Owners thrive in the thick of it

Years before the Morsberger Group developed Cornerstone on the Square, Grace Cain dreamed of living on the square in downtown Lawrenceville.

When she and her husband, Robert, move into their condominium early next year, that dream will come true.

“When we move into our condominium, in a sense, I will be going back home. From the balcony of our condo, I can see the house I lived in when I graduated from high school in 1949,” she said.

The first homeowners at Cornerstone on the Square will move in this December. The development includes condominiums, located on the second and third floor above 10,000 square feet of retail space, townhomes and courtyard homes.

“I’ll be able to walk to the First Baptist Church, where I married, and walk to restaurants and concerts on the square. It’s changed, but I still have a lot of fond memories of the downtown area,” she said.

Robert and Grace Cain are part of a growing number of home buyers choosing to buy in communities located within walking distance of a downtown area.

In recent years, in small cities throughout metro Atlanta, developers have constructed condominiums on downtown squares, developed live-work-play communities, and built subdivisions within walking distance of the downtown area —- and buyers love them.

Sarah Chatel and her husband, Peter, moved to West Village near Vinings in May. “It’s so convenient. When I come home from work, I change clothes and walk down to the nail salon or to the shoe store. After commuting, I just don’t want to get back in the car and drive somewhere,” said Sarah Chatel.

West Village is a 60-acre mixed-use community of townhomes, condominiums and single-family homes arranged around a “downtown village.” The community, located adjacent to the Silver Comet Trail and near Vinings and Smyrna, already has restaurants, boutiques and service businesses, with more in the works.

“I visited a friend here and fell in love with the area. It’s a perfect location. I love the fact that almost everything we need is in walking distance,” Sarah Chatel said.

Her son, David Tinnon, often walks to Five Guys Burgers to meet friends. “We eat in the restaurants and walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon,” she continued. “We are making a lot of changes so we can support our neighborhood businesses.”

Earl and Barbara Bricker were looking for a new adventure when they moved to Washington Avenue Commons in downtown Marietta.

The building includes 12,000 square feet of first-floor office space and 18 residential units that include flats and penthouses.

“We’d done our tour in suburbia and wanted to come back to the city in an area where we could walk. This location in the historic district has been delightful,” Earl Bricker said. “We enjoy walking the downtown area as well as the historic Marietta National Cemetery across the street.”

The Brickers walk to the Marietta Square for breakfast and Barbara Bricker enjoys walking to the library and taking the couple’s dog, Callie, on frequent walks to the dog park in nearby Lewis Park. When the grandkids visit, they all walk downtown for an ice cream cone.

When Randy and Debbie Frederick have company, they often walk from Victoria Square to a restaurant in downtown Alpharetta, and if there’s a wait, they may put their name on the list or pick up a pager and walk back home to relax.

The 69 brownstone townhomes in Victoria Square were designed to fit in with the historic architecture in downtown Alpharetta. “I like the idea of living right in the middle of the community,” said Debbie Frederick.

“There’s a lot of fun stuff in downtown. There’s a great fitness center and a place where I get my hair done. There’s a veterinarian on the corner and a lot of lovely shops. We just walk a block and everything is right there,” she said.

While the Fredericks love their community, Debbie Frederick cautions that a downtown development may not be for everyone. “We are empty nesters, so we don’t need a pool and the schools don’t matter, but that might not be the case with people who have children,” she said.

Before buying, she suggested comparing what’s available in a downtown community versus what is in a traditional subdivision.

Chatel advises finding out the developer’s future plans for your community to ensure that you will like what’s coming. Her family is thrilled that plans are in the works for The Avenues mall and an upscale food market in the West Village area.

Meet the neighbors and check out the homeowners association before you put a contract on a home, she also suggested.

Make sure the homeowners association is solvent and that there is a reserve fund set up for future needs, she added.

Debbie Frederick suggests checking out the neighborhood organization and what kind of activities they sponsor. “Our social committee organizes parties on a regular basis,” she said. “We’ve met a lot of neighbors that way.”