Three years ago, a project centered around apartments and a hotel within eyesight of Truist Park received the green light from Smyrna leaders.
Now, the project’s developer is revising its plans to something bigger — one that’s much more vertical and worth nearly $500 million.
Rass Associates, a Roswell-based developer, is planning two apartment towers up to 20 stories tall near the intersection of U.S. 41 and I-285. The firm also envisions 200,000 square feet of new office space, 175,000 square feet of commercial space, a 250-room hotel and a public plaza.
Rass previously pitched the site for a full-service, eight-story Hilton with 188 hotel rooms, a five-story multifamily complex with 300 apartments, a seven-story parking garage with 546 spaces as well as more than 37,000 square feet of restaurants and shops.
The new $492 million plan called South Spring was detailed Monday in a development of regional impact filing, an early-stage infrastructure analysis required for large projects. The developer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that the site needs more density and scale to mirror the Atlanta Braves-controlled mixed-use development known as The Battery, which surrounds Truist Park.
“Smyrna is an outstanding community that is evolving as many suburban communities have over the last 10 years or so,” said Scott Polikov, development lead for Rass. “They want walkable, urban development in their suburban location, and the Braves set the standard (with The Battery).”
The 8.7-acre development is on property Smyrna has identified as critical to creating an urban core within the suburban city. The City Council annexed most of the property at 2800 Spring Road in 2021 and partnered with Rass to deliver a new gateway — a primary entrance to a city — to tap into the nearby energy at The Battery.
Under the new South Spring plan, low-rise commercial and retail buildings fill out the site, and the entire project is atop a 1,700-space underground parking deck, which Polikov described as “Atlantic Station on steroids.”
“We see ourselves trying to complement, not compete with, The Battery,” he said.
The property is zoned for mixed use, but city leaders will need to vote to increase the buildings’ heights above 95 feet, or roughly eight stories. Smyrna spokeswoman Jennifer Bennett said the height amendment request will likely go before the City Council in early 2025 after the development of regional impact process is finished.
Credit: Courtesy Rass Associates
Credit: Courtesy Rass Associates
Polikov said the original plan remains viable, but “it didn’t take advantage of everything that’s going on” in the nearby Cumberland and south Cobb County area.
He added that it’s one of the few places in metro Atlanta that could have demand for new office space, despite the sector’s struggles in a post-pandemic world. The Atlanta area has set records for its amount of vacant and unwanted office space, which has prompted construction of new offices to plummet.
“We believe that this is one of the rare locations, not just in metro Atlanta but in the United States, where there’s demand for corporate office,” Polikov said.
Polikov said the project’s financing hasn’t been finalized, adding: “This project is of a scale and quality that requires an institutional equity partner.” He said real estate firm Avison Young has been tapped to handle commercial leasing.
Rass stated in its development of regional impact filing that the project will be complete by 2028.
