning and Sales, Lonesome Valley.

He reported that following three consecutive years of strong sales, Lonesome Valley is experiencing its best first two quarters this year. A residential mountain farm community, Lonesome Valley is located about five minutes by car northeast of Cashiers. The community features

Cashiers Valley Boathouse at Loneseome Valley

streams and ponds, lake activities, rock climbing, fine dining and a day spa.

The question of inventory is more about quality than quantity, Bates explained. “There are a lot of older homes currently on the market, but folks typically are looking for something fresher and newer. New construction is rebounding and builders are very busy again.”

Bates said that he primarily sees second home buyers with a multigenerational ‘family investment’ in mind. Most of the buyers are purchasing homes for their immediate family’s use,

with plans to spend the majority of their

“At Lonesome Valley, we’re seeing a lot of families who are investing in a simpler life in the mountains, without an overabundance of amenities and a stronger connection with the natural world,” he said.

Taft summed up the state of real estate opportunities in Highlands-Cashiers.

“While still considered a buyers’ market here, new owners in Highlands-Cashiers can feel confident that they’re buying into an area that has great amenities, upscale dining and shopping, and outdoor activities,” he said.

Mountain Dreams Begin Here

Highlands Cove Realty specializes in luxury North Carolina mountain homes, breathtaking homesites, condominiums, cottages and vacation rentals at Old Edwards Club and in the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountain communities. The gated community at Old Edwards Club offers a private golf club, with an 18 hole Tom Jackson designed course, a 24 hour exercise facility, heated mineral pool and pavilion area, two clay tennis courts, an outside chimney terraced and a club house with a large bar area and several di fferent dining area options, both indoors and out.

194C Napa Ridge Lane

MLS 85957

Enjoy maintenance free living with amazing mountain views in Old Edwards Club! 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo with a split level floor plan including two master suites and lots of outdoor living space. $595,000.

143D Turning Leaf Lane

MLS 86252

Step into this condo and you will instantly fall in love with the modern updates that make it hard to pass up. Walking distance to Old Edwards Club. By far one of the most updated units in Turning Leaf. A MUST SEE and priced to sell. $529,000.

29 Teton Point

MLS #84102

Appointed with beautiful hardwood floors, cathedral ceilings, custom cabinetry and granite countertops this home is dressed to impress. Fully furnished. $1,750,000.

1751 High Gate Road

MLS # 86136

Luxury 4 bedroom mountain home with 2 large master suites, one with a spa inspired bathroom, beamed & vaulted ceilings, an office with view, and separate guest/artist cottage located in gated community of Highgate. $1,995,000.

The quaint town of Highlands is located in the beautiful Western North Carolina mountains.

Just 2 hours from Atlanta, and in close proximity to interstate 85.

2050 Highlands Cove Drive

MLS 86122

Great opportunity to own a home in Old Edwards Club with a view for under $1M. Th is 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath craftsman style home was built by Koenig Homebuilders and comes fully furnished. $950,000.

55A Burning Bush Lane

MLS 86120

Stunning new condo listing in Old Edwards Club! This condo offers one of the best views in Turning Leaf! Features crown molding throughout, sisal carpeting in the bedrooms and hardwood floors in the main areas, tiled baths, and stacked stone fireplace in the living room. $545,000.

40C Santuary Drive

MLS # 86219

Straight walk-in, private condo with a golf course view. Features a fi replace in the living room and one on the screened porch, 10 foot ceilings, tray ceilings in dining room and spacious kitchen. O ffered turn-key furnished. $525,000.

Hickory Knut Gap Road

MLS # 83006

Beautiful 15 +/- acre underdeveloped tract of land on the Dillard Road. 4.2 miles from Main Street in Highlands. Property is next to the National Forest on two sides. $198,000.

Darlene Conley Ed Hillis Bill Gilmore Jennifer Blake

A dramatic setting for a Highlands’ home.

Day for Night

Head north to check out the solar eclipse on Aug. 21

By Collin Kelley

On Aug. 21, a large swath of America will be treated to a rare phenomenon: a total solar eclipse. While partial views will be available in Atlanta, if you want to be in the path of totality then head to North Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina.

The centerline for the eclipse will touch the northeastern corner of Georgia around 2:35 p.m. Some of the picturesque places to see the full solar phenomenon are in Clayton, Toccoa and Black Rock Mountain State Park.

In North Carolina, you’ll have part of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park as a dramatic landscape for the eclipse.

Some of the cities in the path are Bryson City, Murphy, Andrews, Franklin and Santeetlah Lake.

A big swath of South Carolina will see the eclipse, but one of the best places will be the city of Greenville, which lies in the path of totality. The downtown area has cool shops, restaurants and the lovely Falls Park on the Reedy River.

The last time all of North America witnessed a solar eclipse was 99 years ago, so grab your eclipse glasses and head north. Hotels and rentals are already filling up, so if you’re planning to make a long weekend of it, better book now.

A total solar eclipse will cut a swath across North America on Aug. 21, including a portion of North Georgia and North Carolina.

The Highlands Connection

By Kathy Dean

It’s no mystery why people choose to live or vacation on the Highlands-Cashier Plateau. For one thing, there are the cooler temperatures. With its elevation of 4,118 feet above sea level, the town of Highlands generally runs about 15 degrees cooler than Atlanta, which has an elevation of just over 1,000 feet. The village of Cashiers, at an elevation of 3,484, is normally about 10 degrees cooler than Atlanta.

Then there’s the peace and quiet. A home in the mountains brings images of relaxation and natural beauty. It’s a perfect get-away to refresh and recharge, whether by sitting and taking in the breathtaking landscapes, or by getting active—hiking along the forested Blue Ridge Mountain paths, fishing in the sparkling rivers or taking the boat out on the lake.

Getting away from it all sounds great, but some may worry that there’s a cost to it, like losing luxury or their connection with the outside world. On the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau, that’s certainly not the case.

“For generations of well-to-do Southerners, the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau has been an escape—from the heat, from the bugs, from the noise, from the crowds, from responsibilities—but most of the time, that meant leaving the luxuries of life behind in the city,” said Jack Austin, General Manager of Old Edwards Inn & Spa.

Today, Old Edwards Inn, located in Highlands, provides a place in the mountains where visitors can spoil themselves with award-winning food and wine, a nationally ranked spa, world-class golf and sumptuous amenities, he said.

Austin shared his favorite way to relax at Old Edwards Inn. “Nothing beats a soak in the spa’s whirlpool, followed by an 80-minute massage, and then a cup of herbal tea in the solarium,” he said. “Letting myself drift off for a nap in one of the sumptuous chaises is true luxury, but I’m tempted to get up for a light bite in the Wine Garden. My

favorite table is right by the waterfall. It’s like a calm eddy off the stream of foot traffic on Main Street just yards away.”

According to Bill Gilmore, Provisional Broker, Highlands Cove Realty at Old Edwards Inn and Realtor with PalmerHouse Properties, Main Street in Highlands is uber charming, with its churches, small grocery stores and walkable shops and restaurants.

“It’s like something out of Mayberry R.F.D.,” he said. “It’s a place where parents can comfortably allow their teens to shop or eat on their own.”

Depending on what people are looking for, there are plenty of choices, Gilmore added. “For unparalleled luxury, you can’t do better than a stay at the Old Edwards Inn,” he said. “But if you’re looking for a pet-friendly hotel, there’s the Main Street Inn.” Also in Highlands, Main Street Inn offers quaint rooms, many with private balconies.

For those concerned that the mountains might cut them off from civilization, Gilmore noted that communication in the area is top notch, with internet and cell service so reliable that busy executives can easily work from Highlands-Cashiers.

“The Cashiers Area offers a casuallysophisticated visitor and lifestyle experience ranging from spectacular outdoor recreation, like world-class hiking, fly fishing, golf/tennis/croquet, rock climbing, to refined dining and handcrafted cocktails,” said Stephanie Edwards, Executive Director at Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce. “And our growing arts and cultural scene includes music and live theater.”

She added that award-winning chef Johannes Klapdohr opened the Library Kitchen & Bar restaurant earlier this year, a wonderful complement to celebrated Chef Adam Hayes’ Canyon Kitchen culinary experience. The Cashiers area is also anticipating the launch of a hometown brewery and more boutiques for their ‘cottage shopping’ experience.

Edwards noted that this year, the Cashiers Historical Society will celebrate

the 20th anniversary of its annual Cashiers Designer Showhouse fundraiser, which will be held August 12 to 27. It will feature many of the best interior decorators and designers in the Southeast who will work their magic on three new houses. The featured homes will be in the new Cottage Walk community on Burns Street in Cashiers.

“There’s a strong emphasis on outdoor activities here in the mountains, but if you’re not the outdoorsy type, there’s still plenty to do while you’re here,” said Kenneth Taft, Broker-In-Charge/General Manager of Landmark Realty Group. “There’s an abundance of cultural events such as plays and concerts. There are also luxurious spas in which to indulge, and classes to take to explore a new hobby.”

No matter what you like to do, Taft said that you’ll be sure to meet plenty of nice people from all over the world who come here for the same reasons—to relax and destress from their everyday lives. “And that’s what makes this area so special—the people who come here,” he said.

According to Susie deVille, Owner/ Broker-in-Charge, White Oak Realty Group and President and Founder of the Innovation & Creativity Institute, Highlands-Cashiers attracts interesting

people of many backgrounds, education levels and interests. “Our town tends to attract awesome people,” she said. “They come here and want to relax, but they also want to connect with the community, even if it’s just for a weekend or a month.”

The community is welcoming and there are many ways to plug into it, deVille added. For example, there’s the Highlands Playhouse, an intimate theater that showcases Broadway musicals and regular film events, and The Bascom, a visual arts center in Highlands that invites seasonal and year-round residents to volunteer. The Bascom hosts exhibitions, education and artist residency programs.

“People think it’s a tiny place, and it is cozy, but we have a hospital, performing arts, chamber music festival and other cultural offerings that are astounding for a place with four stoplights,” said deVille.

While the mountains provide a cool respite from summer heat, they’re also worth a visit in colder weather. “In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in the number of folks who choose to come back for Thanksgiving, to spend their holiday here in the mountains,” said Taft. “Christmas tree farms are a large industry here, so there are a lot places where people can choose and cut their own tree, which appeals to residents and visitors alike.”

Zipline - 20lbs up to 250lbs any age

Top of the line Honda single ATV or a multi passenger UTV Guided trail rides into the national forest on natural trails Boating trips and cabin rentals

Old Edwards Inn & Spa in Highlands

Appalachian Cool Jackson County, NC has much to offer homeowners, vacationers

If you’re headed to the mountains this summer or fall, make sure to add Jackson County, NC to your list of must-visit places. Located only a few hours from Atlanta, it’s perfect for outdoor enthusiasts to explore a variety of landscapes ranging from picturesque peaks, rolling valleys, cascading waterfalls and winding rivers. There’s also Panthertown Valley, which has 6,295 acres of Nantahala National Forest lands with more than 30 miles of hiking, biking and multi-use trails. Known as the “Yosemite of the East” the backcountry trails wander through a pristine section of the southern Appalachian Mountains, and lead to over a dozen waterfalls in the valley.

After a hike, cool down and take in the beauty of one of Jackson County’s many waterfalls. Visitors can discover more than two-dozen waterfalls in the area ranging from cascading falls, to gentle flows, all which make for oneof-a-kind photo opportunities. Tucked away in the area’s unique landscape, these waterfalls ebb and flow with stunning, rushing water. Whitewater Falls, one

of the highest east of the Rockies, Courthouse Falls and High Falls are just a few that guests to the area shouldn’t miss. For a beach feel with a mountain view, visit Lake Glenville, one of the country’s highest lakes, for water activities or just to lounge on the sand-filled beach.

There’s also plenty of good food and drinks in the area. Jackson County’s Ale Trail features a variety of breweries along the easily walkable, one-mile route in Sylva. The trail consists of three, unique breweries offering beers for all palates: The Sneak E Squirrel, Heinzelmännchen Brewery and Innovation Brewing. The Ale Trail will also welcome a fourth member this summer with Balsam Falls Brewing, which will have 16-20 beers on tap in a rotating selection.

Local restaurants make as much of a lasting impression as the towering mountainscapes. In Cashiers, restaurants feature pretty porches, apple orchards and country dining. Cornucopia is consistently named as one of the best porches in Cashiers. Award-

Continued on Page 44

Photo by Nick Breedlove Downtown Sylva, NC

winning chef Adam Hayes offers farmto-table specialties at Canyon Kitchen in Sapphire. One of the most popular spots in Sylva is Lulu’s on Main. Guadalupe Café offers Caribbean-inspired fusion,

a diverse selection of wines from Spain and Latin-America and micro-brewed beers. The county’s newest restaurant, The Library, offers both an artistic vibe not only in the food, but in the eclectic décor. Special for summer travelers is the

LOOKING FOR A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE, SECOND HOME, OR RENTAL INVESTMENT?

opportunity to experience a musical evening at either Sylva’s Concerts on the Creek, which takes place every Friday night, Memorial Day through Labor Day, or in Cashiers for the Groovin’ on the Green Summer Concert Series. This

laidback event happens every Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Village Commons. Whether you’re on vacation or house hunting, be sure to check out Jackson County. Find out more at DiscoverJacksonNC.com.

Photos by Nick Breedlove High Falls

The Lake at High Hampton Inn

North American Properties (NAP) has broken broke ground on Edge, an $80 million mixed-use community in the Old Fourth Ward on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail.

According to officials, Edge will be a “creative living community” on both sides of the Eastside Trail at DeKalb Avenue. The development will feature 29,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, loft-style office space, and 350 residential units (with 30 of those designated as affordable workforce housing). A pedestrian bridge over the trail will connect the two buildings. The retail and residential components of Edge are slated to open in early Spring 2019.

“The BeltLine has spurred exciting growth as it continues to create unique and memorable destinations such as Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market. We are excited about the opportunity to add Edge to the list of energy-driven developments creating a true sense of place,” said Richard Munger, partner and vice president of development with NAP. “We have worked closely with our BeltLine neighbors to curate a gathering place that will complement the BeltLine experience and bring fresh new dining, retail, working and living options to the Eastside Trail.”

To follow progress on Edge, visit facebook.com/EdgeOTB.

Courtesy NAP

A rendering of the mixed-used Edge project on the Eastside Trail.

THE CANCER ANSWERTM IN YOUR HOMETOWN

REAL ESTATE BRIEFS

The Invest Atlanta Board of Directors has passed a resolution approving the use of $9 million from the Eastside Tax Allocation District (TAD) for the development of a $90.5 million, 14-story, 302-unit residential tower at 161 Peachtree Center Avenue in Downtown. Sixty of the units, or 20 percent of the total units, will be set aside as affordable workforce housing. Banyan Street Capital LLC, the owner of Peachtree Center, is proposing to partner with developer Greystar to build the residential tower above an existing parking garage adjacent to Peachtree Center. The project will bring approximately 150 temporary construction jobs, and more than $90 million in capital investment to the Downtown area. The total economic impact of the project is estimated at more than $129 million. Construction is expected to begin in early 2018.

The Atlantic building at Atlantic Station in Midtown is converting its remaining apartments to luxury condos, with new interiors and hotel-style service. CF Real Estate Services (CFRES) purchased Atlantic late last year, with the intent of restoring the building to its original condo concept. The company will convert the remaining 229 units, most of which are located on the upper floors of the 46-story tower, from apartments to for-sale residences. Units are for sale with prices ranging from the mid $300,000’s to over $1.4 million. For more information, visit ownatlantic.com.

Edward Andrews Homes has announced that its new Grant Park community, The Swift, will be completed this month. The Swift connects residents to the future Southeast side of the Atlanta BeltLine and offers townhome living just a stroll away from urban markets, restaurants, shops and parks priced from the $300,000’s. For more information, visit theswiftatlanta.com.

Equus Capital Partners has acquired Viera Braircliff, a 500-unit apartment community in Druid Hills. The complex has been renamed Madison Druid Hills.

Christa Huffstickler has opened Engel & Völkers Atlanta, the company’s fifth brokerage in the Greater Atlanta area. Building on more than 15 years of experience in new construction and residential real estate, Huffstickler and her team specialize in developer services, having worked on projects including 1065 Midtown above the Loews Hotel, 1010 Midtown, The Atlantic and Emerson Buckhead.

Valerie Levin has been named senior vice president and managing broker for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties Midtown Office. Kerman Haynes, who has guided the Midtown Office as managing broker, has been appointeded senior vice president of City HAUS, the firm’s luxury condominium marketing and development division.

Group Kora, Istar and the Mandarin Oriental Atlanta in Buckhead recently hosted a cocktail party for a group of Chinese investors to introduce them to the Atlanta real estate market. The event took place at the new construction Mandarin Oriental Residences and included a tour of the fast-selling properties. Group Kora, led by Karen Rodriguez, hosted the group of investors, who are part of a private wealth club visiting Atlanta to actively seek business and real estate investment opportunities.

Dr. Daniel Carr • Dr. Ethan Tolbert • Dr. Sheetal Patel • Dr. Laura Weakland

Valerie Levin

Terwilliger Pappas has started construction on Solis Decatur, a 290-unit apartment community. Solis Decatur comprises the residential component of the North Decatur Square mixed-use development that includes 89,000 square feet of restaurant and retail – including a Whole Foods 365. Terwilliger Pappas partnered with SJ Collins Enterprises on the 11-acre parcel. Catalyst Development Partners has opened Helios Apartments for immediate moveins. The 282-unit community is located at 2470 Cheshire Bridge Road NE near the intersection of I-85, PATH 400 and eventually the Atlanta BeltLine. The building has one- and two-bedroom apartment homes with gourmet kitchens, extra-large closets, multi-level lounge areas, co-working space, saltwater pool and more. For more information, visit heliosapts.com.

Developer John Wieland and his team recently hosted a celebration and dedication for the One Museum Place luxury condo development across the street from the High Museum on Peachtree Street in Midtown. Guests received a tour of the sales model as well as an elegant dinner in one of the 44 residences, 24 of which have already been sold. The condos range from 1,700 square feet to 5,000 square feet, with prices beginning at $1 million.

Edward Andrews Homes and David Weekley Homes have debuted Broadview Place, a new townhome community in Buckhead. Located just steps from the Lindbergh MARTA station and a host of retail and restaurants, the community featured 33 homes starting in the high $300s. For more information, visit eahomes.com.

Set on the site of the former Williamsburg apartment community in Decatur, Pulte Homes is replacing the 400-plus apartments with a blend of 341 luxury singlefamily homes, townhomes and condos called Parkside at Mason Mill. Home prices will range from the mid $300s to the $600s. For more information, visit Pulte.com/ ParksideAtMasonMill.

Mercy Housing Southeast recently held a ribbon-cutting for its new, affordable housing development called Reynoldstown – a 70-unit, independent-living, affordable senior housing facility servicing residents aged 62 and older. The new development features extensive amenities and targets seniors whose annual household income range is $17,500 to $35,000. The development is located at 695 Field Street and sits in the heart of Reynoldstown neighborhood.

Fourteen local Atlanta celebrities recently competed in a ballroom dance competition, Dancing Stars of Atlanta, while raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Association, Georgia Chapter. Morningside resident and realtor, Ken Covers with Engel & Völkers Intown Atlanta, was awarded the People Choice Award for setting a new record for the highest fundraiser in the event’s history along with his dance partner Morgan Hendrix. He raised a total of $173,300. “I had the time of my life fundraising and sharing the evening with family and friends. It will be an evening I will always remember,” Covers said.

Morgan Hendrix & Ken Covers

John Wieland

Our contributing photographer Steve Eberhardt was on hand for last month’s Prince Parade along the Eastside Trail of the Atlanta BeltLine. Organized by Prince fan Allen Smith (pictured above), the parade stepped off from Piedmont Park and headed to Historic Fourth Ward Park for dancing and a candlelight vigil. The music icon performed his last concert in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre before his death on April 21, 2016.

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

up to 900 Websites | 110-Year Legacy

BUCKHEAD - Spectacular living top of Sovereign. Three separate private covered balconies, upgraded counters, appliances, flooring, custom lighting, custom closets, front and rear entry, open floorplan, grand entrance. 2Bed/2.5Bath $1,890,000

FMLS: 5756028 Bru Krebs 404.984.0243

2500 PEACHTREE - Spectacular Buckhead residence w/enchanting vistas of English style gardens. Elegant floorplan w/exquisite finishes thru-out. Chef’s kit, custom cabs, granite, oversize island. Gracious dining & den. 3Bed/3.5Bath $1,320,000

FMLS: 5860716 J Dunn 404.992.8142

DRUID HILLS - Druid Hills Golf Course lot at remarkable price! 2 oversized living/family rms, w/3 walls of light-filled windows w/kitchen conveniently located in between. Enormous 2 car garage. .5acre lot is lushly landscaped. 5Bed/4.5Bath $849,000 FMLS: 5857571 Sally Westmoreland 404.354.4845

VIRGINIA HIGHLAND - Excellent opportunity! Unique & light-filled. Open floor plan, tons of windows, awesome views, saltwater pool, hot tub, outdoor shower, greenhouse, private gated front courtyard and completely fenced backyard. Owner/Agent 4Bed/2Bath $825,000 FMLS: 5851771 Kay Goldstein 404.784.0937

DRUID HILLS - Stately newer construction meets high end luxury. Home has sought after flowing floor plan. Chef’s dream kit open to lrg family room. Fenced, level, and lush grassy back yard with automatic gate for driveway. 5Bed/5.5Bath $1,599,000

FMLS: 5849385 Nicole Davis 404.358.6252

MORNINGSIDE - Classic Tudor in popular Johnson Estates. Hardwood floors, formal floorplan, kitchen/family room, spacious second floor master suite, large screen porch, sunroom, two car garage, fenced yard.

Owner/Agent 3Bed/3Bath $799,000

FMLS: 5848349 Ron Pope 404.872.4517

CHELSEA PLACE - Heart of Decatur. Home features a vaulted LR with frplc, lrg dining room, updated kitchen w/granite counters, SS and pull out cabinet storage, deck, owner suite w/bonus room and private bath w/granite counter. 3Bed/3.5Bath $410,000

FMLS: 5868203 Mike Kondalski 404.234.9379

ELEMENT - Top floor condo offers a separate dining room, high ceilings w/lots of light, granite countertops, breakfast bar, SS Appliances & roommate floorpan for added privacy. Hardwood in main areas, carpet in bedrooms & loft area & tile baths. 2Bed/2Bath $289,900

FMLS: 5853687 Dan Richardson 470.422.0819

MORNINGSIDE - Meticulously maintained & updated, features 2 master suites, walk-in closet, sound proof media room, gleaming hardwood floors, chef’s kitchen, wooded lot, private driveway, and French doors to patio and fenced in back yard. 4-5Bed/4.5Bath $874,900

FMLS: 5854684 Nicole Davis 404.358.6252

TWELVE ATLANTIC STATION - Buckhead & Midtown Views. End unit w/ full width balcony, cherry hardwood floors throughout, granite counter tops in kitchen and bathrooms, floor to ceiling windows in both bedrooms and livingroom. 2Bed/2Bath $350,000

FMLS: 5856058 Sean Carter 404.981.0639

THE ATLANTIC - This home has Buckhead views from the hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen, spacious master/ bath/master closet.

1Bed/1.5Bath $280,000

FMLS: 5822735 Sean Carter 404.981.0639

PEACHTREE PLACE - Sunny, top floor w/rare storage unit. 10ft. ceilings, 2 covered parking spaces, newer HVAC, hardwood floors, roommate floorpan. Home tucked in back of community. Complex features resort style pool. 2Bed/2Bath $255,000

FMLS: 5857147 Michael JW Smith 404.786.2057

EASTLAND VILLAGE - Gorgeous End Unit T’home, Open Floorplan w/Hrdwd Flrs, 10ft Ceils, Sep DN, Gourmet’s Kit w/SS Appls, Granite, an Island for Prep and B’fst bar! Master suite retreat has HUGE bonus loft. 3Bed/3.5Bath $234,900

FMLS: 5821281 Erin Fye 404.771.9822

BRIARLAKE - Sunny, spacious, gorgeous updated home with flat, playable yard on quiet double cul-de-sac. Spacious kitchen overlooks the large family room with adjacent sunroom; large bedrooms with ample closets; 2 car garage. 4bed/2.5Bath $469,900

FMLS: 5852070 Matt Schwartz 404.587.6985

THE PEACHTREE RESIDENCES - This immaculate loft style two story condo has beautiful dark hardwoods throughout, large master bedroom is upstairs with private bath and guest bath on main level, SS appliances and granite counter tops. 1Bed/1.5Bath $230,000 FMLS: 5868672 Bru Krebs 404.984.0243

GLENWOOD PARK - Features include luxurious master suite w/walk-in closet, chef’s kit, granite countertops, SS appliances, built-in bookshelves, & three fplcs. Spacious living spaces w/custom trim and hrdwd flrs throughout. 4Bed/3.5 Bath $785,000 FMLS: 5864863 Kirby Young 404.660.2468