Decaturish reported back on March 1st that Enfold Properties has submitted plans to build 101 apartments on a piece of the land that was formerly the DeVry Campus along North Arcadia Avenue at Winn Way.

The plans call for a mix of 75% one-bedroom and 25% two-bedroom apartments, according to the site.

The plan doesn’t need to go before the City Commission because it reportedly fits within the current zoning of the site – mixed use transit subarea.  However, the plans have yet to be finalized by the city’s development office, and no permits have been issued as of yet, according to City Planning Director Amanda Threadgill.  So it’s still a bit of a way off!

The DeVry property was annexed into the city limits back in 2009 with plans of a large mixed use development. However, those plans never materialized and the property is now prodeomently used as a Veteran’s Affairs Clinic.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

From the Extreme Makeover: Downtown Decatur website…

As discussed previously in this forum, the Callaway site redevelopment plan — in particular the planned W. Trinity cycle track, together with the relocation of a major Georgia Power underground power line — will require the removal of existing street trees along W. Trinity Place.

Though an unfortunate requirement for the project to proceed, each tree lost will be replaced during redevelopment as part of tree plantings across the site.

Decatur’s Tree Canopy Conservation Ordinance, which stabilized the city’s overall canopy percentage at 45% and now fosters equal or greater coverage city-wide for the years ahead, requires developers to submit and abide by a full canopy replacement plan.

That plan will result in the planting of 137 native trees that range in height from 10’ to 15’ at planting with increasing height and shade in the years ahead. Featured species will include Oaks, Elms, Hornbeams, Dogwoods, Hemlocks, and Cedars, among others. All are scheduled to be planted directly on the Callaway property and, despite existing site trees such as these scheduled to be lost to construction, will result in a net downtown gain of roughly a hundred trees, as well as increased downtown canopy over time.

Furthermore, earlier this month, the city successfully transplanted four healthy trees from this site to the Decatur Housing Authority property across Commerce Drive.
The impact

The work is scheduled to begin as early as Tuesday, March 14, and last a few days.
How to manage

There will be a lane closing on the eastbound side of W. Trinity Place between Commerce and McDonough but traffic will continue to be accommodated. Pedestrians should use the north side of the street. Bicyclists should take an alternate route.

Decaturites now have a new grocery store option close by!

The AJC is reporting that Sprouts Farmer’s Market is now open just outside Decatur in the Decatur Crossing development.

After years of swirling rumors that the Decatur Post Office might one day soon leave it’s prime location at the edge of downtown Decatur, we come to hear that the USPS isn’t going anywhere.

Decaturish is reporting that the United States Postal Service bought the building it occupies at 520 West Ponce de Leon Ave at the end of 2016 and plans to stay put for the foreseeable future.

Some may remember that before the Post Office, the site was home to the city’s Ponce de Leon School.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

With the recent demolition of the old rusty, asbestos-laden DeKalb County Callaway Building, the City of Decatur is taking a moment to consider the bigger picture, noting that the coming Cousins’ development embodies many components of the city’s planning efforts.

Posted by Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon, the article includes many interesting facts about the project.  Here’s a summary:

• Office Space: “It will include 329 residential units, 65% of which are studio and one bedroom dwellings; 18,000 square feet of retail space; and Decatur’s first new office building in over 20 years, providing 33,750 square feet of Class A office space.”
• $$$!: “the project will finally return the site’s 4.7 acres to the city’s tax rolls, reversing DeKalb County’s tax exempt status that’s been in effect for the past half century.” That’s approximately “$560,000 a year to the City Schools of Decatur and $280,000 a year to the city’s General Fund”
• Trees: “137 native trees…Featured species will include Oaks, Elms, Hornbeams, Dogwoods, Hemlocks, and Cedars, among others.”
• Bikes: project will be “bordered on three sides by dedicated bicycle facilities”.
• LEED: “…downtown’s first commercial project to comply with the city’s high performance building ordinance.”  The development is currently seeking Silver LEED certification, with a hope of Gold.
• Public Plaza: “The N. McDonough side of the project will feature an internal public plaza with fountain, fronted all around by commercial and live/work spaces and allowing for pedestrian access across and throughout the site.”

The article concludes by noting that the project is on track to be completed in two years, in Spring 2019.

After years of standing there rusty and neglected – and after many recent weeks of asbestos abatement – the Callaway Building at the center of downtown Decatur is being demolished today.   Barb sent in this photo.

The demolition is making way for the Cousins development, which was signed off on by the Decatur City Commission last year.

Final Rendering

Old Rendering

Compare and contrast the final rendering of the North Decatur Square complex with the old one above. Subtle differences, but I know how dorky you all are.  As many of you know, Georgia’s first ever Whole Foods’ 365 concept store is part of the development.

The Decatur Heights Neighborhood Association notes that zoning for North Decatur Square was approved by the DeKalb County Commission at the end of September.  They also highlighted these negotiated improvements that will be included in the project:

• Installation of thermoplastic pedestrian crosswalks at the intersection of Church Street and North Decatur Road, the intersection of Church Street and Sycamore Drive, and on Sycamore Drive near Rufus Evans Drive;

• Installation of signage warning drivers not to block the Church Street and Sycamore Drive intersection;

• Installation of either a traffic signal or a pedestrian crossing beacon on Church Street near Milscott Drive

• Upgraded coordinated signal system timing for the Church Street signal system; and

• To explore with MARTA the potential for a sheltered bus stop located at the development.

Also, here’s the final site plan…