A New York developer filed plans Wednesday to build three skyscrapers — including two that could rank among the tallest in the city — at the site once slated for an ambitious symphony hall in Midtown Atlanta.
Attempts to reach developer Olympia Heights Management LLC and executive Eugene Zlatopolsky were not immediately successful. The project’s financing and other key details were not made available. Zlatopolsky formerly worked for prolific, if embattled New York condo and apartment developer Shaya Boymelgreen.
The plans for the towers — one slated for 60 stories, another for 57 and one that could be as high as 39 floors — call for 1,300 residences, a hotel and retail on more than four acres across 14th Street from the Four Seasons Hotel, said Kathy Zickert, an attorney with Smith Gambrell & Russell who is representing the developers in the permitting process.
Zickert said the project is expected to be built in phases through 2020.
The proposed towers instantly become one of the highest profile dreams pitched in metro Atlanta since the economic collapse, joining massive mixed-use centers like Avalon in Alpharetta, Ponce City Market and the six-block Buckhead Atlanta luxury shopping and residential complex.
Development in metro Atlanta largely ground to a halt when the economy collapsed. Apartment development has been hot in the past few years, and some retail construction is returning, but this proposal, if realized, would dramatically alter Midtown’s skyline in a way not seen since the construction last decade of Atlantic Station, 1180 Peachtree and the nearby 12th & Midtown complex.
A spokesman for Woodruff declined to disclose a purchase price of the land, saying only it would be “beneficial to the Woodruff Arts Center,” which is nearby. The sale is pending.
“We have been saying for years that the property is for sale and we’ve had a lot of interest from buyers, but beyond that we can not confirm any details,” said Woodruff spokesman Randy Donaldson.
Bernardo Fort-Brescia and international architectural firm Arquitectonica, the team behind Philips Arena, will design the project, Zickert said.
Zickert declined to discuss terms of the land purchase, and she declined to comment about the project’s cost or financing.
A report by Atlanta Business Chronicle said New York-based real estate group Ashkenazy Acquisitition Corp. is part of the development team, however, AJ Levine, a vice president with Ashkenazy, said his firm is not involved. Zickert said she could neither confirm nor deny Ashkenazy’s possible involvement.
The Midtown site was once envisioned as a soaring $300 million concert hall for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, that included a pair of steel “wings” that would open into a V during symphony concerts. But that design by acclaimed architect Santiago Calatrava was scrapped during the Great Recession, and a possible new site was identified at Peachtree and 15th streets.
Zickert said that the new project will be reviewed as a Development of Regional Impact by the Atlanta Regional Commission, and that review will include traffic impact studies. Though the site has necessary zoning, Zickert said it requires various approvals by the city.
Tower A, the shortest of the three, would include 500 residences, Zickert said. Tower B would be 57 floors and also have 500 residences and retail space. The third building, Tower C, would be tallest at 60 stories, and include a 340-room hotel and 300 residences above the hotel. The residential parts of the buildings could be built as apartments with the ability to convert for sale units if the market shifts, Zickert said.
The 55-story Bank of America Plaza is the tallest tower in Atlanta at just over 1,000 feet, followed by the 60-floor SunTrust Plaza at 871 feet. Zickert said she did not know the exact height of the proposed towers.
Staff writer Howard Pousner contributed to this article.
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