Received this press release from Carter this morning…

Carter to Develop $40 Million Mixed-Use Project in Decatur 

Development to include 233 apartments with street-level retail in one of Atlanta’s most livable cities

ATLANTA (April 24, 2013) – Carter, one of the nation’s leading real estate development, investment and advisory firms, announced today that the company will develop 315 West Ponce, a $40 million mixed-use project in Decatur, Ga. The five-story residential buildings will comprise 233 apartment units and approximately 10,000 square feet of street-level retailspace.

“Carter is incredibly excited to be developing a Class-A mixed-use project right in our backyard,” said Conor McNally, chief development officer at Carter. “While Decatur has experienced significant population and retail growth during the last 10 years, no new apartment projects have beendelivered since 2001, which makes the timing for this project ideal.”

315 West Ponce will target young professionals with a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as a full line of amenities including a pool, clubhouse, fitness center and two outdoor courtyards with green space. The development will also include a structured parking deck to be shared between the new retail and residential buildings and the existing 10-story office building located on the site.

The Decatur Downtown Development Authority has approved the site plan for the project, which is located two blocks from the DecaturSquare and approximately 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta. The Preston Partnership is the architect for the project and Brasfield & Gorrie is the contractor. Construction is anticipated to begin later this summer.

Carter has a rich history of developing multi-family projects and specializes in developing complex, urban mixed-use projects across multiple asset classes. From complicated mixed-use developments to high-rise condominiums, Carter’s leadership brings a depth of experience to a variety of project types.

Last evening was World Book Night! 25,000 volunteers handed out a half million copies of free books in the United States, including hundreds of superb titles right here in Decatur. It’s an amazing cooperative venture amongst the folks at World Book Night, publishers, authors, and volunteers. Were you a giver? If so, where did you distribute your books? Did you get a free book last night and were you wonderously surprised?

This Week

Mo Willems, author of That Is NOT a Good Idea!, Wednesday, April 24th at 6pm (doors open at 5pm), Decatur Library, sponsored by Little Shop of Stories and Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life, Tuesday, April 30th at 7pm, Margaret Mitchell House, $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers.

Tom Angleberger, author of Art2-D2’s Guide to Folding and Doodling (and all those Origami Yoda books), Wednesday, May 1st at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

David Stockman, author of The Great Deformation, Wednesday, May 1st at 7pm, Jimmy Carter Library, free.

According to the Emory Wheel, retired Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones will speak at Emory’s Class Day this year on Thursday, May 9th…

Jones, who played for 19 seasons with the Braves starting in 1993, holds the Braves’ record for career on base percentage and places third in the team’s all-time home run list. In addition, he received the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1999 and the National League Silver Slugger Award in both 1999 and 2000.

Michael Kloss, Emory’s executive director of University events and chief of protocol, wrote in an email to the Wheel that Jones’ career with the Braves “should be an inspiring story to the senior class.” He noted that loyalty to a single employer — or team, in this case — is “not necessarily the expectation of many entering the workforce today.”

“[It] will be a story worth hearing,” Kloss wrote.

In other Emory guest-speaker news, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to return to Emory for two days in October.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia