Atlanta’s Streets of Buckhead Gets New Owner, New Resolution

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Lifeless cranes will no longer stand sentinel over the luxury mixed-use development Streets of Buckhead. After several months of efforts, San Diego-based OliverMcMillan has finally managed to close the deal on the stalled project.

Financial terms have not been disclosed, but the new developer is to invest roughly $300 million to complete the project, on which previous developer Ben Carter had already spent $400 million. Carter started the project in 2006, spending nearly $170 million on assembling land parcels in Buckhead Village; by early 2009, when the economy tanked and the luxury real estate market collapsed, he encountered difficulties in finding the $200 million financing he needed to finish the six-block luxury complex he had envisioned.

With the acquisition closed on Monday, OliverMcMillan is committing itself to see through the eight-acre luxury mixed-use project set at the intersection of Peachtree and East Paces Ferry roads, which is to serve as a new, elegant community for residents and visitors alike. With the completion date planned for 2013, the project will include 376 units in two apartment towers, 40,000 square feet of Class A office space and 320,000 square feet of retail space and restaurants.

It remains to be seen whether luxury retailers like Hermes or jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels are still as interested in leasing as they were back in 2006, when Carter lured them with his vision of “the Rodeo Drive of the South.” Nevertheless, OliverMcMillan will restart leasing efforts for the development while striving to adjust the site’s architectural plans.

According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, construction will begin in late 2011, by which time the sidewalks will already be restored, as funds from the impact fees related to the project were redirected toward the section of Peachtree Street that had been stripped of sidewalks by the previous developer.