Change is coming to Buckhead.
Jim Durrett, the head of the Buckhead Coalition and the Buckhead Community Improvement District, has announced he will retire early next year, kick-starting a national search for his successor. Both organizations focus on civic, transit and quality of life improvements in Buckhead, playing important roles in advocacy and neighborhood-government relations.
Durrett has served as the Buckhead CID’s executive director for 17 years and president and CEO of the Buckhead Coalition since 2020, following the retirement of founder and former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell, who died in 2022.
Durrett said the time is right.
“It’s been a real privilege to be in the middle of a lot of important things over the past 30 years of my life,” he said.
Durrett was the founding executive director of the Livable Communities Coalition, a nonprofit that focuses on development integration and planning in the Atlanta region. During his tenure in Buckhead, Durrett said high-rise residential development, streetscape improvements and a focus on mixed-use projects were large priorities — which he expects his successor to continue.
“The biggest opportunities are continuing to advance the infrastructure required to get people out of their cars and onto their feet and bicycles, electric or otherwise,” Durrett said.
He added that, “Atlanta and the region’s future vibrancy is going to depend on a very robust trail system,” referencing building upon the Beltline’s model with increased integration. Buckhead’s Path400 greenway and the broader Hub 404 green space project mirror that type of outdoor infrastructure.
Credit: Courtesy of Livable Buckhead
Credit: Courtesy of Livable Buckhead
He will remain on the Hub 404 Conservancy board, and he’s being considered for a board position with Decide DeKalb, the county’s development authority.
Eric Tanenblatt, global chair of public policy and regulation for law firm Dentons, is leading the search for the Buckhead Coalition’s next leader. He said the right candidate will need to share Durrett’s focus on modern urbanism and connectivity.
“Jim did a remarkable job following Sam (Massell)’s footsteps,” Tanenblatt said. “And I’m hopeful that the next leader will do the same and take Buckhead to new heights.”
Durrett aims to hand over the reins by early March, when he turns 69 years old. He said he and his wife look forward to spending more time outdoors, particularly at a cottage they own in Serenbe and yurt they frequent in Idaho.
THE WATER COOLER
This column has been adapted from the July edition of The Water Cooler, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s LinkedIn newsletter about the office market and the workplace. Keep up with the latest insider commercial real estate news by subscribing on the AJC’s LinkedIn page.
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