BUILDING A TEAM Companies look Top 25 for group experiences to bring workers Engineering together. Firms 12A STRATEGIES • SECTION B PHOTO/SPECIAL

February 20-26, 2015 52 PAGES • $2.00 ON THE BEAT

REAL ESTATE NOTES What drove a change in Cousins’ 191 plans? Doug Sams, 14A

HOSPITALITY RENDERING/SPECIAL RENDERING/SPECIAL There’s a vision for a Hotel Avalon: It would be branded under Marriott International Inc.’s Autograph new downtown hotel next to the Collection, meaning it would retain the personality of an independent boutique hotel. $80M ‘CITY CENTER’ Aquarium. Amy Wenk, 19A $100M hotel, conference COULD TRANSFORM ALPHARETTA TECH FLASH BY DOUGLAS SAMS ATDC to create a center planned for Avalon [email protected] fintech practice. BY AMY WENK A 325-room hotel would be built in con- n Atla nta development team Urvaksh Karkaria, 30A [email protected] junction with a 74,000-square-foot confer- wants to launch the next phase more-than-$100 million hotel and ence center that’s planned to include the A of the Alpharetta City Center conference center could anchor the largest meeting room in the north Fulton project, an attempt to create a more A second phase of Alpharetta’s Avalon market (22,500 square feet, or about the size walkable downtown fi lled with restau- development, providing a needed amenity of the ballroom at ). rants, boutiques, apartments and single- for the more than 600 tech companies clus- Th e project would serve to retain and family homes. tered in the affl uent city. attract new corporations to Alpharetta, Th e $80 million development could -based Stormont Hospitality dubbed the “Technology City of the South.” break ground as early as this fall, depend- Group LLC has teamed up with Avalon Already, the area is home to local offi ces of ing on the speed of the zoning process. developer North American Properties to Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Th e fi rst restaurants could open in 2016, propose the Alpharetta Conference Center with the remainder of the project tar- and Hotel Avalon. CONTINUED ON PAGE 25A geted for completion the following year. Th e development team, led by Atlan- COVER STORY ta-based MidCity Real Estate Part- ners and Morris & Fellows, is fi nalizing arrangements with capital partners. Th e project could include 220 hous- Th e Insider Ready for their ing units, 75,000 square feet of retail Xernona Clayton and CONTINUED ON PAGE 31A the Rev. C.T. Vivian at the close-up 2015 Heritage Celebration. © American City Business Journals - Not for commercial use SPECIAL SECTION 6A Your guide to the movers and shakers of Georgia’s fast- growing TV and movie industries. STORY BY Ellie Hensley 20A

Honoring top young leaders making a diff erence in metro Atlanta. 33A-38A FEBRUARY 20-26, 2015 ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE 31A NEWS

ALPHA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A happened, Demetrops said. But Atlanta’s suburban cities are and restaurant space, and 33,000 square adopting more of an intown feel. North feet of offi ce. It’s an extension of the $30 American Properties in Alpharetta, and million fi rst phase of the Alpharetta City Atlanta developers Carter and Selig Center project that is anchored by city Enterprises in Sandy Springs, are exam- hall. ples of developers exploring projects that Th e development team also includes can create walkable downtowns outside Atlanta-based South City Partners and the Perimeter. Hedgewood Homes. Th e trend is bringing new life to down- Th e entire city center development towns that experienced an exodus of would cover 25 acres. Th e master archi- business in the 1980s and 1990s, when tect of the 10-acre second phase is Atlan- suburban shopping centers and regional ta-based Smallwood, Reynolds, Stew- malls dominated the landscape. That art, Stewart & Associates Inc., the same RENDERING/SMALLWOOD, REYNOLDS, STEWART, STEWART & ASSOCIATES INC. period came during the rapid expansion fi rm involved in planning the redevelop- Alpharetta City Center: Phase two could include 220 housing units, 75,000 square or roads and highways, fueling suburban ment of several blocks in the feet of retail and restaurant space, and 33,000 square feet of offi ce. sprawl. Village. Th e fi rm’s portfolio includes the But those forgotten downtowns $1 billion mixed-use president, Kirk Demetrops, said said her eff orts would target local chef- retained the charm and authenticity of project, the biggest catalyst for the trans- Alpharetta is becoming more like driven concepts along Main Street. Th ere their old brick buildings, many of which formation of that district. Virgina Highland, one of intown’s may also be rooftop dining. are being converted into lofts, restaurants Alpharetta is in the midst of its own older neighborhoods known for “We notice when a district starts to and shops. “It left behind some beautiful transformation. popular bars such as Dark Horse Tavern emerge it starts with restaurants — edgy, bones to work,” Morris said. In the era of the rapid growth of sub- and traditional Sunday brunch destina- innovative, chef-driven restaurants,” What might give speed to Alpharetta’s urban Atlanta, Alpharetta was bisected tions, such as Murphy’s. Morris said. transformation is its affl uence and strong by Highway 9 and lined on either side by “People from the Atlanta suburbs have It’s been a winning formula for Avalon, concentration of jobs, especially technol- strip malls, fast-food chains and big-box been going to restaurants in Virginia the $600 million mixed-use project at ogy companies. Avalon, Demetrops said, stores. Highland for years, but you just can’t get Georgia 400 and Old Milton Parkway, a has also been a catalyst. Now, city center developers want to there easily anymore,” Demetrops said, development that one day may link to Th e development team recently pre- take a page out of affl uent suburban cities referring to the region’s traffi c woes. downtown Alpharetta’s city center. sented their plans to city offi cials and res- with walkable downtown districts, such Alpharetta now has 12 restaurants North American Properties, which idents. Th e developers will likely take the as Naperville, Ill., a suburb of Chicago; in its downtown, up from just two a developed Avalon, has lured some of project before the city planning commis- and Walnut Creek, Calif., where investors few years ago. Th e city center hopes to intown Atlanta’s best-known chefs like sion in March. like the job growth and short commutes continue that trend. Ford Fry, Shaun Doty and Steve Palmer Th e second phase of the city center to San Francisco. Cheri Morris, whose fi rm Morris & Fel- to launch new concepts in the suburbs. project could come before the council as In Atlanta, MidCity’s founder and lows focuses on downtown revitalization, In the past, that almost never early as April. THANK YOU TO THE COMPANIES PROVIDING THE BEST HEALTH AND WELLNESS BENEFITS FROM THEIR EMPLOYEES!

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