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.

If you’ve driven down the western loop of Commerce Drive lately you may have looked up at 5 stories of solid concrete wall close to the road – which is the new parking deck for the  Paces Clairemont/Fidelity building – and thought, “Is that sort of street frontage allowed in Decatur??”

Well, first off, congrats, you are officially an amateur zoning geek.  And secondly, the answer is no.  And soon you won’t be able to see any of that lovely gray wall anymore.

DM has obtained (that’s a fancy way of saying that the city gave it to us) overhead renderings of 160 Clairemont, which show there will be an actual building built between the parking structure and the street on that northern facade.

Plans show a lobby and leasing office will be constructed on the first floor of that portion of the building and two single apartments will be built on each floor above.

As of yesterday afternoon, there’s already digging going on at this very spot, so there’s only so much time left to drag the family down Commerce Drive and take that family photo for the holiday card in front of this lovely monolith.

Now you know!

Gwyneth sent in this picture of land disturbance in the Fidelity parking lot behind 160 Clairemont along Commerce Drive in Decatur yesterday.  This morning construction crews were again at work tearing up the lot.

More info on the project can be found HERE.

From the meeting materials from tonight’s Decatur City Commission meeting regarding “approval of revised public way, temporary and permanent easements for proposed development at 160 Clairemont Avenue”…

Paces will be responsible for all costs, including the City’s legal fees, associated with the preparation of the easements. In addition to the required streetscape improvements along Commerce Drive, Paces is building a new sidewalk and providing trees and landscape improvements along Montgomery Street between Commerce and Clairemont, and installing new bike lanes on Commerce between Clairemont and West Ponce de Leon that are recommended by the City’s Community Transportation Plan.

Among the items on the agenda for tonight’s City Commission meeting is voting on a subdivision of 160 Clairemont Ave so that Paces Properties can build their planned mixed use development on the current Fidelity Building parking lot in downtown Decatur.

Here’s a recent description of the project from the developer from the staff report…

PACES CLAIREMONT is a 176 unit apartment development proposed by Paces Properties at 160 Clairemont Avenue in Decatur, Georgia. Paces Clairemont will be a five story luxury apartment building with predominate frontage along Commerce Drive and Montgomery Street Paces Clairemont includes a ground level leasing office and a resident fitness center and clubroom as well as a number of residential units. Many of the ground floor units will have brownstone stoop entrances directly onto the street frontage. The building is built out to the sidewalk line and it wraps around an enclosed central courtyard area which will offer residents outdoor green space as well as an elegant swimming pool.

Parking for the residential units and the adjacent office building (aka Fidelity Bank building) will be provided by a seven level parking structure (1 level below grade) containing 523 total parking spaces (298 for office /225 for apartments). Paces Clairemont wraps around the parking deck, thereby screening on two sides and minimizing the exposed portions, which are internally-facing, to locations that are not readily visible from adjoining streets. Vehicular access to the parking deck is from shared curb cuts off Commerce and an internal alley leading to Montgomery Street. Sidewalks with street trees and light poles line the entire face of the building.

Additionally, this quote from the Planning Commission minutes indicates that the Commerce Drive road diet, which was one component of the larger C-Streets Ped-Bike Improvement plan is now in-line to be implemented.

She [Planning Director Amanda Thompson] stated that as part of the project Commerce Drive would receive a road diet and bicycle lanes to match the streetscape in front of Allen Wilson Terrace.”

Very low-res rendering courtesy of Staff Report