Dunwoody Planning Commission
attempts to revive Perimeter Park
The Dunwoody Planning Commission
approved Aug. 9 a rezoning request for Transwestern to build
a 16-story office tower on an
unused corner of the Perimeter Mall parking lot adjacent to the Dunwoody MARTA
station at the intersection of Hammond Drive and Perimeter Center Parkway. The plan will now go before the City
Council in September. As part of the approval,
commissioners asked for conditions in an effort to revive plans for what has been dubbed Perimeter
Park.
The specific conditions are that the
city of Dunwoody be allowed to use the triangular piece of land that is part of the Transwestern project site above the western
MARTA parking deck as a park at such time that the city should so choose; and
that the city and General Growth Properties, owners of Perimeter Mall, continue
working together to develop Perimeter Park.
That triangular piece of property is
a fenced-off strip of trees along a wide concrete drainage ditch just north of
the MARTA station and extending to the Perimeter Station shopping
center. The area is bordered by Perimeter
Center Parkway to the west and the back end of Perimeter Mall to the east.
The idea for the park that runs
underneath the MARTA tracks goes back several years. The Perimeter Community
Improvement Districts unveiled draft plans for the park in 2014 that included
walking paths and bridges over a stream.
“As we get more development in this
market, Perimeter does not have a central
park. We are not able to achieve our
full potential without a park,” said Commissioner Bob Dallas at the Aug. 9
meeting.
“The development that is coming is
Class A stuff, supported by transit. For me, this is the right place for a
park. This density is necessary that we have a park,” he said. Bill Baker, general manager of
Perimeter Mall, told commissioners he recently had lunch with Mayor Denis
Shortal, City Manager Eric Linton and PCID CEO Yvonne Williams to discuss the proposed
park.
General Growth and Perimeter Mall
own some of the land where the park is located, but one parcel is owned by an anchor
store, Baker said. “We want to assure the commission we
are not just sitting still on this,” he said. “But it’s not as easy as, ‘Yep,
this is a great idea, here’s our land.’ The end game is we all want this to be a great thing for the city. “We
are in support of a park being built, but [we have to determine] the ownership
of the land, the maintenance, the liability,” he said.
Baker said the mall is open-minded
about a park nearby, but said it must be noted that the site is located under
the MARTA tracks and trains are running every 15 minutes.
“As we plan the park, we have to
make sure it is going to be usable. The last thing we want to do is build
something … and there be challenges with the MARTA train overhead,” Baker said.
Transwestern is buying a 4-acre
unused corner of the Perimeter Mall parking lot for its tower from General
Growth Properties. As part of the deal, General Growth will buy MARTA out of
its lease of the parking deck closest to the mall; that lease expires in 2017. Transwestern
will then buy the parcel and the parking deck from General Growth, said Trent
Germano, senior managing director of development for Transwestern.
The office tower will be about
356,000 square feet, with 13,000 square feet for retail. A restaurant and shops
are planned for the ground floor. There will be a five-level parking deck as
part of the building’s construction. The office building is a speculative
project, meaning it currently has no signed-on tenants.
The Dunwoody Development Authority
earlier this month approved
$130 million in revenue bonds for
the Transwestern project.
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