Trails, Transit and Park Spur $650M in New Development

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By Geoff Smith

The obvious movie line here is ‘build it and they will come.’ But that is really only partly true. The other part of that is don’t act crazy when they get here.

If you look at the multitude of quality development and redevelopment running through the city of Atlanta, you have to be amazed at what they have been able to pull off. I’ve written extensively over the years about Ponce City Market, the Old Fourth Ward and the developments growing up like trees along the Beltline. Intown Atlanta has become a trendy place in the country to live. Expensive compared to other areas of Atlanta, yes, but that’s another story.

If you are a good city planner, and you want to redevelop your city, your job isn’t to do all of the work yourself. Your job is to know what things attract quality developers to want to invest in your city, and then figure out how to have those things in your city. What has happened in Atlanta has been the result of a multitude of partnerships between the city itself, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, MARTA, The Beltline and a number of other countless organizations and business leaders. The city, chamber and other organizations had the vision and guts to turn a college student’s thesis paper into one of the most significant economic develop projects in the county. Ryan Gravel was a student at GA Tech when he came up with the idea of The Beltline. Today the trail is a reality through the east side of Atlanta, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in new projects along it, and developers are racing to buy up land near where the trail will expand.

With these partnerships in place, and a large, growing portfolio of success-stories, I have stopped being surprised every time I hear of a new, huge development going up in Atlanta.

The latest is a development being called Quarry Yards that is in the works on the west side of intown Atlanta. It hits the trifecta in surrounding amenities for today’s developer: It’s next to the Bankhead MARTA Station, will sit between two parks, one of which will be bigger than Piedmont Park when completed, and will be split by a future expansion of the Beltline. Oh, and there is this other trail in the works that will run near the property from the Beltline to the Chattahoochee River. While we are at it, let’s throw one more cool thing in there: one of the development partners is former Atlanta Brave Mark Teixeira.

The first phase of the project will cost around $400 million and will include 575,000 square feet of Class A office space, 850 residential units, a 300-key hotel, and 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. According to reports in Curbed Atlanta, the project will “tap into the industrial roots of the neighborhood” by using architecture that will include a lot of metal and glass. They are talking about using shipping containers for start-up business offices and small restaurants. They are also working with MARTA to expand the Bankhead Station so that it can accommodate longer trains.

Just north of that 70-acre project is a $250-million project that has been submitted. It will convert a 19-acre paving and construction site into a neighborhood with 700 residential units, and possibly some office and retail. All of those residents will have access to the Beltline, the MARTA station and the Westside park at Bellwood Quarry. The city is spending $26.5 million to kick off construction of the park which is converting a quarry into a reservoir and park. The reservoir will provide drinking water for the city and will serve as a park that is 100 acres larger than Piedmont Park.

Let me reiterate the point that this is on the WEST side of Atlanta. For most of us in the suburbs, the furthers west we go when visiting downtown Atlanta is the Mercedes-Benz stadium. This project sits about 2 miles west of that.

Rates did several small rises and drops over the last week, ultimately landing 0.08% above where they were, according to Mortgage News Daily.

What this Means to You:
According to Mortgage News Daily’s Rate Survey, best execution rates for a conventional 30-year fixed are at 4.58%.

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By Geoff Smith

It’s no secret that every economic player in the US and abroad was shaken to his and her financial core by the collapse in 2008. Well, after 10 years of relatively cautious stewarding by our business leaders, Federal Reserve governors and Federal regulators, our economy seems to have steered itself away from the shore and is heading back out to sea.

If you are an investor, this is thrilling. The Federal Reserve put extreme measures in place in 2008 to encourage banks to loan their money, and encourage small businesses and citizens to want to apply for loans. The Federal Government enacted more strict regulations governing several sectors of our economy. And businesses have been cautious while watching the global corners of the economy slowly and steadily put themselves back together. Aside from a couple yips, our stock market has steadily marched into record levels. Things have been steady and relatively quiet. And if you are a Wall Street investor, it’s probably been boring.

The underlying data that points to the health of our economy had been spotty with some sectors showing strength, while others showed weakness. But one-by-one, almost every measurement of our economic health has fallen in line. And those same things in the global economy have been doing the same. Today, all cylinders seem to be pumping in unison. Our economic ship is strong, the Fed will be removing the last of its recession-era policies and we will be headed out toward the deep waters.

In those deep waters, the sea is rougher and our economy will be more sensitive to disruptions at home and abroad. The Fed’s low interest rate policy has meant lower interest rates on loans, which has spurred people and businesses to borrower more and spend more. Typically, inflation, the measure of how much things cost and how much workers get paid, increases in this environment. But until recently it hadn’t. Many economists believe that low prices for goods and services being offered from global competitors have kept US businesses from raising their prices – which also has kept them from being able to raise workers’ wages. Economists had been concerned about inflation not moving up. But last month, the Consumer Price Index shot up past a projected 0.3%-increase and rose 0.5%. Now they are worried that inflation could quickly rise out of control.

Those concerns, coupled with a Fed announcement confirming several rate-increases this year, seemed to jolt the stock market. Investors had been riding a very long rise in the market. Many economists recently began to warn that stocks were getting over-priced. So when inflation, the last holdout data set, finally started to move, it seems investors started selling their positions.

To put it in more colorful terms, it seems as though our economic ship is heading away from the safety of the shore and out into the deep waters, and investors are tightening their portfolios to get ready for the voyage. Out in the deep waters, we’ll be less controlled by moves from the Federal Reserve, and more reactive to moves in the global market. That is unsettling to investors because where the Federal Reserve goes way out of its way to lay hints of future actions, the global economy is the wild west and there is a surprise around every corner. This concern could be the reason for the recent ‘correction’ in the stock market.

To put all of this into even more simpler terms, we are just now finally getting back to a normal, capitalist economy. Let’s all be good stewards of this ship this time, shall we?

Informative Article just released from Craig Cheatham of Realty Alliance

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Perhaps we’re breathing a sigh of relief today, thinking it could have been worse? The new tax law in the USA preserves several major housing tax breaks while imposing caps on others.

U.S. homeowners with existing mortgages will see no change to their mortgage interest deduction. Starting Jan. 1, homeowners obtaining new-purchase loans on a first or second house will have their mortgage interest deduction capped at $750,000, down from the current $1 million.

Deductions for state and local income and property taxes will be capped at $10,000.

The plan preserves current law that gives homeowners a tax break on profit from the sale of a house as long as they’ve owned and occupied it for two of the past five years. Up to $500,000 in capital gains from the sale of a primary residence is tax free if the owner-occupancy requirement is met. The provision was a hard-fought win for real estate and title companies.

Advocates for affordable housing prevailed in their fight to preserve tax exemptions for private activity bonds, a popular tool used to finance low-income housing, hospitals and infrastructure. Low-income housing tax credits are also retained under the new plan.

A cut to the corporate tax rate will hit companies that hold deferred tax assets, including government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A February analysis by Fitch Ratings calculated that the mortgage giants would need to write down a combined $23.1 billion in tax assets under a 20 percent tax rate. As a result, the companies are likely to require another infusion of taxpayer cash early next year.

Blessed Trinity Catholic High School Wins Championship

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Blessed Trinity Catholic High School football team won the Class AAA Championship at Marist’s stadium winning 16-7.

Roswell Earns “Best Recreation & Parks Department”

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ROSWELL, GA — The Roswell Recreation, Parks, Historic, and Cultural Affairs Department was recently named Best Recreation and Parks Department in the state by the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. The city received the 2017 Agency of the Year Award for the 80,001–150,000 population category.

Roswell’s Strokes Camp, a popular summer camp program, was also recognized as the 2017 Outstanding Program of the Year. The program allows children ages 5 to 8 learn ground strokes in tennis, brushstrokes in art and swim strokes in swimming.

Roswell’s state honor comes just one month after the National Recreation and Parks Association recognized the department as best in the nation. The GRPA Agency of the Year Award acknowledges agencies for excellence and leadership in providing quality recreation parks, programs, and services to their citizens. Roswell has won the GRPA Agency of the Year nine times.

“2017 has been a banner year for Roswell, and I could not be more excited,” said interim Director Jeff Pruitt. “I am constantly amazed by the hard work and dedication of our staff and volunteers. We are also thankful for the overwhelming support we receive from the mayor, City Council, the Recreation Commission, and most importantly, our residents, whose support is the backbone of our success.”

To learn more about the city’s Recreation and Parks Department, visit www.roswellgov.com/parks.