la paz

finally got to try la paz tonight. nothing special, nancy got the steak fajitas and i got the "arizona" quesadillas. the food is definitely more gourmet than other tex-mex, but the taste doesn't come close to papasitos. at least we got some northwest airline miles from it.

the restaurant is at the vinings jubilee in vinings village near our house. pretty neat place with small boutiques and stores like banana republic, ann taylor/loft, and other restaurants. we will definitely go back there and walk around.

on the way back home, we drove by the West Village (another new mixed use community on atlanta rd). we were surprised to see the number of restaurants in that community. we'll need to finally try five guys burger one day as they have one there.

"TIMBER!"

two years ago when nancy and i were choosing between our current house and the one next to ours, we (or more me) chose our house because of the 100+ yr old oak tree in the front of the house. one thing i hate about new developments in Atlanta is that they get rid of all the mature trees before they build. also, it is especially hard to find within city limits with mature trees all around.

well this past summer, late summer, the leafs of our big oak tree in the front started to brown. at first i was hoping that it was not dead because of the drought and wanted to wait till next spring to do anything with the tree, hoping it will come back. during the past month or two the small branches and barks started to fall. the last thing i wanted is to have a lawsuit, or worse, the trees falls to our house (taylor's room faces the front) or to our neighbors.

i asked some friends to see if they can recommend some tree companies. i got 5 quotes around thanksgiving and was ready to hire the cheapest one - found out two weeks later they went out of business. not good. then we went with our 2nd choice and was able to talk the price down (being chinese). they really did a great job - everything was cut down safely and cleaned up nicely. they had to get like 8 men out here, along with a crane and trucks because of the size of the tree. it wasn't cheap, so don't be offended if you receive a small christmas gift from us this year, if any. so sad.. about the tree being gone.

they grinded the stump yesterday, i need to go rake now.

shhhhh..

uh oh.. the secret is out. our zip code was on this ajc article:
http://www.ajc.com/homes/content/printedition/2007/08/19/home.html

below is an excerpt of the article..

Still bargains intown?

Revitalizing neighborhoods are emerging east and west of the core neighborhoods in the center of the city of Atlanta. "We anticipate seeing a couple of years of double-digit growth before it levels out in neighborhoods like Old Fourth Ward and Cabbagetown," says Brown, who notes she sees lots of growth in the Kirkwood, East Lake and Edgewood neighborhoods. "They're rich in history, and the area offers the convenience of intown living with affordable single-family homes."

Monica Manwaring, Realtor with Keller Williams Realty-Intown Atlanta, adds, "Neighborhoods like Sylvan Hills and Capitol View were built by the same developers who worked in Morningside. You'll find lots of brick bungalows to restore. Priced in the upper $100,000s, those bungalows appeal to singles, gays, young marrieds and in general to people who want to be active in the neighborhood and in the schools and help make change happen."

Best values now?

Brown says to look at Howell Station, Berkeley Park and Home Park. "These neighborhoods are at the start of their upswing." Roseberry adds, "If you pick it right, you can double the price of your home with a little sweat equity in a few years. That's one of the more attractive elements for people moving into town."

Jenny Nix, Realtor with Keller Williams-Intown Atlanta, suggests, "Look in the 30318 ZIP code. Prices are affordable, and people like knowing they can buy a house and increase the value of the property and the neighborhood. My neighborhood of Underwood Hills used to be full of singles and young couples; now we have 150 kids under the age of 5. That makes a tremendous difference in an area and in the schools." Her Keller Williams colleague Realtor Wagura Kamwana agrees. "Buying a house in a developing neighborhood is a chance for you to play a role in creating a vision and seeing it become reality."

westown

it looks like they will be voting on the 20% TAD amendment (instead of 40%) on may 2nd. this issue has gotten tremendous support from TONS of ppl. two of the commissioners may switch their stands to support 20% instead of 40%. check out nwatlanta.com.

found this article on atlanta business chronicle about a new development (Westown) in our area (near Taqueria del Sol). it's a long article but interesting..



Business News - Local News
Westown a west side whopper
Atlanta Business Chronicle - April 6, 2007
by Lisa R. Schoolcraft
Staff Writer

The largest residential community to be built in the heart of Atlanta in the past 10 years is planned not far from Atlantic Station in Midtown.

To be known as Westown, it would have 1,450 homes, the majority mid-rise condominiums, but also 42 single-family homes and hundreds of townhouses.

The community will be developed by Brock Built City Neighborhoods LLC in the 43-acre area roughly bounded by Fairmont Avenue, Booth Avenue, English Street, Boyd Avenue, Culpepper Street, Huff Road and Ellsworth Drive, about a mile west of Atlantic Station.

It will also include 150,000 square feet of retail/commercial space along Huff Road's intersections with English Street, Boyd Avenue and Booth Avenue. The project's total price tag is about $400 million.

Westown is along the proposed Beltline, near the proposed Culpepper transit line. The Beltline is a 22-mile loop of former rail line that encircles
downtown.

Westown would be the largest residential development in the city of Atlanta within the past 10 years, said Eugene James, director of Metrostudy Inc.'s Atlanta division, which tracks residential subdivisions. The next largest development ongoing is Princeton Lakes, a 785-home project being built by Pulte Homes Inc. in the Camp Creek area, he said.

Westown may be eclipsed in size inside the city limits by Miami-based The Related Group's proposed CityPlace at Buckhead, which calls for nearly 3,900 condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes, James said.

But Westown shows residential developers believe growing numbers of Atlanta home buyers are interested in close-in living.

Prices in Westown will start around $195,000 for the condos, with townhouses in the high $300,000s and single-family homes in the mid-$600,000s, said CEO Steve Brock.

Brock has built in Atlanta for 22 years and moved into the area west of Midtown, which has been called Westside, Midtown West and Northwest Atlanta, 10 years ago with a project called Adams Crossing.

Brock began assembling property for Westown in 1998 and says it will take seven years to build out.

Targeted buyers are singles or couples just starting families. "We expect families, but it's not the suburbs where families move for the schools," Brock said. Westown's nearby elementary schools include Bolton Academy, Boyd Elementary, Towns Elementary and William J. Scott Elementary.

And although it may be more expensive to pay city of Atlanta taxes, a home
buyer in Westown is just two miles from Midtown and about 3.5 miles from
either Buckhead or downtown, he said, without ever having to get on the
highway. "If you live in the suburbs, you are probably commuting an hour each way,"
Brock said, which can easily exceed 500 hours a year. "What's 500 hours a
year worth to you?"

The logic hasn't been lost on other residential developers. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) reviewed development plans in 2005 that called for 6,556 more residential units in the city of Atlanta, according to Matt Hennie, the ARC's communications coordinator. That number jumped to 15,150 in 2006.

At the end of the first quarter, the ARC has already reviewed, or is reviewing, development plans that would add 7,517 residential units. Developer Marc Pollack, who has his own project in the same area as Westown, says he is amazed at all of the activity going on. "I drive around over there and I shake my head."

Pollack, chairman and CEO of Pollack Partners LLC, is in a $120 million joint venture mixed-use development called 1011 Collier Road, which includes 643 apartment and condo units and 55,050 square feet of commercial/retail at Collier Road and Seaboard Place.

What Pollack likes about the Westside area is "it is close in," he said. "Almost as close to Midtown as you can get with affordable housing or rentals that are made out of wood and are not high-rise concrete."

The west side area is much more affordable than downtown, Midtown or Buckhead, said Gail Raper, CEO of Morris & Raper Realtors.

A high-rise condo downtown will cost $400 per square foot, but on the west side where Brock and Pollack and others are building, a home buyer can pay $200 per square foot for a townhouse or stacked-flat condo "and some of them have views," Raper said. "I think over the next 10 years that will be a hotbed for development. You've got all that industrial space with big parking lots."

Development on Westown is expected to start in two weeks, Brock said, with 34 townhouses on a 2-acre site on Division Street. It will also have 10 acres of green space, trails, a clubhouse and a pool.

In about six weeks, Brock will begin Huff Heights at Westown at Huff and Ellsworth that will have 28 townhouses, with an average price of $450,000, he said. The $13 million Huff Heights at Westown should be complete by the end of 2008.

Developers are "all pretty bullish about that area," Pollack said.

Brock and others are adding to the area, with projects that include:

* Ten Side: A $67 million mixed-use project that proposes 291 apartments
and 30,000 square feet of retail space at Tenth Street and Northside Drive,
being developed by Tivoli Properties Inc.
* Alexan Cityscapes, A $100 million project that proposes 600 apartments
at Jackson and Irwin streets, being developed by Trammell Crow Residential.
* Ellsworth Perennial: A $39.8 million mixed-use project that includes
340 residential units and 14,000 square feet of commercial space at
Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard and Huff Road, being developed by Perennial
Properties Inc.
* Gables Huff Road: A project being proposed by Gables Residential Trust
to build 300 apartment units and 30,000 square feet of retail space at
Foster Street and Huff Road.
* West Highlands, 700 apartments and 177 condos/townhouses being
developed by Brock Built City Neighborhoods.
* Hollywood Road, 72 apartments and 18,000 square feet of retail space
being developed by Alliance Real Estate Ventures LLC.
* Bolton Village, 29,000 square feet of retail and office space being
developed by Orinda Corp.
* Moores Mill Crossing, the proposed redevelopment of a shopping center
into 345 condos and 110,000 square feet of retail space at Moores Mill and
Bolton roads by Edens & Avant of Columbia, S.C.
* Bolton Crossing, 30,000 square feet of retail and office space being
developed by Brock Built City Neighborhoods.
* Perry Village, 367 apartments and 38,500 square feet of retail space
proposed by Wood Partners LLC at Hollywood Road and Perry Boulevard.

"The next thing that will be fun to watch," Pollack said, "is who can
assemble enough land to build a grocery store."

emma darnell

nancy and i attended the city of atlanta NPU (neighborhood planning unit) meeting for our district D tues night. it was a big deal b/c the main agenda was the TAD (tax allocation district) that city of atlanta is batting with fulton county district 5 commissioner Emma Darnell. she insists of 40% affordable housing restriction on the district funding while all other TADs had either 0% or 20% restriction. this has stalled a lot of developments in the transitional area we are living at.

wsb (channel 2) news was there and did a story live during lunch and after the meeting at 11pm tues night (couldn't find link). we almost made the camera.

neal boortz is in this thing too - her producer actually lives in the neighborhood. a meeting normally has 30 attendees turns into 300+ last night b/c of this issue.

comcast and the-story local newspaper is in this too.

hopefully things will move forward..

the next ebay for real estate?

if you haven't checked out zillow.com, check out this article first.

another random ITK..

some of you may not know what's ITK stand for.. IN-THE-KNOW! pretty neat website i found, for those who live in the metro-ATL. i need to get my real estate license soon.

http://www.whatsthebigidea.us/

whittier mill village

many of you have came to our house and asked why and how the heck did we find the area.. here is one of the reasons. for sure there are good and bad. WMV is a community next to us. here is an AJC article from earlier this month.

condos or apartments?

still thinking about buying one or thinking about selling? pretty good article on NY Times.