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Construction begins on 92 West Paces Ferry Road luxury apartment project next to the St. Regis Hotel

Construction begins on 92 West Paces Ferry Road luxury apartment project next to the St. Regis Hotel
Monday, April 16, 2012

Preserve Properties LLC, led by Atlanta apartment developer John Draper, has started construction on a nine-story, 210-unit luxury apartment building at 92 West Paces Ferry Road, adjacent to the St. Regis Atlanta hotel and residence in Buckhead.

According to Draper, the luxury apartment project, which will be named 92 West Paces Ferry, is expected to open for occupancy in early 2013.

Construction of Draper’s project joins the 375-unit Village at Buckhead luxury apartments project, which already has risen to its five-story height on Pharr Road across from the OliverMcMillan Buckhead Atlanta development site. Also, demolition work seems to be starting on The Paces Apartments site to make room for 376 luxury apartments as part of Phase one of a new Camden Property Trust complex on East Andrews.
The projects seem to reflect increased confidence investors have in luxury apartments and that Buckhead, a magnet for Gen Y workers, stands to become one of the first parts of the city in the post-real estate collapse to see new multifamily development.
Draper bought the nearly 2.4-acre site on West Paces Road for $6.7 million. The transaction closed April 1 of last year, for about $2.8 million an acre, or $64 a land square foot, according to Databank Inc., a company that tracks real estate deals across Atlanta. The property’s former owners, Easlan Capital, included the investors behind the St. Regis.
At present, site preparation work is underway, with the property being prepared for the parking garage to be located under the residential floors of the building.

The project will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with 10-foot ceilings, top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances and wood cabinets, granite counter tops and large balconies, according to Draper.

He said the one-bedroom apartments will be 800-900 square feet and the projected rent will be #1,300 per month, Draper said, cautioning that it is a little early to fix the rental prices since construction has just begun.

He said the two-bedroom apartments will range from 1,150-1,300 square feet and rent in the range of $1,900 per month. Three-bedroom apartments will be 1,400 square feet. He did not estimate a rental price for the three-bedroom units.
Although an architectural rendering of the building was not immediately available, Draper said it would be a stone and “real stucco” exterior and would be consistent with the architecture of the St. Regis  and the more traditional buildings in that area of Buckhead. It will sport a large fountain in front.
Draper listed some of the amenities of 92 West Paces Ferry as including a large swimming pool, two raised exterior courtyards, a large exercise facility and a large social room with a coffee bar.
Entrance to the luxury apartments will be available off both West Paces Ferry Road and off Peachtree Road, by using the access road that goes up beside the St. Regis and curls out toward an intersection with Peachtree Road.
 

Draper is the former head of Sterling Group Inc., a small multifamily investment and development company that began operations in Atlanta in 1984. Draper sold its holdings in 2007, just before the real estate market started to nosedive. Preserve Properties began operations in 2010.

Sterling Group was known for high-end apartments, and developed approximately 3,500 multi-family apartments and condominiums units in the Southeastern United States.

Meanwhile, as construction is beginning on 92 West Paces, work has been proceeding for months on building the above-ground parking deck and framing in the five-floors for the 375 luxury apartments at the $60 million Village at Buckhead, a joint venture of USAA Real Estate Co. and developer JLB Partners L.P., a spin-off of Fairfield Residential. The project could be completed as early as this fall.The Village at Buckhead apartments site is located on Pharr Road, just off of Peachtree Road, and extends south to Buckhead Avenue.

At the same time, it appears that some interior demolition work has begun on buildings at The Paces Apartments site at 77 E. Andrews Drive.  The demolition of the old buildings will be followed by construction of Phase I of the new luxury apartments by Camden Property Trust, scheduled to begin this summer.Phase I construction on the interior portion of the 30-acre site, which was purchased last summer for 39.3 million and runs along E. Andrews Drive between West Paces Ferry and Roswell roads, will take 20 months and will include 376 luxury apartments in two buildings. Future phases likely also will include retail along with apartments and some townhomes.