A 16-story office tower and 10-story hotel are planned for a Perimeter Mall parking lot next to the Dunwoody MARTA station, bringing more businesses and restaurants to the busy area.
The Dunwoody City Council will consider the project by real estate developer Trammell Crow Company in the coming weeks after the Dunwoody Planning Commission approved it Aug. 8.
An elevated walkway would connect the two buildings and MARTA, relieving some of the traffic from new businesses, said Dunwoody Economic Development Director Michael Starling. It would be across Hammond Drive from State Farm's recently opened 21-story regional hub.
“It can’t be much more transit-oriented than this project,” Starling said. “Having another office building plus a hotel connected to MARTA, while also densifying the mall property, obviously meets our long-term goals of that mixed-use environment in the Perimeter market.”
The project’s cost and future tenants haven’t been announced. A spokeswoman for Trammell Crow declined to comment.
“This site is opportune for this type of development. It’s as close as you can possibly get to MARTA,” said Jessica Hill, an attorney for Trammell Crow, during last week’s Dunwoody Planning Commission meeting.
The main building would include 348,000 square feet of office space, while the hotel would have 193 rooms, according to planning documents. Restaurants and retail would be on the office’s ground floor.
This complex replaces a planned 16-story office called Nexus at Perimeter. The previous developer, real estate services firm Transwestern, decided last year against moving forward with its plans. The main change from Transwestern's proposal is the addition of the hotel.
Dunwoody resident Nancy Keita told the Dunwoody Planning Commission last week that she’s worried traffic will get even worse.
“I’m appalled by this project,” she said. “This doesn’t help traffic. People going to the hotels in the Perimeter area aren’t going via MARTA for the most part.”
But Starling said the office and hotel are designed for the city’s business district near I-285 and Ga. 400, far from residential neighborhoods.
Trammell Crow hasn’t yet sought a property tax incentive, he said. A tax break proposed for Transwestern’s office would have amounted to about $9 million over the next decade, according to city documents.
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