A recent post on the AJC reported that the three ongoing apartment developments in downtown Decatur (315 West Ponce, Trinity Triangle and Paces Clairemont) would add a total of 600 units to the city.

While 600 new residences in such a short amount of time is certainly interesting – and worth discussion – what’s even more interesting is the bedroom breakdown.  (I realize that sort of sounds like a some kind of illicit activity)

Of the 600 apartments being constructed, 70% of them are 1 bedroom.  Of the remaining, 29% are 2 bedroom and just 1% are three bedroom.

We followed up with Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne regarding the reason why a city with such a self-destructive appeal for families is building so many 1 bedrooms. She replied…

It’s all about market and pricing but we were also encouraging developers away from larger units for fear of impact on schools.  However, the real driver was market.

The market driver explanation is interesting, since the limited case study of the Place on Ponce has shown that there is currently greater demand for 2 bedroom apartments than 1 bedrooms in the current market.  (Though as of yesterday, it sounds like all the 1 bedrooms have also leased)

But perhaps that’s a short-sighted view and the real goal of the developers is to cater to the underserved market of young singles and retirees who currently have few options inside the city limits.  Regardless, the overwhelming majority of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments is certainly good news for the city’s school system, which is struggling to keep up with rising enrollment.

Rick sends in this photo of the soon-to-be former parking lot at 433 North McDonough, as it is redeveloped into a Decatur location for Grindhouse Killer Burgers.

Plans for the location (below) were submitted to the Decatur City Commission back in November, when they sought an exemption to the Pedestrian Area Regulations to keep the two existing curb cuts at the site.

A notice we received from zoning attorney Den Webb features new rendering of the “Decatur Crossing” development slated to take the place of the Scott Boulevard Baptist Church and the two neighborhood streets behind it at Scott and North Decatur later this year.

The notice also announces a March 2nd community meeting to “to preview the concept for “Phase II” of its development at the intersection of Scott Boulevard and North Decatur Road, shown on the attached rendering.”

According to the meeting notice from Fuqua, Phase II will feature…

· Community green space

· A continuation of the sidewalk and streetscape treatment proposed for Phase I

· A new north/south roadway between North Decatur Road and Scott Boulevard, with traffic signals proposed at each intersection

· An authentic mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented environment, with retail, restaurant, office and residential uses

For all y’all who have been hoping for another downtown grocery to open up at the Callaway site, we received confirmation last night there is another hurdle the city and developer will have to overcome to make it even possible.

In a response to an inquiry from Commissioner Scott Drake at last night’s Decatur City Commission meeting, Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne confirmed that Callaway site is subject to state and local alcohol restrictions due to its close proximity to Decatur High School.

As has been discussed and referenced here many times in the past, state law prohibits the sale of alcohol for off-premise consumption within 200 yards of a school.

Ms. Menne told the commission that the city has asked both the city attorney and the Downtown Development Authority attorney to look into the restrictions on businesses that sell alcohol on (restaurants) and off-premises (grocery stores) and has been told that the city has the ability to change the law regarding on-site consumption, which would allow restaurants to sell alcohol, but it’s a state law that governs off-site consumption sales.

This would limit the ability of the city and developer to attract a grocery store to the site, which has been a long-stated goal for the project.

However, Mayor Pro-Tem Kecia Cunningham noted that there is currently a bill before the Georgia Legislature that would ease restrictions on off-site alcohol consumption sales.  Online Athens wrote about Senate Bill 91 recently HERE.

Stay tuned.

Another item on the Decatur City Commission agenda tomorrow – a vote on officially changing the zoning designation of the Callaway Building site along Trinity Place from Institutional to Commercial/High Density Residential.

The City of Decatur purchased the property from DeKalb County back in 2013, when it also signed a contract with Cousins Realty to redevelopment the site.  The County has leased the property back from the City for the past two years.

Development plans for the site have not yet been released.

Cousins is currently constructing Phase II of its Emory Point mixed use project up on Clifton Road.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

Can you come up with a better way to start the week than getting up to speed on storm sewer construction?

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Decatur City Commission will vote on a $65,000 agreement with Atkins International to design Phase 2 of “Downtown Decatur Storm Drainage Improvements”.

While Phase I installed new storm sewers along Maple and Church Street – and across N. McDonough – downtown, Phase II will focus on replacing an older section of the city’s drainage system that runs “cross-country” across residential properties, from Barry Street to Decatur Fire Station #1.

A note from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon to City Manager Peggy Merriss states that the current line “…is old, undersized and inadequate to carry the amount of storm water generated by frequent storm events, causing periodic flooding on several residential and commercial properties in the area.”

The new line will run under streets, from Fire Station #1 on Trinity Place, down East Howard Ave and turn up Barry Street, ending a few lots up. (See map below from the City Commission meeting documents)

Mr. Saxon states that the estimated construction budget will be $1.25 million.

Phase I photo courtesy of The Decatur Minute

There is a new, very interesting report on Decaturish that CSD is growing so fast that it is considering leasing space from other area  school systems. Namely Atlanta or DeKalb.

Additionally, if enrollment continues at it’s current rate, the only other options are ones we’ve floated here in the past, that likely wont be very popular.  It seems that Dr. Edwards agrees. From Decaturish…

Edwards said there are other alternatives if the rental idea doesn’t pan out, but they probably won’t be popular.

One idea is implementing split shifts, meaning that the system will educate one group of students in the morning and another group in the afternoon. The system could also add even more portables. Or it could explore becoming a year-round school system where a portion of the student body is out of school at any given time during the year.

It might not be popular, but as has been pointed out here previously, for that reason it might just be the one thing that can slow the enrollment growth.