Ready or not, here it comes.
Look out below!
Construction on the 21-story luxury apartment building at 1717 Bissonnet is scheduled to begin by the fourth quarter of this year and is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.
Kevin Kirton of Buckhead Investment Partners, which is developing the project, said he plans to go to the city for permitting in the “very near future.”
The project, which has become known as the Ashby high-rise, still doesn’t have an official name, but has faced objection from the surrounding community because of its location in a mostly residential area. Neighbors fear that the massive building will have a negative effect on traffic and property values.
Yes, it does have an official name. It’s the Ashby Highrise. I don’t care what the developers eventually decide to call it, it will forever be the Ashby Highrise. Frankly, Kirton should save us all some trouble and just formalize it.
One more thing:
In addition, Kirton expects the project to create 2,500 full-time jobs and generate $1.5 million in tax revenue annually.
The high-rise will feature a restaurant, but the developer has done away with plans for a day spa and significant amount of office space to reduce traffic headaches. In addition, the project was originally planned as a condo project, but is now a luxury apartment building due to market conditions, Kirton said.
Um, what? 2,500 full-time jobs? Based on what, exactly? I’m trying not to be snarky here, I’m trying to envision how a mostly residential building could possibly do that. Do you think Kirton has an economic study stashed somewhere, or did he throw that out to see if it would get reported as is? Help me out here, I have no context for this, it just sounds ridiculous to me. What do you think? Swamplot has more.
Charles,
Don’t worry about the snarkyness – that jobs numbers came from here:
http://nreionline.com/distressedinventory/aia_launches_stalled_project_database_11082011/
See the second paragraph where the AIA sites a study by George Mason Univ. economist Stephen Fuller.
Thanks for the link, Kevin. From that second paragraph:
“Each $1 million in new construction spending supports 28.5 full-time, year-round-equivalent jobs, according to a study by George Mason University economist Stephen J. Fuller.”
That works out to a price tag for this project of approximately $88 million. Is that accurate? The lawsuit against the city that was settled was for $40 million. I’m just curious because I’m not seeing a total amount for the project cited in the recent stories.
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