A metro Atlanta development team wants to develop a massive residential, office and retail community in Roswell at a site once envisioned as a new gateway for the North Fulton city.
Dunwoody-based Duke Land Group said Tuesday they will seek rezoning of 104 acres near the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Ga. 400 where a different development team once pitched a mini-city known as Roswell East.
The new vision, called Riverwalk Village, is less dense than the original $2 billion Roswell East plan, but it is still ambitious. It would be larger than the Avalon town center project that recently opened its first phase in nearby Alpharetta.
Among the new developers’ proposals for the site:
- 1,556 residences, including active adult housing, single-family attached housing and multifamily units that could be apartments or condos.
- Nearly a half-million square feet of space for restaurants and retailers, including a grocery store.
- 1.7 million square feet of office space spread across several mid-rise buildings. That amount of office space is slightly more than the total floor space of Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta.
- A hotel with 200 rooms.
- A Swift School campus, a private institution for children with language difficulties.
- About 43 percent of the property would be preserved as green space with passive and active recreation amenities, such as walking trails that would connect to nearby neighborhoods and the Chattahoochee River.
- An existing apartment community known as Marquis Trace would be demolished.
Financing details and a development timeline are not yet known.
“Riverwalk Village will be woven seamlessly into the fabric of this unique, historical city,” Eyal Livnat, principal and president of Duke Homes and Duke Land Group, said in a news release. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the City of Roswell and to enhancing a natural setting that residents, workers and visitors can all enjoy.”
The proposal is subject to review by city planners and the Roswell council as well as regional planners.
Related companies Marquis Investments and Duke acquired the property in late 2012. It was formerly held by CRB Realty, which last decade proposed about 3,000 condos, high-rise offices and retail. CRB proposed the concept, but it never advanced through city planning as many in the Roswell area opposed the density. The economic downturn also stalled any plans to develop the site.
There will be more on this proposal later today at www.MyAJC.com and in the Thursday print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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