Editor's note: This project's current status is clarified via a Midtown Alliance update below.
As Midtown continues to swap parking lots and squat buildings for high-rise density, longstanding gentleman’s club The Cheetah is starting to resemble something akin to holdout real estate.
Now, plans by an Austin developer are moving forward that would cast the famed nudie bar—a conventioneers’ destination at Spring and 8th streets since the 1980s—in another literal shadow.
Lincoln Ventures’ portfolio lends a fresh glimpse at what a 31-story, co-living tower for students could become as The Cheetah’s immediate neighbor to the south.
How the 859 Spring Street property relates to a parking lot next door, and what Google Satellite and husbands' credit card statements call "Alluvia Restaurant." Google Maps
Named 859 Spring, the project’s 195 units (with 550 student beds spread among them) would join hundreds of similar, finely appointed living options that have sprouted on Midtown’s western rim in recent years, in buildings such as The Mark and The Standard.
Lincoln Ventures unveiled their intentions at a November meeting with the Midtown Development Review Committee.
The board voiced concerns about noise and light pouring from 859 Spring’s parking deck but otherwise commended the proposal, noting “the scale and massing of the tower is thoughtfully considered” while the “architectural design offers a distinct palette of materials that adds interest to the façade.”
The plans, as presented, would max out density for the tight corner site. An unspecified amount of retail space is planned for street level.
A rendering overview of the building submitted in November to the Midtown Development Review Committee. Lincoln Ventures; designs, Niles Bolton Associates
In late March, permitting records showed some activity related to the tower’s zoning. Lincoln Ventures didn’t return inquiries this week seeking an update on the project’s potential groundbreaking or other details.
How the "co-living" building would differ from a standard student tower, if at all, isn't clear.
The developer was scheduled to come before the Midtown DRC again last month, per an agenda, but those plans appear to have changed. (We’ve asked Midtown Alliance for clarification and will post any info that comes.)
At the 859 Spring Street site, neighboring buildings include MidCity Lofts and tech company NCR Corporation’s global headquarters.
According to LoopNet, the lone freestanding structure onsite now spans 15,000 square feet. It was previously an urban-sized Office Depot but most recently has been used as Georgia Pacific offices.
Lincoln Ventures’ tower is scheduled to deliver in 2023, per the company’s website. And if recent reports are any indication, its racy northern neighbor will still be there.
A previously unpublished 859 Spring rendering in Lincoln Ventures' portfolio. Lincoln Ventures; designs, Niles Bolton Associates
UPDATE: After publication of this story, Midtown Alliance officials were able to provide the following update regarding the 859 Spring project:
“Following Lincoln Ventures’ presentation in November, it held discussions with the neighboring MidCity Lofts building and the City of Atlanta, then decided to make some design modifications. The most significant of these included removing the parking podium and placing significantly less parking below grade.
As a result of losing the parking podium, the building was reduced to 26 stories. Also, ground floor retail was able to increase inside.
These changes were fully supported by the Midtown DRC via email in early March and by the city’s Zoning and Development Office, which approved the SAP [special administrative permit] on March 25.”
• Recent Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
