Streets of Buckhead Manager Returns to His Roots

The Streets of Buckhead project represents a homecoming for OliverMcMillan executive Jeremy Meredith.

"I grew up not too far from the site," said Meredith, OliverMcMillan's managing director, who will oversee construction on the project. "It's very exciting to come back and work on a project two miles from where I went to school."

The Sandy Springs native and Pace Academy alum says that on his trips to Atlanta from San Diego for preliminary work on the project, he jogs along the same trails he once ran in his high school days. He played soccer and ran cross country at Pace.

Last week, San Diego-based OliverMcMillan announced its purchase of the stalled luxury project at Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads. The company is to begin construction this year.

The senior development director for OliverMcMillan, Meredith said the company is now assembling a team of consultants, architects, engineers, construction contractors and employees of the firm to develop the project from the planning stages through construction.

Meredith said OliverMcMillan is purchasing the project from "an entity owned by Ben Carter," the Buckhead developer  who began the project but was unable to complete it after the economic downturn. Meredith wouldn't disclose the purchase price.

OliverMcMillan will invest $300 million in the multiuse project and "we're examining all facets" of the current plans, he said. OliverMcMillan is looking at 300,000 square feet of high-end retail, 40,000 square feet of office space and 376 apartment units on the site. Two 20-story apartment towers are planned, he said. Asked if the apartment towers would fit in with the streetscape of the nearby Buckhead Village, he said, "we think so. It'll be equivalent to condos and some buildings that are nearby." 

About the development, Meredith said., "it's personally exciting to me to come back. This important project within the city of Atlanta will be a a seed, a catalyst that will bring a pedestrian scale to Buckhead and bring a mixed-use walkable community to the area."

Meredith said OliverMcMillan is the largest private property owner in downtown San Diego and has 20 years experience building such communities across the United States. The company is working with the Buckhead CID and other stakeholders in planning the work, he said.

He said the completion date will be clearer "once we have a better understanding of the plans," but that the company wants to have work completed by early 2013.

The company is also seeking to incorporate a public gathering space in line with goals set by the Buckhead CID's Buckhead Collection project, which is working to increase green space in the community. "Given the construction already done on the site, we are somewhat limited in our ability to create park space, but creating a public area where people can live and work and shop is very important to us."

He said the company has received strong community cooperation. "We have been very humbled and honored from the reaction from Atlanta's different stakeholders and the city.  The reception has been fastastic, and  we are looking forward to partnering with everybody in Atlanta and making it happen."

The company will continue managing the development after it's completed, he said. "We've done over 19 public and private partnerships across the country, putting down roots and working with communities. We do typically become long-term handlers of our projects. We are a full-force development firm and real-estate firm."

The development will have a mix of luxury retail as well as local restaurants, he said. "We are in negotiations with a number of different tenants. We can't give specific names at this point."