Alpharetta Real Estate Homes for Sale

A reader left a comment recently that I’d like to respond to:  The reader was bemoaning the amount of clear cutting going on in Alpharetta, calling out greedy developers and equating Alpharetta to the "New Jersey of the South." 

I’d say that Alpharetta is more like New Jersey because of the number of people who have relocated here from "The North" than because it physically looks like New Jersey - and I’m told there are some beautiful places in New Jersey… ;->

I’m not going to take the bait for the whole "greed is good" vs. "clear cutting is bad" religious battle here, but the reader did point out one interesting thing:  He noted that commercial development continues despite the number "Space Available" signs he sees.  In fact, today as I drove through Crabapple, I saw three commercial for rent signs, a going out of business sign and a "new office condos coming sign."

The reader’s observation led me to wonder just what the commercial vacancy rate is and how it is trending.  Thanks to the City of Alpharetta’s Economic Development Office, I can report the following:

Alpharetta has about a 15% vacancy rate for Class A office space.  This is down from about 30% in 2004.  In 2001, Class A vacancy was as low as 12%.

Class B space is a different story in Alpharetta.  Currently, the Class B vacancy rate is about 30%, but that number includes office condos, which the City only recently started including in that number.

The end of year numbers for the Atlanta Metro Area are not available yet, but Alpharetta expects to have the second or third lowest vacancy rates in the Atlanta area. 

Bottom Line:  People want to live in Alpharetta and the employment base of Atlanta is clearly moving north chasing the workforce.  Office space along the GA-400 corridor is extremely desirable. 

Regarding retail space, maybe this was the direction the comment was aimed.  There is a 12% retail vacancy in Alpharetta.  The City expects this to increase due to new projects being completed and many small retailers struggling.

I, too, wonder if we need any more "strip malls" … even the ones that are all dressed up with pretty facades.  Just how many dry cleaners, tanning salons and franchises de jour do we need? 

Indeed, it seems that the strip mall and the franchise combine to create the perfect suburban storm, that leaves an aftermath I refer to as "Generica".  Heck, we could go to New Jersey for that, huh?  I think that is the cord the comment meant to strike.  I just don’t think the perpetrator is the "greedy developer."

The perpetrators are the retailers, the oil companies, the automobile manufacturers, the politicians at every level, the tax code, the people managing your 401(k), the unions, the truck drivers, the media companies…where do you want me to stop? … the realtors, the lawyers, the bankers?

Everyone has a finger in the pie.  This is how a free market economy works where trees (and open space) have no votes and your clothes are never too clean to have one more dry cleaners to pass on the way home.

This also helps understand why Milton,, northwestern Alpharetta, northern Roswell and even the eastern parts of Cherokee County, are such treasured places to live.  There is no commercial activity to speak of in Milton, although I suppose you could argue that raising cattle is a commercial activity. 

Yes, there is now a "resort model" Publix at Birmingham Crossroads.  But no way would you ever accuse Milton of being Generica.  And this is why people defend the current status quo in Milton and resist commercialization with all their fiber. 

Can Milton preserve its unique niche in the housing market?  Can it prosper as an almost entirely residential city without the support of a commercial tax base?  Frankly, I’d rather be Greenwich, Connecticut than anywhere in New Jersey, if you are drawing parallels to the North!  But that is just me ;->