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REAL ESTATE
Atlanta real estate icon Jenny Pruitt dead at 85
By Collin Kelley
Atlanta real estate giant Jenny Pruitt died
Sept. 27 after a battle with cancer. She was
85.
A third-generation Atlantan, Pruitt was
considered an integral player in the growth
and development of metro Atlanta over the
last four decades. She began her real estate
career in 1968 before establishing Jenny
Pruitt & Associates in 1988.
In 2007, she and her business partner,
David Boehmig, opened Atlanta Fine
PFomes — Sotheby’s International Realty. The
company’s 575 agents are among the most
accomplished real estate professionals in
metro Atlanta, with more than $3.7 billion
in sales in 2023.
She is the recipient of numerous
accolades, including the Atlanta REALTORS
Association’s E.A. Isakson Award; the Sally
Washburn Lifetime Achievement Award;
and REALTOR® of the Year — 1980; the
Georgia Small Business Person of the Year;
and is an inductee of the Business Hall of
Fame at Georgia State University, the YWCA
Academy of Women Achievers and the
Junior Achievement Flail of Fame.
Pruitt was the 2016 recipient of the Four
Pillar Award from The Council for Quality
Growth, celebrating her philanthropic
endeavors and significant contributions to
metro Atlanta’s economic development.
She served on the Board of Councilors
for The Carter Center and the Board of
Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of
Commerce. She was also a Director of the
Buckhead Coalition.
In 2015, Pruitt released a book, “Beneath
His Wings,” which follows her walk of faith
in the marketplace, while offering guidance
and inspiration.
Pruitt and her husband, Bob, were
married for 58 years with two daughters,
seven grandchildren, and one great-
granddaughter.
“Jenny Pruitt was a trailblazer in real
estate, had a heart and compassion for all,
and was committed to the best for those she
led. Pier family, friends, and Atlanta will miss
her greatly,” Council for Quality Growth
President and CEO Michael Paris said in a
statement.
In a Facebook post, Atlanta journalist
JeffFIullinger said, “Ms. Pruitt was civically
everywhere, newspaper, magazines, she was
entrenched in all the charities, an engine for
raising money in the community through
her vast connections.”
Heritage Golf Course denied
rezoning for new homes
By Cathy Cobbs
The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners
voted unanimously Sept. 24 to deny a
zoning change and 10 variances that would
pave the way for a subdivision containing
229 for-sale homes on a Tucker-area tract of
land that currently serves as a nine-hole golf
course.
The zoning change had previously been
passed by the Gwinnett County Planning
Commision, but then deferred without
explanation at the full commission board
meeting in August.
The rezoning proposal from R-200
(Residential) to TND (Traditional
Neighborhood Development) for 46 acres
of land would allow for the construction of
88 single-family homes, 40 duplexes and
109 townhomes.
Fieritage Golf Links currently has an
18-hole course and an adjoining nine-hole
course. The entire course straddles both
DeKalb County and Gwinnett County.
Golf course representatives have said they
need to sell the land to make extensive
repairs to the course, including a dam repair
that could top $2 million.
The project, called Fairway Park, has
been proposed by Parkland Communities,
an Alpharetta-based company that has built
communities in Lawrenceville, Fayette
County, and Roswell.
Surrounding neighbors, who have
formed a group called “Say No to Parkland”
claim that they aren’t opposed to developing
the land, but want to reduce the project’s
density and rezone the property to R-75
instead ofTND. During each step in the
zoning process, dozens of residents opposed
to the development have shown up to
meetings dressed in red.
In 2021, the group successfully fought
a much denser development proposed
by Lanner PFomes, which would have
contained more than 400 units and a retail
component.
At the Sept. 24 meeting, Parkland
President Jim Jacobi and attorney Michelle
Battle argued that they have tried to
work with the neighbors to find a viable
compromise, but felt that the R-75
stipulation contradicts Gwinnett’s land use
plan for future development.
Jacobi also said that residential
development is sparse, while the need for
housing in the area continues to rapidly
outgrow supply.
“We are offering different housing
types that will appeal to everyone from
millennials to boomers,” he said. “We’re
building a sense of community here, which
is what people want.”
Jeff Cleveland, representing the
opposition, said the group believes that the
density of the project and the number of
variances are “too much of an ask.”
“I’ve been told not to say the word
‘greed, profit,’ or ‘money,’ so I will just
stick to the word ‘density,’” Cleveland said.
“Rezoning from R-100 to TND is just too
drastic and too dense.”
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OCTOBER 2024 | 33
