After an adjournment in January, adaptive reuse on Buford Highway came back before the Brookhaven Planning Commission on March 1.
The commission voted in favor of a two-phase adaptive reuse project to create 400 housing units. The land use proposal will go before the Brookhaven City Council for a vote in late March.
Developer Land Hill LLC is proposing to rezone 2751 Buford Highway from industrial (M) to office (OI) to build a 190-unit apartment building with five residential stories on a partially underground parking lot and a 210-unit apartment building with 11 residential units. levels on five levels of structured parking.
Plot of 4 acres. Amenities will include a swimming pool and bicycle parking. In January, commissioners said the plan lacked detail.
Commissioner Sherian Malekzadeh said the building across from the Latin American Association provides “an opportunity to make a place.”
“Will there be an opportunity to visit again? [the plans] and perhaps do something more exciting, interesting or architecturally interesting? Buford Highway is an international corridor,” she said. “It feels like a missed opportunity.”
Commission Chairman Stan Segal was the lone vote against the zoning ordinance. He said he has the same concerns as the last time Land Hill presented the plan.
“You didn’t come back here with mixed use, so we’re getting retail to help us with Buford Highway. You didn’t come here [address] one of the commissioner’s comments about being a catalyst,” Segal said. “How does this meet the criteria that this community has spent so much time and effort creating a comprehensive plan and overlay for Buford Highway?”
The city is currently seeking a firm to review and revise the Comprehensive Plan, which is done every 10 years.
Adaptive reuse projects are there on the rise in the district. This week, the Brookhaven City Council approved an adaptive reuse plan at 3rd Enterprise Square that will see 165 residential units built in the area.