By J. Scott Trubey, ajc.com Staff Writer
Alpharetta has its Avalon mini-city. Soon southern Forsyth County could have Halcyon.
Credit: ajchomepage
Credit: ajchomepage
Developers RocaPartners and The Georgetown Company have acquired about 135 acres land at Ga. 400 and McFarland Parkway for a $370 million mixed-use community of residences, retail, hotels and offices. The first phase, slated to open in fall 2017, will include a town center with retail, restaurants, a movie theater or entertainment venue and loft office space, according to a news release.
The project, including about 50 acres of devoted green space and trails, is a nod toward denser and more urban projects even in metro Atlanta’s suburbs.
Cities are attempting spur development within new or existing downtowns, including Sandy Springs, Alpharetta and Smyrna, and denser, urban-styled mixed-use communities have come into fashion in metro Atlanta in recent years. Among them: the Avalon project at Ga. 400 and Old Milton Parkway, Buckhead Atlanta in the Buckhead Village, the redevelopment of City Hall East into Ponce City Market and The Battery Atlanta, the entertainment district next to the Atlanta Braves new ballpark in Cobb County.
In total, the Halcyon project calls for 87 detached houses, 155 townhouses, 448 apartments, two hotels and 360,000 square feet of retail and office space, the release said. Developers are targeting an outdoor outfitting company, specialty grocer and full-service and fast-casual restaurants, the release said.
Monte Hewett Homes and Edward Andrews Homes will develop the for-sale residences on site, which will start in the high $400,000 range. and real estate services giant JLL will lease the retail and office space.
Construction is expected to start early next year. The first phase will tie into the Big Creek Greenway, a trail network that links Forsyth County to Alpharetta.
“Halcyon will be the front door to Forsyth’s Big Creek Greenway,” Patrick Leonard, principal of RocaPoint Partners, said in the release. “To that end, we have placed nature and active recreation squarely in the center of our design process. The magnetic quality of Halcyon’s setting and amenities will attract residents and visitors seeking to connect with this special place.”
Developers said in addition to the residences on-site, about 3,600 people live within a half-mile of the project’s commercial center.
