originally published April 30, 2008

Things have been relatively quiet on the development front lately, with only a few major projects to share with you, although I’ve heard that activity could heat up very soon with summer approaching. A lot of the projects proposed in the last year seem to be dead in the water. Some, however, are rolling along. On Martin Luther King Drive, work at the former Ultramod Compound site is going full steam ahead, as are two developments in Five Points, one at Woodrow Street and one at Pinecrest Drive. Developers at the project known as Clearwater Creek, on Barnett Shoals Road near Research Drive, have put up one model home and more than a few retaining walls.

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On the Eastside: Speaking of Barnett Shoals Road, a new sewer line project is in the works, running from Shadybrook Drive off of Lexington Road to the sewer treatment plant on Bailey Street and the new proposed section of the greenway that will run near there. This will pass right through the Lakewood mixed-use development. There’s been some talk from the public about requesting a greenway to run along that easement, allowing for a completely off-road bike connection across the Eastside and into town. If another trail connection was included north along Barnett Shoals to the rail-trail, it’d be a great loop trail, which is what the greenway lacks for recreation.

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Filling In: Along the future rail-trail, High Point (at 357 Peter Street) is a proposal for 10 attached and detached units on two acres, immediately adjacent to the CSX rail right-of-way, which is 100 feet wide. The plans as submitted show the houses as close as setbacks will allow to the right-of-way, unfortunately with back patios. What if these houses were instead oriented toward this pedestrian amenity, allowing people to walk out their door and onto the trail? This development would be a great place to really take advantage of the rail-trail; let’s hope the view from the trail is of front porches and not palisade privacy fences. Also worth noting is the creek that runs through the back of the site, and what looks like a concrete detention pond planned adjacent to the stream buffer.

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Craftsmen Ahoy: At Ruth Street and Lake Street, there’s a new project proposed called the Cottages at Hilltop. This is for 31 houses on seven acres, although there seems to be an acre or two of open space conserved at the rear of the site. The proposal is just at the preliminary plat stage, so we don’t know what the buildings will look like, but from the name, it sounds like more “neo-craftsman” cottages, similar to the Retreat nearby. Here’s to hoping for no more pastel houses, and something a bit more interesting.

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Still Evolving: I’ve looked before at 655 Freeman Drive, a proposal called North Creek Village, and the plans have come back again with some adjustments, although the general spirit of having a few mixed-use buildings near the entrance, with single-family lots beyond in the interior of the site is still there. What’s worth noting is that this drawing hints at a future phase. The phase currently proposed is on 15.2 acres of a 35-acre piece of land, which ultimately backs up to Cook’s Trail. The current phase includes a  24-bed assisted-living facility, as well as 29 single-family units.

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Uptown: The new Athens First Bank building is getting its brick-and-tan pasted on, joining every other new building downtown - and most of UGA’s new construction - in that particular look. At this point, we in the community need to think long and hard about whether or not this brick look needs to continue downtown. The building at 412 Thomas, yet to be constructed, is to be clad in a similar style. As more of these brick highrises go in, which look way too much like UGA buildings, the line between town and gown is getting a little hard to see.

Current design standards for downtown have certain rules about fenestration and horizontal and vertical elements, but would a glass modernist highrise, or something postmodern with some curves, be that bad for Athens? As a matter of fact, the new construction at the former Ultramod really is ultramod in appearance, and it’s part of a trend of new mid-rise buildings just outside downtown that have varied modernist exteriors: the Urban Lofts not far away, the new building at the bottom of the hill on Baxter Street, and potentially 945 College, though it might have more of a warehouse look. At any rate, simply at the level of aesthetics, these buildings seem to contribute more to a downtown aesthetic than the latest things built downtown do.

Other questions raised at the Athens First building are how that parking deck will play out for street-level life, and what the future of Dougherty Street is. More and more, Dougherty seems like Athens’ back alley, even though it could be so much more, with the Boulevard and Pulaski Heights neighborhoods meeting downtown so much closer to Dougherty than to Broad Street.

Kevan Williams