Since the Braves announced plans to move to Cobb County nearly a year ago, the AJC has provided extensive coverage on the project and its potential impact on redevelopment in the Cumberland-Galleria area. Go to MyAJC.com and ajc.com to view more renderings of SunTrust Park and a video of icon Hank Aaron’s remarks on the Braves’ new home.
A mixed-use development with apartments, hotels and retail space is the latest project announced for the Cumberland-Galleria area near the site of the Braves stadium in Cobb County.
Zoning attorney John Moore, who is representing the developer of the $100 million mixed-use project, tentatively called Stadium Walk, said his firm is representing at least three other clients with plans for major commercial and residential projects between now and the time the new stadium, SunTrust Park, opens in 2017.
“I think developers sense that this [stadium] is such a big event that it’s going to carry a lot with it,” Moore said. “The sheer enormity of the project carries a huge halo effect.”
Stadium Walk is not connected to the $1.22 billion SunTrust Park project, which includes the $622 million stadium and a $400 million, 74-acre mixed-use development. The development will have 630,000 square feet of Class A or top-tier office space, 500,000 square feet of retail, 450 hotel rooms and 500 residential units.
The Cobb Planning Commission approved rezoning for Stadium Walk this week. MCP-Ackerman Corporate Forum LLC plans to build the project on nearly 13 acres on Circle 75 Parkway, north of the new stadium site.
The MCP-Ackerman development will include:
• A five-story apartment building with 392 units ranging from 700 to 1,500 square feet and rents starting at $1,200. The building will have an eight-story parking deck.
• Two eight-story hotels with a combined 290 guest rooms.
• Two additional buildings, about 80,000 square feet total, for retail and restaurants.
The developer has not named potential retailers, restaurants or hotel brands. It did note that the hotels will not be extended-stay.
Corporate Forum, MCP-Ackerman’s existing office complex on the site, will be demolished. The timetable for the new construction will depend on expiration of existing leases, Moore said.
Moore said his firm, Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele in Marietta, is representing developers for at least three other major projects planned for the Cumberland-Galleria area. One is an office and hotel project, and two are mid-rise corporate headquarters buildings. He would not name the hotels or companies.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners must give final approval to Stadium Walk and any new projects.
Last week, the new owners of the Doubletree Suites by Hilton, which is adjacent to the stadium construction site, said the hotel will undergo a $6 million renovation, expected to be completed in 2017.
