About Dunwoody reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 20??-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2021)
Community | 29 MARCH 2021 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net Apartment project gets $7M tax break, council approval Continued from page 1 feet of retail and commercial space. The Council previously saw initial renderings of the development at a Jan. 14 meeting. At the Jan. 14 meeting, the council took issue with a special land-use permit request from the developer, JSJ Perimeter LLC, to increase the limit of impervious surfaces, like concrete or pavement. Limits on im pervious coverage exist to reduce surfaces that prevent the absorption of rainwater, which can damage the environment. The request to increase the limit of im pervious space was still brought before the city council at a Feb. 22 meeting, but John Digiovanni - a representative of JSJ Perim eter LLC - said they had worked with city planning staff to try and reduce impervi ous coverage, specifically replacing some parking with greenspace, and moving the proposed pool to the roof of the property to decrease impervious space on the ground. Some council members said they appre ciated the effort to make changes, but were still skeptical of the project, and worried the developer wouldn’t stick to the age-re stricted component of the development. “One of the fears in the communi ty about this project or any project is that magically overnight it won’t be 55-plus any more,” said Mayor Lynn Deustch. Deustch asked if the project would be obligated by the Department of Hous ing and Urban Development to maintain its age-restricted nature. According to Di- Giovanni, the developer is not using HUD financing, so any obligation to maintain age-restricted housing would be tied to zoning conditions from the City Council. The council chose to defer the decision in order to make sure they could adopt HUD rules to protect the city in its zoning for age-restricted apartments. On Feb. 18, the Development Authority narrowly approved an “inducement reso lution” for the proposed development at 84 Perimeter Center. The estimated value of the offered tax break for the development is $7 million over 10 years. At the Development Authority meeting, DiGiovanni said this development would cost about $15 million more than stan dard, market-rate apartments, partly due to higher expectations from future tenants. “When you’re 25 and you get an apart ment, it might not [meet] exactly what your expectations are. That’s okay, be cause you might leave in a year, or get mar ried in a year or so and move into a house,” DiGiovanni said. “When you’re 61, this is probably the last move you’re going to do. You’re going to age in place.” The approval was not unanimous. Two members, Greg Killeen and Susan Mitchell, voted against the resolution. “The developer stated that it would cost $15 million more to develop age-restricted apartments versus a traditional apartment complex,” said Killeen in an email. “That’s about $67,000 per unit. In my opinion, he did not provide the support to make that assertion credible.” During the meeting, Killeen pointed out an example of an age-restricted apartment complex in the area that was recently com pleted without tax breaks. “Attiva, in Chamblee, is an age-restrict ed apartment,” he said. “That’s getting built without tax abatements. Why are they able to do that and you’re not?” DiGiovanni said he could not speak to the Attiva development, and without the tax abatement there is a “zero chance” the 84 Perimeter Center development will hap pen. “I can only tell you what I’m dealing with in Dunwoody,” he said. “Our under standing of the market is people are selling their large homes. They’re going to have a lot of cash in hand, they’re going to want to move to a product that is either the last step or next-to-last step in their lives.” Authority Chair Jonathan Sangster said if the City Council is looking favor ably at the development, it “doesn’t hurt” to do an initial inducement since the De velopment Authority would still have to enter another agreement with the devel oper to issue the funds. “We’d still have to do a [memoran dum of understanding], but it advances the process,” Sangster said. The proposed development was scheduled to return to the council on March 8. Bungalows | Cottages | Independent Living | Assisted Living | Memory Care ViLLageParkSeniorLiving.com | 5701 SpaLding Drive, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 | 770.416.0502 DUN
