A Midtown high-rise project that drew disdain from historic preservationists last year has gone back to the drawing board but is still moving forward.
That’s according to a Midtown Development Review Committee agenda for Tuesday that indicates a mixed-use proposal at 1450 West Peachtree Street has shrunk from 20 to 17 stories.
The mix of apartments, hotel rooms, offices, and commercial space would rise over three major Midtown streets (West Peachtree, Spring, and 19th streets), sharing a small block with the historic Winnwood Apartments. It’s being put together by Atlanta-based Tenth Street Ventures and Ryan Companies, a Minneapolis-based developer with mixed-use projects dotted around the country.
The proposal last came before the Midtown DRC in October.
Since then, in addition to the reduction in overall height, the project’s number of residential units has dropped by 32—from 171 to 139 proposed now. The amount of commercial, retail, and restaurant space has also been slashed.
Other components—149 hotel rooms and 6,600 square feet of coworking space—have gotten slightly larger. A small café and public fitness center spanning 5,000 square feet would also be included, according to the DRC agenda.
Original 2022 proposal for the site where West Peachtree Street meets 19th Street. Tenth Street Ventures; designs, Blur Workshop
Another significant change: The proposed adaptive-reuse conversion of the Master Mind Thinker Building next door is no longer on the table. Tenth Street Ventures’ plans had called for turning that office building into a café, lobby for apartments and the hotel, and commercial spaces on upper floors with rooftop seating.
When the 1450 West Peachtree venture first emerged last autumn, officials with Atlanta Preservation Center, the city’s leading preservationist group, shared concerns a project of such scope would literally overshadow and negatively impact the neighboring, historic apartment complex, which is being converted to more affordable rentals.
The new tower would surround on two sides the U-shaped, historically protected Winnwood Apartments that have stood since 1931. That two-story brick structure was built in a Georgian Revival style by prominent Atlanta firm H.W. Nicholes and Sons, and it remains one of the last examples of the architecture type left standing in the city, according to preservation organization Easements Atlanta.
The full corner in question, with the renovated historic apartments at right. Google Maps; Urbanize Atlanta
Behind the apartments today is a one-story, multi-stall garage built of brick and wood, also more than 90 years old, that development plans called for razing. APC leaders argued that the parking structure was helping the apartment conversion next door to viably provide “needed middle housing” while adding no new parking to the urbanizing district.
The Winnwood Apartments were once controlled by Tenth Street Ventures, too, but when four of the company’s managing partners split off to form a development firm called Urban Landings in 2021, the old rentals transferred with them. Now, Urban Landings has partnered with GBX and Easements Atlanta to refurbish and reconfigure the 90-year-old apartments into roughly 50 units—all micro apartments and one-bedrooms that officials have promised will be relatively affordable for the area.
The Master Mind Thinker Building today, at left, and the historic Winnwood Apartments at right. Google Maps; Urbanize Atlanta
Tenth Street Ventures has experience in reviving older apartment buildings in Buckhead, Midtown, and now Hunter Hills. As of October, the company had hoped to break ground on West Peachtree Street within a year to 18 months. The project—at least in its early incarnation—was expected to cost roughly $100 million.
Midtown DRC, an appointed board, vets development proposals and provides recommendations to the city’s Office of Planning. Tuesday’s in-person monthly meeting, the first of 2023, is scheduled for 5 p.m., with 1450 West Peachtree Street being one of two projects on the agenda.
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