Alpharettans consider the treeless, semi-developed patch of earth on Old Milton Parkway just west of Ga. 400 to be the city’s biggest eyesore.
“Not only is it ugly, it’s half-finished,” resident Ian Bamber said of the site where Prospect Park, an upscale mixed-use development, has sat idle since the real estate bust.
Now they have hope that the development will be restarted under a new owner, not only removing the eyesore but also enabling construction of a four-lane road through the site that would cut downtown traffic and shrink evening backups on Ga. 400 at Windward Parkway.
Prospect Park, started by developer Stan Thomas, was barely out of the ground when the deepening recession forced the project into Chapter 11.
“A lot of cities had half their commercial developments fall idle,” Alpharetta Planning Director Diana Wheeler said. “We had very little -- except that the little we had was in the most visible of locations.”
North American Properties, the new co-owner of Atlantic Town Center in Atlantic Station, earlier this month announced plans to buy the property and turn it into a scaled-down version of the grand project Thomas envisioned.
Company officials say they will hold public sessions this fall to model the new development.
“The first piece of luck we’ve had is that [the sale] is pending to a developer and not an investor, someone who would sit on it and wait until the market improves,” Wheeler said.
Before work stopped two years ago, a road bed was laid that extended Westside Parkway through the property north to Windward Parkway. The site is the only thing blocking completion of a major surface street paralleling Ga. 400 on the west. Westside Parkway now ends at Old Milton, then picks up again about a mile north at Webb Bridge Road.
The city has negotiated unsuccessfully with Wells Fargo, which now owns the site, to gain access to the road. City officials hope North American will convey ownership, either now or upon completion -- a typical arrangement, according to Assistant City Manager James Drinkard said.
Mark Toro, managing partner for North American Properties, said Mondaythe company intends to turn over the road but no timeline has been set.
“We’re anxious to get started, and we hope to put the train back on the tracks,” Toro said.
Completion of Westside Parkway could spell relief for thousands of commuters hungry for a northern passage through the city west of Ga. 400.
Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz says the road would reduce downtown traffic on Ga. 9 by as much as 20 percent because local traffic would opt for a street that parallels Ga. 400. It could also relieve evening backups on Ga. 400 at Windward, he said.
Costs to complete Westside Parkway were estimated at about $850,000 last year, said Brandon Beach, CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. He is also n the State Board of Transportation and is executive director of the North Fulton Community Improvement District.
“You go in, you top the road, you stripe it,” he said. “The road bed and the gutter is down. The stop light’s already there, and you’re ready to go.”
The North Fulton CID even plans to throw the development a bouquet of sorts with $800,000 in landscaping scheduled at the nearby interchange.
Residents like Bamber say the development could provide an economic boost to the city.
“For the extra business it will bring here, it’s wonderful,” he said. “It will keep a lot of people here if you get a good mix of stores.”
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