Property Deal Stalls, Cutting Alpharetta's Project Scope

by Bob Pepalis / Appen Newspapers

Alpharetta -- A deal couldn't be worked out with a downtown Alpharetta property owner, cutting the size of the proposed City Center project by a few acres.Solomon Holdings was unable to reach a deal with Old Milton Square Partnership, which owns almost 62,000 square feet of property at 40 South Main Street. In February, the partnership wanted $2.44 million for the property, which includes two small strip center buildings.Diana Wheeler, Alpharetta's Community Development director and spokesperson for the project, said this property will not be part of the City Center project. The proposed site design was U-shaped, with buildings surrounding a town square open to Main Street.

Any new site design will be roughly U-shaped around Old Milton Square.Wheeler said she heard the development team and Old Milton Square's owners couldn't agree on a price or other details in the negotiations.Wheeler said Solomon Holdings apparently has a tentative agreement with Robert J. Miller Jr., owner of the 39,000 square feet of property at 50 South Main Street, a house used as an office between Old Milton Square and Publix to the south."We're meeting with the architects to see what our design options are," Wheeler said.

Downtown business owner Kathi An Kessler said she thinks it is great that the project is moving ahead despite the failure to make one land deal. The project might be smaller initially, she said, but Old Milton Square's owners might want to develop after City Center develop.Kessler, owner of The Galérie at the corner of South Main and Milton Avenue, said business owners have been asking all along "what can we as downtown merchants do to help this along."Hearing that City Council will hear the new site proposal at a workship in August or September, Kessler responded "that's not soon enough for me."

What happens to a new city hall also will be determined by the new site configuration being prepared by the architects."It all comes back down to the design. City hall will be designed into the whole project," Wheeler said.

The new configuration will include multi-story buildings three and four stories high."We'll have to accommodate parking in some kind of structured facility," she said.Wheeler said several different options have to be explored to determine costs and practicality.Kessler said she has nurtured her customers for 20 years"Thank God I have a loyal following," she said.She has been doing her part to boost downtown business, holding promotions every other month to attract patrons not only to her boutique, but also to other downtown businesses. But she said she can't keep doing this, as it is too costly in time and money."That's what you do in a community, you help each other out. I'd like to see the city doing things that are focusing on downtown, not necessarily the outskirts. Downtown is the nucleus."

The difference between Barry Real Estate, the first developer in charge of the City Center project, and Solomon Holdings, the current team leader, is that they live in the community and care about it, Kessler said.