Business & Tech

Buckhead's Economic Growth Gaining Speed, Sam Massell Says

Buckhead Coalition president tells Buckhead Business Association that economic news shows prosperity returning

Buckhead's headed full speed toward a full economic recovery, Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell told the Buckhead Business Association Thursday morning.

"The good times are coming, they're right in front of us," said Massell, the former mayor of Atlanta. "The tide has turned, and Buckhead is in the lead."

The "mayor of Buckhead" pointed in his annual state of community address to an outburst of positive economic news.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

He cited the building of a new public high school in Buckhead, the announcement of luxury apartment developments on West Paces Ferry Road next to the St. Regis Hotel and at Peachtree and Pharr roads, the sale of the Sovereign building on Peachtree for $163.7 million, Jenny Pruitt's Atlanta Fine Homes/Sotheby's hitting $17.5 million in home sales in one week, and San Diego developer OliverMcMillan purchasing the Streets of Buckhead project.

About OliverMcMillan, which announced this week that it plans to revive construction on the Streets of Buckhead this year, Massell said, "the man in the white hat has steamed in on a white horse to fill in the hole."

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Massell said he had met with the company's  president, Richard Paul Buss, and that the company's "commitment to the community is as important to us as the bricks and mortar." 

The community's commercial real estate market is also showing signs of health, he said. He cited stories in the national media about four new Buckhead office buildings with 2 million square feet of vacant space "as if the world were coming to an end." Now, he said, those office buildings have leased rates of 18 percent, 25 percent, 68 percent and 85 percent, for a total of 50 percent off the market, he said.

"Buckhead was the last to feel the recession and is the first coming out of it," he said. With Buckhead's population "increasing faster than any other submarket," the community's rental and purchase rates will rise, along with its property values, he said

In response to a question from the audience about OliverMcMillan's plans for the  Streets of Buckhead, Massell said it will be a mixed-use development, with primarily high end retail, along with multi-family housing and offices.

"They're not unwilling to look at hotels, but they don't have hotels in the plans now," he said.

Massell praised Ben Carter, who envisioned the Streets of Buckhead. Carter "did put everything on the line and did put his heart and soul" into the luxury development but was prevented from fulfilling his dream  by the economic downturn. He said Carter did everything in his power to revive the stalled project, but that the economic conditions were too difficult.

He also cited the resumption of construction on Phase II of the Peachtree Boulevard project, sponsored by the Buckhead CID. The work on Peachtree Road from Ga. 400 to Roxboro Road beyond Phipps Plaza will result in the removal of trees at Lenox Square, but "newer, better trees will be put into their place."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Buckhead