Newspaper Page Text
LOOKING FOR
AFFORDABLE
CAR INSURANCE?
Low Down Payments!
\\ Any Driver!
Se Habla Espanol!
Cualquier Licencia!
starting at \ Call Us Today!
$55 down! 1 J _
Peachstate Auto ^ Insurance
706.425.5000
Located at
3701 Atlanta Hwy • Athens • in the Mission Square Plazc
^ /re fess Internet
Looking for a
Place to Live?
Fall 2007
^ ond bwntoiv/}/
*h Sun decks
?00' S>N '
Celling fans
Hardwood Floors
26 */2BA • 4BR/m • 4BR/ 3 ^
Whistlebury, Whistlebury Walk & Waterford Place
(7Q6) 543-0320 • (706) 353-2977
WHAT'S UP IN NEW DEVELOPMENT
Editor’s note: Athens Rising is a new semi-regular column
in Flagpole designed to help citizens keep track of new
development happening all over Athens. A typical edition
of the column will note various proposed developments in
the county: the good, the bad, the ugly, the questionable,
the controversial, the useful, and everything in between.
Starting out, though, it will focus on the ongoing update
of the Athens-Clarke County Comprehensive Plan and,
this week, the downtown area. An upcoming installment
will look at the potential development of effective mixed-
use corridors on Baxter Street and Gaines School Road in
relation to the Comprehensive Plan.
We as a community are currently updating
our Comprehensive Plan, which is what guides
our growth. The last time the plan was updated
was in 1999, and Athens has grown and changed
quite a bit since that document was produced.
This week, Athens Rising is focusing specifically
on downtown and the surrounding in-town areas,
and aiming for an overview of activity there over
the past few years. After all, recent development
has been guided by the last edition of the "comp
plan," so understanding it can help citizens know
where things are going this time around.
Downtown has remained the lively place that
draws folks to Athens, but it's growing out in all
directions. Following College Avenue north from
downtown, a string of several projects is remak
ing that area. First, on the site of the former
Clarke Clarke County School District offices is
the proposed Hotel Indigo, a mid-rise boutique
hotel that will fill the block. Next, at 945 College
Ave., between the rail
road tracks, there is a
proposed community of
three-story live-work
units. At Willow and
Elizabeth streets. Uptown
Station will take down
many of those old cot
tages and replace them
with three-story condos.
Across the river from
there are "Urban Lofts
Athens" and other dense
housing developments.
The area east of
downtown around Willow
Street, East Broad Street
and Pottery Town is also
in the midst of a trans
formation. The Classic
Center and Multi-Modal
Transportation Center
have helped spur this
growth, which includes several projects. Georgia
Traditions is the tower looming over East Broad
that is currently wrapping up construction.
Further down the hill at Broad and Willow will be
a large five-story building, primarily residential
with a few storefronts; parking deck and founda
tion construction on that project has begun.
Much of this area is owned by only two or three
people, so more drastic redevelopment seems to
be only a matter of time. Across Oconee Street
from there, UGA has renovated the Hodgson Oil
building, but its large parking lots along Oconee
remain unchanged. A large project was proposed
for a vacant lot on Mitchell Street, but was since
withdrawn; however, there's no doubt another
developer will soon be after that parcel. Just
across the river, Billy Ramsbottom's controversial
Easley Mill project is proposed for the Boys and
Girls Club property.
Back up the hill at the eastern edge of
downtown proper, Thomas Street has seen at
tention turned toward lots close to the Classic
Center, such as the Hilton Garden Inn at Thomas
and Clayton streets. The corner lot at Hancock
Avenue and Thomas Street is to become 412
Thomas, a luxury condo high-rise.
The proposed "western" downtown parking
deck (one block west of the College Avenue deck)
could be only four or five levels—or up to nine
or 10—if the suggested public-private partner
ships occur. A new mid-rise bank is going up
on West Hancock, a street which has been com
pletely transformed since the days of the original
"skate part of Athens." This will make the third
new office building so far this decade (the others
being the Chastain Building and the Chamber of
Commerce) built on that short corridor.
In addition, Cine opened in the former Snow
Tire Recap plant there and Little Kings club was
renovated not too long ago across the street.
Overall, the whole downtown area seems to be
getting fixed up, with surface parking lots and
smaller one-story warehouses being replaced
with bigger structures (another example being
the Gameday building on West Broad Street.)
Surprisingly, things have remained relatively qui
et west of Pulaski Street, with few major projects
in recent years other than the redevelopment of
the Bottleworks and the Leathers Building.
Meanwhile, broad goals expressed in the
previous Comprehensive Plan relating to com
munity involvement have spurred the develop
ment of tools like the Neighborhood Notification
Initiative, and a decidedly "pro-neighborhood"
stance in Athens has since been confirmed at the
polls. Still, within-these same neighborhoods—
especially those surrounding downtown—infill
abounds. For the most part, the infill fits with
their in-town character. Infill and gentrification
are no doubt going to fundamentally alter these
neighborhoods; for better or worse depends on
who you ask.
What does the future hold for downtown? If
things continue as they are, there'll be even more
people living downtown and more businesses
there—maybe even that wished-for downtown
grocery store. These will probably replace the
remaining surface parking downtown, which will
become more and more valuable. It's not unrea
sonable to imagine a dense, European-flavored
downtown extending from its old boundaries
down to the river. There will probably be even
more bicyclists and scooters. Where will all the
people come from to live in these new homes?
Well, something brought you here, and some
thing's keeping you here, right? For more infor
mation about the Comprehensive Plan, check out
www.accplanning.com/comprehensive.
Upcoming dates: The Planning Commission
has its next biweekly work session on the
Comprehensive Plan on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 5
p.m. The Planning Commission's regular monthly
meeting is on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 7 t p.m. The
Hearings Board meets Wednesday, Sept. 12, and
the Historic Preservation Commission meets the
following Wednesday, Sept. 19. All of these meet
ings are held in the Planning Department at 120
Dougherty St., downtown.
Kevan Williams
8 FLAGPOLE.COM • AUGUS T 22,2007
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
KEVAN WILLIAMS