Developer seeks permits to start work on mini-city in Dunwoody

Boston developer GID Urban Development has filed an application for a land disturbance permit to start construction of a portion of the High Street mini-city near Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.

The application, filed in March, is under review. Bob Mullen, a spokesman for the city, said the company seeks approval to begin site work tied to a parking deck on the north end of the site near an existing office building at 211 Perimeter Center Parkway, and for other parking on the south end of the property.

This week, new renderings of the long-anticipated High Street plan became public on the project website and were shown at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas.

A GID official did not return a message this week seeking comment.

Documents obtained Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show the High Street developers’ long term plans call for a 400 hotel rooms, 1,500 apartments, 1,500 condos and 400,000-square feet of retail. Such an ambitious project would likely take a number of years to build, even without any break in the development cycle such as the downturn that shelved the High Street concept in 2009.

GID is expected to begin development in a parking lot south of 211 Perimeter Center Parkway, where a site plan shows a future 12-story office tower, high-rise residences and ground floor retail. The existing 11-story office tower would remain.

A 21-story office skyscraper is also planned along Hammond Drive near the State Farm campus currently under development.

Residential buildings would appear to range from about five stories to 30 stories, with most rising to about eight to 10 stories, the documents show.

Two existing six-story office buildings on the site — including one that houses the main operations of the AJC — would eventually be demolished. The AJC has previously announced plans to eventually relocate to a nearby building.

The high-density development is positioned around a street grid with central plazas and green space. The project is just west of the Dunwoody MARTA station and Perimeter Mall.

The tract already has the needed zoning for a dense mix of uses, a decision by DeKalb County that predates the city’s founding.

High Street is one of the metro Atlanta area’s most anticipated projects. It was announced in 2007, but stalled by the recession as development across the region ground to a halt.

State Farm is currently building the first of what will likely be four office towers along Hammond Drive. Real estate services firm Transwestern has announced plans for a 16-story office building on land it has under contract that's currently part of Perimeter Mall just east of the Dunwoody MARTA station.

The timing of Transwestern’s office announcement and GID’s application could put the developers in competition with one another for major corporate tenants.

Earlier this week, a development group shelved plans for Crown Towers, a four-tower project at the nearby former Gold Kist headquarters site in Dunwoody. But plans for that property could return in the near future.