|
|
Lindbergh Center
Mixes Uses by Mixing Developers
Carter & Associates, Federal Realty and others develop
one of America's first transit-oriented developments in Atlanta.
Randall Shearin
Planning a development around a transportation station is something
that -- as much as it's been talked about -- hasn't been done
a lot. While there are many transit stations that incorporate
retail as a part of the overall project, there aren't many that
have office and multifamily components around them. Now, six
different developers are coming together in Atlanta to create
one of the most exciting new transit related developments in
the nation's history, the 4.8-million-square-foot Lindbergh
Center.
Developed along Atlanta's MARTA rail line, Lindbergh Center
will be a co-development of Atlanta-based Carter & Associates,
the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), Federal
Realty Investment Trust, Post Properties, Harold A. Dawson Company
and BellSouth. Currently, Lindbergh Center station is MARTA's
third most utilized station. With multifamily properties growing
in the immediate area, ridership is expected to grow for the
station.
The idea for Lindbergh Station came about when the Federal Transit
Authority edicted that all unused land owned by transit authorities
must be sold or developed. MARTA had accumulated the property
around the Lindbergh station over the past 20 years. MARTA,
however, knew it could use the land to its advantage, creating
a live-work-play environment that can be a model for cities
everywhere. It put out a request for proposal (RFP) and chose
the Carter proposal because it best embodied the requirements
that MARTA sought.
"The Carter proposal was chosen because of the way they
envisioned this development," says Paul Vespermann, director
of transit related development for MARTA. "With the addition
of BellSouth as our major tenant, all the stars were aligned
for this project to be as groundbreaking as it is."
Lindbergh Center is an ambitious project. When it is complete,
the 51-acre site will have 2.7 million square feet of office
space, 330,000 square feet of retail space, 566 apartments,
388 condominiums and a 190-room hotel. MARTA expects the first
phase of the project to be completed in 2002, with others continuing
for several years. Located along Piedmont Road in the city's
Buckhead section, Lindbergh Center represents one of the few
remaining large undeveloped in-fill properties in the city of
Atlanta.
Each developer brings a different piece of the pie to Lindbergh
Center. Phase I is under construction, consisting of the 330,000
square feet of retail, 316 apartments, 105 condominiums and
office space for BellSouth.
"We knew that in due time this real estate could be developed
into something really special," says Charles Konas, vice
president of Carter & Associates. "Working with our
development partners and our architect, we came up with a plan
that would create a 24-hour environment."
Rockville, Maryland-based Federal Realty Investment Trust, developer
of such famous retail spots as The Village at Shirlington in
Arlington, Virginia and Santana Row in San Jose, California,
is the developer of the retail portion of the project. While
most retail projects around rail stations focus on service retail,
Lindbergh Center's retail will be quite different. A grocery
store, furniture retailers and high-end merchants are only a
few of the tenants that Federal Realty has planned for what
it envisions as lifestyle and dining retail.
"The guiding principle for our company has been to go increasingly
urban, which by definition that means mixed-use," says
Ron Kaplan, senior vice president and chief investment officer
for Federal Realty. "With mixed use, you can create a place
where a place did not previously exist."
"The vision has always been that this project is a mixture
of uses centered around a main street and a network of streets
that provide a 24-hour community with lots of amenities,"
adds Konas.
Federal Realty reports that it has a strong demand from retailers
for space at the project. Retailers are increasingly looking
for space outside of malls, wanting to get close to the consumer
and capture their attention on a daily basis.
"We want to create a mix of wonderful food, services and
local flavor through our leasing efforts," says Robin Mosle,
vice president of new business for Federal Realty.
In a way, the other developers involved in the project are banking
on Federal Realty's reputation. To a large degree, the other
developers are relying on Federal to create a wonderful place
on top of which they will develop office buildings, apartments
and condominiums.
The way that the physical structure of the retail component
works is that Federal Realty's retailers will end up as first
floor retailers in a number of office and residential buildings.
Federal is also building several stand-alone pad buildings.
Because of that, Federal's projects will come online as the
other buildings do. The project is being master developed by
Carter & Associates and the master architect is Atlanta-based
Cooper Carry.
"This development is requiring a lot of cooperation on
the part of all the developers," says Mosle. "We are
fortunate enough to be able to figure out how to do it so that
it creates a great streetfront environment and a good development
for the city."
Behind any successful development is a visionary. Federal Realty
points the finger to MARTA in this case, saying that the agency
is progressive in wanting to create a development that can be
a worldwide example in how to create live-work-play environments.
"It is amazing to me that a transit authority has the vision
that MARTA has demonstrated," says Mosle. "They are
going to transform the definition of transit-oriented development."
Lindbergh Center isn't the first time Federal has worked with
other developers. At its Santana Row project in San Jose, California,
the company master-planned the mixed-use project and contracted
the multifamily development to another developer.
©2001 France Publications, Inc. Duplication
or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization
from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of
this article contact Barbara
Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
|
|
|
