Two apartment proposals would add towers in Midtown

The Midtown Development Review Committee (DRC) got a second look at two projects at its August meeting which would add significant towers to the district’s skyline.

Streetlights Residential’s 26-story apartment project at the southwest corner of Juniper and 5th Street would sit directly behind historic Saint Mark United Methodist Church, built in 1902 in the Gothic Revival style. When the DRC saw the project initially in

June, the committee recommended a collaborative work session with the Department of Planning’s Atlanta City Studio to address concerns about the overall design, its relationship to the neighborhood and to the church.

Although the committee was disappointed that the developer chose to eliminate all street level retail from the project, the improvements to the building design were positive. However, several refinements along the ground floor were requested including enlarging the canopy above the main entrance to create a more welcoming sense of arrival on Juniper. More importantly, the DRC stressed that maintaining the minimum building setback along Juniper was essential and thereby requested that the building footprint shift 4 feet west to accommodate the full required streetscape.

The second project, a combined student housing and apartment development by Toll Brothers, underwent refinements since first being presented in July to address feedback from the committee related to pedestrian connectivity and parking deck screening. Located at 1018-1032 West Peachtree Street, the project has frontage both on Spring and West Peachtree streets with a private street connecting the two.

The architects, Brock Hudgins, incorporated additional pedestrian facilities along the new street and added screening to the south facing parking deck façade. Circulation through site was also improved to create an internal motor court and to provide convenient facilities for passenger drop-off and loading. These improvements were well received and the committee recommended similar screening on the north facing façade of the deck.

With more than $62.6 MILLION SOLD IN 2018 , Jared Sapp is Virginia-Highland and Morningside’s No. 1 REALTOR® , with more homes sold, under contract and listed than any other agent.