This is a report to Atlanta about its very special Buckhead community of 44 neighborhoods that’re evolving to a new plateau of progress and prosperity.
We have among the 82,000 residents several of Forbes’ identified billionaires; CEOs of Fortune 500 firms; the Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, Georgia’s Governor and other elected officials — each in the process of being joined by thousands of Millennials!
Such a profile, in and of itself, is dramatic enough, but this new young demographic, estimated to double in size, is just part of the picture. This growth is expected over just a four- or five-year period, and these younger, highly educated residents are bringing fresh thinking with new ideas for start-up businesses.
Buckhead has long been an enclave of old money, single-family homeowners. In the annual, national Polk City Directory, back in the 1930s to be the owner of a residence was considered so significant that a code (a circle-enclosed °) by your family listing put all on notice that you were important enough to own, and not just rent.
Developers such as Julian LeCraw and Co., Post Properties, Novare Group, and others, started sensing this phenomenon in the works — that of some estate owners downsizing to rentals and, most importantly, “youngsters” who wanted the Buckhead lifestyle but couldn’t afford to buy. In fact, I fit exactly that mold, heading straight for Buckhead when I got married 64 years ago to find a place to live and start a family.
I rented a post-war apartment on Adina Drive at Lindbergh (just a couple blocks from Piedmont Road) for $50 a month. I’ve since lived as an owner in three residences within a couple miles of that starter location.
The secret is out. Buckhead’s demographics are changing as I write this. Just 15 years ago our single-family vs. multi-family occupancy was evenly divided. Today it’s closer to 38 percent single-family and 62 percent multi-family.
When the Great Recession ended, rental apartment development became the magnet du jour. Since 2012, there have been 48 apartment complexes with 14,953 units proposed or already renting here in Buckhead. That’s over a 117 percent increase. This can expand the apartment rental population here an estimated 30 percent in about five years.
I’ve always been optimistic about Buckhead, so we reported this growth with pride, competing as we do with Midtown and other surrounding sub-markets. This meant related real estate jobs on site; living quarters for a labor market; accommodation of the increased population to attract expanding businesses, relocated businesses and new businesses.
Yet I’m concerned by the number of strip shopping centers of neighborhood convenience stores being demolished for apartment buildings, and I’m concerned by some of the four- and five-story stick-constructed buildings that won’t look good in 10 or 15 years. I’m also concerned by some high-rises that show little interest in the character of their surroundings.
I’m mostly concerned, however, that many have not acknowledged the dramatic change taking place in what will become Buckhead’s population image.
The mission of the Buckhead Coalition is to nurture the quality of life of those who live, visit, work, and play in our 28 square miles. We will take the blame along with the credit that our community has definitely become “The Address of Choice”. Along the way, we have built a better place, and it’s inevitable many are coming here to live. Atlanta’s net population growth between the 2000 and 2010 census was 2,203 people while Buckhead’s growth totaled 11,904.
The new apartments range from one to three bedrooms, so we could estimate a new population of around 24,000. This is a tremendous impact on our residential profile! Believe me, this is a new image for this northern quadrant of our city. The trending favors Millennials. They will be tomorrow’s leaders in Buckhead, and we had better be friends.
These young people will need to find grocery stores, restaurants, dry-cleaners, gas stations, banks, doctors, furniture outlets, hardware stores, gift shops and, yes, upscale nightlife.
Buckhead will no longer be a commune of just private homeowners. It will be a mixture, and it will be exciting if we join in — rather than practice caste distinctions. We will need to nurture their quality of life so they will realize they made the right decision to move to Buckhead.
Believe me, they are coming.
A positive reaction can insure continuation of Buckhead’s pleasant personality plus its progress and prosperity.
Keep in mind the young guy who rented that $50 a month Adina Drive apartment six decades ago later became President of Atlanta’s City Council, Mayor of your city, and head of the Buckhead Coalition, so dismiss any concept that renters are second-class citizens.
Let’s unite to make our new rental residents feel at home and Atlanta will benefit from their contributions in many ways, for in the final analysis, they can be Buckhead’s future “Profile of Power”.
About the Author
