Insights, Summer 2015

Summer 2015 Volume 2 Issue Volume 2 Issue 3 Insight Bit by bit, Doraville contin- ues to grow, change, evolve The latest piece in Doraville‘s sive access to a private swimming evolving economic development pool and other amenities. Overall, the puzzle fell into place recently with site will include 1,049 parking spaces. the announcement of a $150 mil- The current building, which will be lion planned mixed use/multi- demolished, is located on a huge ex- residential complex along Buford panse of parking lot sloping down Highway, just outside of I-285. from Buford Highway, but this will The creation of prominent Atlanta change with the new complex. An building designer Steve Macauley, underground parking garage for ten- the new project will be located on ants and shoppers will raise the over- the shuttered former site of a K- all landscape to street level. The Mart that closed in 2010. ―We streetscape along Buford will be en- chose the name Nexus for the new (Continued on Page 2) development,‖ noted Macauley, ―because the word is derived from a Latin term meaning connecting or binding together. We see this project as an important crossroads in this growing northeast quadrant of Atlanta that will bind together the burgeoning business community with Doraville‘s diverse demo- City Hall (770) 451-8745 graphic make-up.‖ Police Dept. (770) 455-1000 Upon completion, the 13-acre site Emergency 911 will consist of over 44,000-square Code Compliance (678) 530- feet of retail, a 140–room upscale 2006 hotel, and 504 units of residential Jail (770) 455-1716 that include 140 units for senior Fire Dept. 911 living, 350 multi-family units, and Parks/Recreation Dept. 14 townhomes uniquely designed (770) 936-3850 around several central courtyards Library (770) 936-3852 and reflecting pools. Residents of Public Works (770) 936-3855 the housing units will have exclu- Courthouse (770) 455-1001 From Page 1 From the City Manager’s Bit by bit... Desk hanced with a 10‘ tree zone and 10‘ sidewalk and there will be By Dr. Shawn Gillen easy ―right in, right out‖ access off of the highway. ―Conceptually, the development Thank you all for taking the time to read this issue of Insight. There is so much go- will be comparable to the popular ing on in Doraville, it is getting hard to keep up! Town Brookhaven located a few This month‘s Insight is informing you about just some of the great things happening miles away,‖ said Macauley. ―We in Doraville. We have seen significant progress at the Assembly development site, hope to lure ‗white tablecloth‘ res- we have an exciting development happening at the old K-Mart site, the Food Truck taurants to the site and the luxury Rally happening each month, and the SWEEPS program just to name a few. The townhomes, on par with those Food Truck Rally has really gotten off to a good start. This is a new event for Do- found in Brookhaven or Buck- raville and is happening every second Wednesday of the month this summer and fall. head, will have a $400-$500,000 One of the things that I am very excited about is the new SWEEPS program that has price range. They will be aimed at been funded in this year‘s budget (see story on Page 6). A year ago we conducted a Millennials and other high income pilot project on a code enforcement sweep of a multi-family housing complex. The professionals likely to move to the sweep found over 450 code violations and kick started a remodeling of the complex area as the nearby Assembly de- into a beautiful new place. With the passage of the budget for the SWEEPS program by the Mayor and City Council, we will conduct sweeps of three to four additional velopment gains momentum.‖ multi-family housing complexes in Doraville this year. We expect to see the same Assembly is the former GM site kind of result we saw with the pilot project. that is currently being built less than a mile from Nexus. Thanks again for checking in with us and have a great summer. Macauley added that the success of the project may lead to other similar developments in the future. Onward and Upward! ―We love the Doraville/Chamblee By Doraville Mayor Donna Pittman area for many reasons and hopefully this won‘t be a one-time shot As I page through this issue of Insight, I am very proud to see photos but something we will do again and stories on an increasing number of fun activities for Doraville with future projects,‖ he added. residents and, with luck and good planning, there will be more in the months and years ahead. Residents are always telling me they wish The project recently completed that we could, in one respect, turn back the clock to a time when initial hurdles, according to Luke neighbors knew their neighbors and people got together to just social- Howe, Doraville‘s Director of ize and have fun. Economic Development. ―Our city I believe those days are returning. From monthly senior luncheons to Touch-A-Truck, council has granted rezoning for from food truck rallies to numerous sports activities for people of all ages and Movies the development and the Doraville Under the Stars, we are seeing a renaissance of grass roots socializing that takes all of Downtown Development Authori- us beyond the realm of cell phone and social media communications to just start talk- ty unanimously adopted an agree- ing to each other again. In this fast-paced, high-tech world, that can hopefully lead to ment with Macauley Investments a more ―stop and smell the roses‖ atmosphere. to redevelop the site,‖ said Howe. You are reading more and more about new business development like the Assembly Doraville will provide the equiva- and Nexus projects and new businesses opening their doors every week. It is good to note that all of this growth has a very positive side effect: not only does it enhance our lent of $32 million in tax abate- reputation as ‗a good place to live,‘ but it allows the city to fund new and exciting ments over the next 20 years to activities for residents. In the past few months we inaugurated the food truck rallies support the redevelopment. and Touch-A-Truck for residents and hopefully next year we will be financially able to ―We are very excited about this do even more such as a special Memorial Day celebration or a 4th of July spectacular. new project,‖ said Mayor Donna All of these activities are planned with YOU, our residents, in mind. Please feel free Pittman. ―This will provide impe- to let me and our other city leaders know what you would like to see in terms of more tus for more investment in Do- civic activities and we will do our best to make it happen for you. raville, especially along Buford We always welcome your comments and suggestions. Have a safe and fun summer! Highway.‖ Plans call for construction to begin Insight is published quarterly for the citizens of Doraville. We appreciate and welcome your input. Please contact Bob Kelley, Doraville Public Information Officer, email: rob- on Nexus in late 2016 with a com- [email protected]. pletion date of late 2017. 2 Doraville Insight, Summer 2015 Two key City Hall posts filled by Bascu- ñana, Henderson Two key positions at City Hall were filled recently with the addition of Enrique Bas- cuñana and Sherry Henderson as Commu- nity Development Director and City Clerk, respectively. Both bring a wide range of experience to their new positions. Community Development Henderson Bascuñana Enrique Bascuñana, AICP, brings to the Community Development Director posi- 8745 ext. 234 or by email at En- City Council. She is a member of numer- tion over 17 years of project experience [email protected]. ous professional groups including Georgia with the City of Atlanta including zon- Municipal Association, National League ing, urban design, development re- City Clerk of Cities and the International Institute of view/permitting, land use and redevel- Municipal Clerks. She can be reached at opment and community outreach. Bas- Sherry D. Henderson was formerly City Clerk and Elections Superintendent in (770) 451-8745 ext. 221 or by email at Sher- cuñana earned his planning certification [email protected] from the American Institute of Certified Riverdale, Georgia. She brings over 15 Planners (AICP) in 2002. years of experience to the Doraville po- sition with core competencies including The Community Development Depart- experience in automating government ment is responsible for working with the processes, spearheading an Open Rec- citizens of Doraville, the development ords Tracking System Solution, and community, boards and commissions providing assistance in the development and elected officials while managing and management of municipal operating current planning, long-range planning, budgets. zoning, land development, storm water management, arboriculture, building Currently working to get her municipal construction, and sign permitting. clerk certification at Carl Vinson Insti- The best way to play an active role in tute of Government at the University of Bascuñana holds a Master of City Plan- Georgia, she also has experience in di- how your city operates is to attend ning degree from Georgia Institute of recting improvements to the election and participate in regularly scheduled Technology and a Bachelor‘s degree in process, implementation of council city government meetings and social Spanish Translation/Economics from agenda management systems, and events. The public is welcome at all the University of Maryland. In his near- led/managed an initiative to automate meetings/events listed below.

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