How The Varsity’s high-rise neighbor might look and function in Midtown is coming into clearer focus.

Athens-based developers Landmark Properties this week submitted revised, taller designs—including a fresh rendering—for a student-housing proposal at 680 Spring St. that would claim surface parking lots immediately north of The Varsity’s iconic original location.

Landmark now plans to develop a U-shaped tower standing 40 stories—up from 34 stories initially pitched—that would mark one of Midtown’s tallest buildings erected during the current development cycle. Other changes to Landmark’s proposal include a greater number of units, from 560 to 626, for a total of 2,235 bedrooms for students.

That’s 243 more bedrooms than were initially planned when the tower project came to light in early November.

The revised aesthetic, in several ways, bears resemblance to the Legacy tower finished downtown by the same developer near Centennial Olympic Park last year. That project stands 32 stories, with its pool and other amenities situated atop the parking garage, also beneath a U-shaped tower form.  

The southern face of the 40-story Landmark Properties proposal between Spring Street (right) and the Connector. Landmark Properties; designs, CNNA Architects

Revised plans for 431 parking spaces (in a six-and-1/2-story podium, wrapped on three sides with student apartments) are actually less than the 554 parking slots initially pitched.

The amount of proposed ground-floor retail in the building, meanwhile, has been bumped up from 8,100 to about 8,600 square feet.

According to Midtown DRC, the tower’s southern drive near The Varsity would be an extension of Ponce de Leon Avenue and provide on-street parking.

During their final meeting of 2024 on Tuesday, Midtown DRC members applauded changes Landmark had made to earlier designs but stressed that outdoor retail patios along Spring Street, and site designs on the south and west portions of the project, could still be improved.

A more detailed look at street-level retail plans and other aspects of the tower's base. Landmark Properties; designs, CNNA Architects

Midtown DRC, an advisory committee, makes formal recommendations to the city’s Bureau of Planning on all Special Administrative Permit applications for projects in the district.  

Below are a few highlights of Midtown DRC recommendations for 680 Spring St. made to developers, as relayed in a Midtown Alliance recap, edited for clarity and length:  

  • Coordinate with Midtown Alliance and [Atlanta Department of Transportation] to explore extending [a proposed] bike lane north to 3rd Street to connect with and match the one-way existing bike lane along Spring Street. If not achievable, remove [the bike lane] from the plan.
  • To further reduce parking demand, unbundle [separate] parking costs from rental rates.
  • Reduce the size of the proposed dog park and relocate it to the northwest corner of the site in place of the vehicular street stub and turnaround… In the southwest area, explore additional secure bike parking and flex space like the north. 

    The roughly 2-acre site in question immediately north of the original Varsity location. Google Maps

  • Maximize access and “soften” the outdoor retail patio spaces along Spring Street [by] removing any unnecessary railings, providing planter boxes, hanging planters on remaining railings, and providing a well-lit artistic or decorative treatment at the terminating wall of the sunken north patio.
  • Consider providing additional bike parking within the building at grade by taking a portion of Retail Space B at the far west [nearest to The Varsity]. This area would be difficult to lease due to its limited visibility.

Landmark Properties; designs, CNNA Architects

As a next step, Midtown DRC members expect Landmark’s team to submit updated plans for electronic review before the project moves forward.

For Landmark, the project would mark its fourth student-housing project in downtown and Midtown.

The tower would claim about 2 acres of surface parking immediately north of The Varsity, near the point where North Avenue meets the downtown Connector, which the restaurant group leases to parking providers but has been looking to sell for several years. Next door, the eatery has been dishing chili dogs and frosted oranges for nearly a century.

Find more context and images for the 680 Spring St. proposal in the gallery above.

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