Surprise! Even More Apartments Coming to Buckhead

How many times have you seen that headline in the last five months?

Well, get used to it. Even more apartments are coming to Buckhead.

COE Architecture International, an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, just finished its design plan to convert the aging nine-story office building at 550 Pharr Road into an apartment complex.

According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the building was developed in the 1970s and was foreclosed upon in October for $7 million.

Lyon Communities Development, based in Newport Beach, CA,  is redeveloping the office building and named COE as its design firm. COE is best known for its renovation of Hollywood Palladium nightclub on Sunset Boulevard and has also worked on various high-profile residential projects in San Francisco, ABC reports.

Christopher Coe, owner of COE Architecture International, said the apartment development will have 90 to 100 units that have a "hip loft vibe," and Lyon will begin "doing some selective work during the summer."

The 550 Pharr apartments will have quite a bit of competition with about 3,500 apartments announced in 2012 to be in some stage of development in Buckhead.

• In March, , a 355-unit apartment high-rise expected to be completed in spring 2014. 

• Alliance Residential Co. plans to build between Peachtree Road and East Paces Ferry.
• Additionally, Prominence Buckhead will consist of two different towers at the corner of Piedmont and Lenox roads to begin construction in 2015.
• Atlantic Realty Partners is also currently redeveloping the Georgian Hills apartment complex at 1185 Collier Road to a 288-unit mid-rise apartment development called The Reserve at Collier Hills.

• And of course, the iconic Dante's Down the Hatch restaurant is being torn down when it closes tentatively at the end of next month to make room for Atlantic Realty's

But Coe says the location, architecture, design and amenities will set their complex apart from the rest.

"It's in a great location," Coe told Buckhead Patch on Monday.

He said one of the building's many advantages is that it is "so unusual" and has "a very specific shape to it."

"Already that gives us sort of a marked edge. We really wanted to embrace the funky architecture of that building. Part of the practice in residential development is you need to somehow set yourself apart with building design, the interior design of the units themselves or with the amenities, and with Lyon, we'll be hitting all three of those."

How many apartments are too many for one community? Will Buckhead end up with several vacant apartment buildings as the housing market continues to bounce back? Speak out in the comments below.