Decatur’s commission recently approved an amendment to a conditional use permit for redeveloping the decades-old AT&T building at Park Place and East Lake Drive on Decatur’s west side.
The original conditional use permit was approved last November, but with the amendment developer Thrive Homes has agreed not to add an additional story to the 35,719 square foot structure. The building will remain three stories counting a basement, partly hidden from street level, and 40 feet tall—the maximum allowed without a special exemption permit.
Thrive has been doing site work since early spring, which largely includes reconfiguring the interior. Laurel David, a partner with The Galloway Law Group representing Thrive, said actual construction should begin late this year.
What still needs approval from the city, David said, is the precise number of multi-family units (34 is the maximum allowed) and how many get set aside for “work force housing” (the original number was four).
This same project was the focus of a strange, rambling public comment delivered during a commission meeting in November. An attorney representing a group called “Green East Lake,” claimed AT&T didn’t have the authority to sell the land because it had seized the property by eminent domain. The commenter concluded the property had to be offered to the “original owner” before it could be sold to Thrive Homes.
According to a representative from Thrive, the title question was resolved days after that meeting. The current structure, built in 1937, always belonged AT&T or its predecessor Bell South until it was sold to Thrive last year.
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