Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with David Belle Isle, along with a small group of Realtors who attended a gathering put on by Jack Berube of Berube & Company Realtors.
For those who may not know, Belle Isle is a sitting Alpharetta City Councilman and is currently running for State Senate in District 56 . During his short discussion he shared updates on a few Alpharetta City Projects.
Prospect Park
Yes, you know it well. The mud pit and concrete forest we see every time we drive down Old Milton Parkway. I don’t know how it got approved, although there are ideas being thrown around , but there it is. The question is, what’s the status? The developer, Stan Thomas, has filed for bankruptcy – to reorganize. Apparently his intent is to hold on to the property in hopes of developing it down the road. An idea that was thrown out in the discussion was to have something like The Inforum there. The Inforum is something along the lines of a multi-purpose facility with office space, convention center, theater, etc.
I’m a strong believer in property rights but a little eminent domain here might be the answer. How about a park or ball fields? Maybe someone should sneak down there and plant some kudzu, it will be covered in weeks!
Westside Parkway – When will it be finished?
See Prospect Park….The last section of Westside Parkway is tied up in the parcel that is the Prospect Park project. So, while it is in bankruptcy litigation there is nothing that can be done with the last few hundred feet of what will one day be a great way to avoid Hwy 400.
Windward Parkway / 400 Offramp
Apparently it was determined that a tremendous number of cars getting off of 400 onto Windward Pkwy and going east end up turning onto Northpoint Pkwy, so there is a plan to put a dedicated turn lane at the off ramp that will take those drivers directly to NP Parkway, alleviating a ton of congestion.
Oversupply of Strip Centers
Another thing we all notice as we drive around Alpharetta and Milton. The abundance of empty retail space is amazing but there are signs of improvement. Some properties have been purchased out of foreclosure, giving those new owners a much lower cost basis and allowing them to potentially fill retail space. Now, who’s betting on a couple more mattress stores.
The Alpharetta City Center Project
What was planned originally was a mixed use, pedestrian friendly project developed around a new City Hall. There were going to be office and restaurant space, civic facilities, retail and parking decks. The desire by the City Council to do this project is still there but we’ll have to wait for stronger financial times. The businesses that are downtown now have wanted a project like this and the community would strongly support it but until it happens we’ll continue to see business struggle. While two spaces downtown were filled by Digital Scientists and The Coffee Pot , we lost a fitness center and a lacrosse store.
Do you have anything to add about these projects or others? Let us know.
Thanks for the updates. I especially appreciate the update on Westside Parkway. How frustrating is that? I drive by there at least 2-3x per week wishing that I could take that nicely paved road. It sure would help with a lot of people’s commutes. My family recently moved from Alpharetta to Roswell and don’t miss the mattress stores at all but now we have a bunch of old 80′s and 90′s strip malls to deal with instead.
The redesign of Alpharetta City Center into a completely non-residential development and then its subsequent shelfing coupled with with the Prospect Park debacle confirmed to me that Alpharetta has a long way to go before it will become competitive again. A falling tax base, too much infrastructure to maintain and a dying downtown area all spell bad things for Alpharetta. Maybe a few more strip malls will turn it all around.
The City of Alpharetta should seriously consider fertilizing/watering the evergreen trees/shrubs the Prospect Park developer eventually planted along Old Milton Parkway. Making those shrubs healthy and filled-out would help to take the focus off the undeveloped Prospect Park site.
I dont’ understand why they can’t build, finish and open Westside Parkway even though Prospect park is not open. It seems incredibly wasteful to spend the money getting the road 70% of the way there, and then wait on a development to finish the job.
You wrote on Jan 9 2010 (?) — See Prospect Park….The last section of Westside Parkway is tied up in the parcel that is the Prospect Park project. So, while it is in bankruptcy litigation there is nothing that can be done with the last few hundred feet of what will one day be a great way to avoid Hwy 400.
This is so much double talk. 3 years ago when the part from Cumming Street to Academy was finished one of your people came to a service meeting (Kiwanis) and bragged about getting it done and bragged and guaranteed that this next section would be done in the next 3 months – well that was 3 years (?) ago!
and you are waiting to finish this part because of a few hundred feet? This is ridiculous, unprofessional and many more adjetives describe this type of incompetence that is wasting thousands of gallons of gas, hundreds of hours of your citizens time.
Along with that STUPID LAW THAT MAKES THE GROCERY STORES CARD 62 YEAR OLD CITIZENS TO BUY BEER, WE AND A GREAT MANY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS WILL BE UN-ELECTING A LOT OF CURRENT CANDIDATES IN THE NEXT ELECTION, AND MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY THAT ROAD AND THE LIQUOR LAW IS NOT CHANGED!
Hey,
Do we have any updates on Prospect Park or on Westside Parkway? Thanks.