Alpharetta Real Estate Homes for Sale

They say that you can measure a town by the quality of its restaurants – and there are some decent places to eat in Alpharetta and Roswell.  For instance, I enjoy Pure Tacqueria in downtown Alpharetta and think they have the best quacamole around.  Plus they give you a ton of it. 

However, if you live in the Atlanta area and you’re planning on having “a nice night on the town” you’re most likely going to head to Buckhead.  From Alpharetta, that is a short 20–minute drive down GA-400.

Atlanta in general measures pretty well on the restaurant scale.  But if you want to measure suburban areas like North Fulton, I think you are better off considering the grocery stores rather than the restaurants.  After all, with a family of five, my family spends more of our time and money at the grocery store than in restaurants.

I’ve previously written about grocery stores in North Fulton.  We have a Trader Joes, Harry’s Farmers Market, Fresh Market, Whole Foods and the ubiquitous Krogers and Publixes.  The new development is that Whole Foods is planning on opening another store in Alpharetta to anchor the new (under development) Prospect Park at Old Milton Parkway and GA-400.

The existing Whole Foods in Johns Creek is an awesome store, but it is a hike for residents of Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton to get there.  The newly proposed store will be the largest Whole Foods store to date and will have SIX restaurants inside. 

Whole Foods was not originally planned for Prospect Park and its inclusion has created some changes in the traffic design.  The “curb cut” to allow turning lanes needs to be extended and there is some issue with the Georgia Department of Transportation about changing the curbing so close to GA-400.  The issue will not likely be resolved until after the new year when a new DOT administrator takes over, but all of us food lovers hope the bureaucrats don’t block the grass fed beef. 

Johns Creek also has a great new grocery store called Super H Mart that caters to the growing Asian population in that area.  Located at Abbotts Bridge and HWY 141, the Jones Creek store has been open since June and complements the other Super H Mart in nearby Duluth. 

It is a great family field trip during the weekend to explore all the variety.  First of all, they have a restaurant section inside for lunch where you can eat Japanese, Korean, Chinese or Thai.  Plus there is a bakery for desert.  But what is most fun is that you can try to figure out what dragon fruit is or what you’d do with a durian.  Of course, you can get your dried anchovies and squid (you can even sample it if you want) and you can get your fresh fish prepared any one of eight ways while you wait.  And don’t forget your 50 lb. bag of rice!

The location of these new groceries in North Fulton is just another indicator of the demographics and future growth potential of the area.  Even in this current business cycle, where real estate has been set back; the future prospects for North Fulton are still positive as evidenced by the decisions of the grocery chains like this.

Believe me, Whole Foods does its research before going into a market and they look for a number of indicators including percentage of college educated people, which is a nice way of saying people who have money to spend.  Businesses like Whole Foods (Texas based and rated by Fortune Magazine as the #5 best company to work for) and Super H Mart (New York based) survey the entire country when looking for expansion opportunities and they have chosen North Fulton.

My stomach and I are glad they did.

http://www.alpharettarealestatehomes.com/0038D8

 I had a fourth grade teach who used to say to all us pre-pubescent know-it-alls in the class:  “The only way to coast is downhill.”  As much as I hated that teacher’s proddings, I think she would be gratified to know that I still remember that singular lesson over thirty years later.

The same is true of the City of Roswell.  It is coasting, and the only way to coast is downhill.

No Gripe = No Change

Roswell Mayor Jere Wood spoke at our brokerage today and essentially his message was that most Roswell citizens are content with their situation in life.  Roswell has always ranked high on those magazine surveys of “Best Places to Live in the U.S.” and also boasts the 18^th lowest crime rate as measured by some sort of FBI crime statistic.  Roswell is one of only fifty cities in the U.S. with a AAA bond rating.  But that is all marketing.

Mayor Wood recounted several anecdotal stories about the will of the citizenry.  Most telling was his story of attending a neighborhood meeting regarding the Roswell East project to have the residents tell him that they liked things just they way they were.  They liked the level of service they received.  They liked their lifestyle.  They felt safe, and they didn’t want their property to appreciate too much because they would have to pay more property tax!

Wood said that at that point he knew the Roswell East project was dead.  Without some sort of civil malady, no change was going to occur.  “Change is hard when people are happy with what they have.”  So, Roswell coasts on.

The Mayor, for his part, is not a coaster.  He recognizes that many changes need to be made to address the aging of the city.  However, he seemed resigned to the fact that the citizenry is not ready for it yet.  He said that eventually “market forces” would take care of it.

Perhaps things haven’t gotten bad enough yet – and there is certainly no political will on the City Council to beat the market forces to the punch.  Wood stopped short, though, of throwing the City Council under the proverbial bus as much as the rifts between Council and Mayor are well publicized.  Wood took the high road and simply stated that the Council merely represents the opinion of the governed and that the people of Roswell are split on what to do about growth and aging related issues.

We Ain’t Getting Any Younger, Baby!

The biggest issue, besides traffic congestion, of course, is the decline of Roswell’s apartment buildings and shopping centers.  This is evident with any drive down Roswell Road (Highway 9) or Holcomb Bridge Road (Highway 92).  Many of these properties are now 30+ years old and many haven’t been maintained.  Many are vacant.  At this point they are the home of a more transient population, which in turn puts more strain on City police services and the Fulton County School System.  Ester Jackson Elementary School has a student population turnover of 50% EACH YEAR.

There is some talk of redevelopment of the Frasier Street Apartments, which are the oldest in Roswell, but that is probably a year out and the property is still being assembled.  The City has a plan for Roswell Square designed by Lew Oliver, who I’ve written about before here.  The plan  would include an 80 room hotel, parking garage and some condos.  But other than that, there is little action on the redevelopment front and never has been.

This is mainly because redevelopment would likely mean mixed use development, which people seem to want.  However, to support mixed use, densities would have to be twenty units per acre and City Council is not willing to entertain that high of a density.  Right now, densities are about 6–8 units per acre.  The fear is that higher density equates to more traffic and congestion.  The alternative is that development occurs further and further north into Cherokee, Forsyth and Dawson counties, which means – you guessed it – MORE CONGESTION.

So, Roswell continues to coast along.  Sure, Roswell is a nice place to live and it certainly has the best parks and recreation system around.  But Roswell does feel old now, as one of my colleagues politely pointed out to the Mayor - and not because Roswell has a nice historic district.  It feels old in the bad way, particularly compared to Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Cumming where there is so much shiny and new.  Roswell can continue to coast, but it will only be downhill.

http://www.alpharettarealestatehomes.com/0038A1

As we all get ready to celebrate the start of 2007, Alpharetta has its eyes on a bigger prize: two-thousand and EIGHT! 2008 will not only be the sesquicentennial for Alpharetta but it will also be the year that three major new developments are planned to be completed. These three developments will shape the next chapter in Alpharetta’s history and further establish Alpharetta as a destination city in north Fulton County. The three new developments are Prospect Park, Encore Park and the Alpharetta City Center. Prospect Park Prospect Park is a $1Billion development in the northwest corner of the GA-400 and Old Milton Parkway intersection. The developer, Thomas Enterprises, had broken ground and dirt work is underway. Planned for the site are 750,000 sq ft of high-end retail, a “life style center” a.k.a. spa, and designer boutiques. The total retail will be about half of what NorthPoint Mall currently has. Also included will be The Stanbury, a 140 room Georgian Revival style six-star hotel, the only one in the country. There will be 80 additional condos, starting at $1.5 million and there could be a second, less high-brow hotel. The whole mixed use complex will have two towers, one 10 stories and the other 6 stories. Encore Park The second development is Encore Park, which is the amphitheater planned as the northern home of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It is being planned by Cousins Development and will seat 12,000 people, twice what Chastain currently seats and may potentially have skyboxes. There is also a Multi-Use Facility in the plans for smaller concerts, gallery showings and stag productions. This project is still in planning, though; and the public private partnership has not been solidified to start work. Alpharetta City Center The trifecta will be a new Alpharetta government complex. The existing City Hall will be razed and the entire block in the middle Alpharetta will be redeveloped with an acre-sized plaza and 53,000 sq ft of office space to consolidate all city offices. Included in the development will also be 60,000 sq ft of street-level retail, not as high-end as Prospect Park, and 150 residential condos priced in the $200’s and $300’s. Two parking structures will round out the project. Currently, the City is waiting for resolution of issues surrounding the Tax Allocation District before work can start, but that is expected to be resolved favorably in the very near term. All three projects are expected (hoped??) to be completed by sometime in 2008. Parts of Westside Parkway will be completed as part of Prospect Park and will be completed in 2007.  When everything is finished, many of the amenities that you now travel to Atlanta, Cobb County or New York City ;-> will now be available within your zip code, making Alpharetta a destination not only for work, but also for recreation, relaxation and shopping.

http://www.alpharettarealestatehomes.com/003877

The Cities of Johns Creek and Milton finally have elected officials. Mike Bodker is Mayor of Johns Creek and Joe Lockwood is Mayor of Milton. Most people are just relieve that it is over. It is not exactly news that Bodker is mayor since he was unopposed. However, in Milton, there was a heated race for mayor which turned out to be quite lopsided with Lockwood taking 59% of the vote. About 6,600 people voted in the Milton mayoral contest. Most of the council races in Johns Creek were trouncings. There will be two runoffs for the Post 2 and Post 4 seats. In Milton, three seats were contested. There will be runoffs in Districts 3 and 4. In District 2, Julie Baily just barely won a clean major to keep for having a runoff for that seat too. For complete election results, see www.fultonelections.com. The first Milton City Council meeting is scheduled for November 14 at 6PM at Milton High School. The new Milton City Hall will be located on Deerfield Parkway off Windward Parkway. All the property on the north side of Windward and west of GA-400 is in Milton. Just a couple of closing notes on the election as we await the final runoffs: It was great to see all the conscientious candidates who had removed by today all the campaign signs along the roads and intersections. I also always find voting interesting because it is one of the few times that the “old” and the “new” mix. I’ve lived in Milton for eight years and don’t consider myself a newcomer any more. However, in line to vote with me was a woman who has lived here for 26 years and before that lived in Roswell when there were only 4000 people in Roswell. Most of the oldtimers seemed resigned to the changes that are taking place. You can’t keep development at bay forever. I overheard one older citizen say to his contemporary: “Yeah, I get offers on my land all the time…one of these days someone is going to make me an offer that I take.” Oh, the challenges…the work has just begun. City Councils, we now have better control of our destiny. This is what we wanted; let’s not screw it up. And by the way…can we fix the traffic problems? That is another blog post I suppose.

http://www.alpharettarealestatehomes.com/003871

Just for the record, because I haven’t been able to find it posted officially anywhere else, here is the list of candidates for elected office in Milton.  The election is November 7.  Here is a map of the council districts for reference.   

MAYOR
George Ragsdale 540 Treyburn View Alpharetta, GA 30004 404.652.6608	Joe Lockwood 369 Dorris Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.442.1217
DISTRICT 1
Karen C. Thurman 310 Lake Bend Ct Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.442.0912	Â
DISTRICT 2
Julie Zahner Bailey 255 Hickory Flat Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.664.5529	Gordon W. Hunter 14680 Wood Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.475.0713
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Roger Santi 545 Tullamore Way Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.360.0043	Â
DISTRICT 3
Jon Carroll 2140 County Ridge Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 678.393.1433	Clint Johnson 1955 Drummond Pond Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.475.5680
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Paul Moore 15290 White Columns Dr Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.663.8517	Marty Lock 14140 Freemanville Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.663.0794
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Bill Lusk 1355 Summit Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.754.4428	Â
DISTRICT 4
Samual D. Bottoms 842 N. Brookshade Pkwy Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.663.7589	Tim Enloe 13005 Bethany Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.457.3015
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John McMillan 14255 Thompson Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.664.4643	Vincent Pisano 13446 Providence Rd Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.751.3794
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Eddie L. Moore 615 Elizabeth Oak Ct Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.740.1886	Neal O’Brien 635 Devonshire Farms Way Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.740.0747
DISTRICT 5
Tina D’Aversa-Williams 555 Champion Hills Dr Alpharetta, GA 30004 678.297.7747	Â
DISTRICT 6
Rick Mohrig 13905 Belleterre Dr Alpharetta, GA 30004 770.663.0646	Â

http://www.alpharettarealestatehomes.com/00384E