Construction has started on a mixed-use project that's one of the first two lifestyle centers to be built in north Fulton County.

Developer John Adams broke ground earlier this year on the Crabapple Mercantile Exchange. Then the site went dormant for the past five months.

Adams said construction was delayed in part by the yearlong effort to get permits from city officials in Milton. Adams said he needed those permits to get construction financing, and when he got the permits —- in December —- the delivery time for steel to arrive on the site had lengthened from the spring to this summer.

Now workers are busy raising steel girders on the development, which is to provide about 51,000 square feet of space near the intersection of Birmingham Highway and Crabapple Road. The mix of space includes about 23,000 square feet of retail, 22,500 square feet of office and almost 8,000 square feet of residential. The residential space will be built above the ground-floor office and retail space, Adams said.

Crabapple Mercantile Exchange and the nearby Sweet Apple Village, being built in Roswell by Cornerstone Development Partners LLC, are designed as neighborhood gathering places rather than strip-center shopping destinations.

—- David Pendered

Meeting will address Old Fourth Ward

Atlanta officials have scheduled a meeting Thursday to update Old Fourth Ward residents about a master plan setting future development guidelines for the neighborhood.

City planning officials have made draft recommendations that will be discussed at the meeting. Residents can offer revisions.

The Old Fourth Ward is bordered by Piedmont Avenue to the west, Ponce de Leon Avenue to the north, the proposed Beltline to the east and DeKalb Avenue to the south.

The meeting is scheduled to take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 435 Peachtree St. N.E.

For more information, call the office of City Councilman Kwanza Hall at 404-330-6038.

—- Eric Stirgus

St. Regis condo project nears completion

Atlanta's latest high-end hotel and condominium project moved one step closer to completion Thursday.

Officials topped out the St. Regis Hotel and Residences on West Paces Ferry Road with speeches and the ubiquitous barbecue lunch.

"This will be a landmark," builder Paul Freeman told about 500 construction workers gathered for the celebration. "What you're going to have when we finish, I don't think can be duplicated in Atlanta."

The hotel, which will have 150 rooms and 52 condos costing $1 million and up, is the latest luxury hotel to be offered to Atlanta residents. The St. Regis —- which will open in March —- follows the opening of the Rosewood in Buckhead and the W in Midtown.

Luxury real estate firm Beacham & Co. Realtors took over marketing efforts for the St. Regis about five months ago, said founder Glennis Beacham, a veteran Buckhead Realtor.

The sales, she said, have been brisk despite the national downturn in the housing market. Of the 52 residential units, only five remain unsold, Beacham said.

"This is, by far, the most successful condominium launch in Atlanta history," Beacham said.

Dac Carver, Beacham's managing broker, said the average sales price for St. Regis condos is more than $3 million.

Most of the buyers are already local residents, Beacham said, although a few international transactions are among the sales.

"This is going to be a wonderful building of which you can be very proud," said Sam Massell, head of the Buckhead Coalition and a former mayor of Atlanta. "The reason the real mayor is not here is because she would have brought a tax bill."