ATLANTA, GA (April 20, 2012) – A surge of springtime activity along Peachtree Street and East Paces Ferry Road is a sign of positive progress at Buckhead Atlanta (four renderings on page) the six-block, 8-acre, luxury mixed-use development located in the heart of Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead neighborhood.
San Diego-based developer OliverMcMillan will begin pre-construction work this month on the Buckhead Atlanta site. General contractor Balfour Beatty will begin modifying the existing structures on the site to make them compatible with OliverMcMillan’s vision for a walkable, mixed-use community that will fit seamlessly within the existing Buckhead Village.
The modifications include removing columns and increasing the depth of transfer beams to adapt the structures already in place and digging additional foundations to accommodate redesign of portions of the project. Smaller “hoist cranes” will be brought in to assist in the site work, which must be completed prior to starting vertical construction.
Georgia Power also will begin burying the above-ground power lines along Buckhead Avenue, enhancing the overall aesthetics.
“Undergrounding the overhead power lines is an important piece of the pre-construction work,” said Hunter Richardson (middle left photo), development director for OliverMcMillan. “We have been working with Georgia Power for several months to find an optimal alignment. Undergrounding will start in the next couple weeks and will take approximately six weeks to complete.”
Prior to issuing the demolition permit to start pre-construction, the city of Atlanta requested that OliverMcMillan verify the structural integrity of the rebar and the work in place.
Structural engineer Stanley D. Lindsey outlined the testing procedures required. SM&E, a third-party, independent engineering consultant and testing firm, spent more than a month testing rebar from multiple locations around the site and determined the existing rebar is structurally sound.
“Our structural engineer confirmed SM&E’s findings and has recommended an industry-standard cleaning procedure be performed prior to construction,” Richardson said. “Since the rust actually acts to retard any deterioration, the cleaning work will not start until we go vertical with the construction.”
OliverMcMillan also will begin renovating the former HiFi Buys building, a well-known structure in this section of the city, to become the construction offices for Buckhead Atlanta. The building will house general contractor Balfour Beatty’s on-site construction offices and Buckhead Atlanta’s construction management team.
Vertical construction is expected to re-start at Buckhead Atlanta later this year. Already, OliverMcMillan has spent millions of dollars redesigning Buckhead Atlanta to meld its vision with Ben Carter’s, while meeting the market’s latest trends in retail and consumer tastes. The project currently is on target to be completed in late 2013. “Our pre-construction activities are another step towards restarting vertical construction and putting the long-dormant tower cranes back to work,” Richardson said.
Contact:
Patrick Hill/Rachel Tobin
Jackson Spalding
404-724-2500
Orange County, CA – In the first quarter of 2012, the Orange County industrial market posted 362,299 square feet of positive net absorption, giving the market 3.8 million square feet of positive net absorption since the second quarter of 2010, according to a First Quarter Market Report by Voit Real Estate Services. 
