Radical Georgia Moderate

June 28, 2006

Goodbye Wachovia, hello Fox Plaza

The building at 615 Peachtree I posted photos of a while back will be demolished and replaced with a condo development called Fox Plaza, named after its historic neighbor. Supposedly, it will even feature architectural cues to the Fox. I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m tempted to think that anything that draws people to the theater to keep it vital and operating is a good thing. But I also worry about the potential for a poorly-conceived development to cheapen the theater’s luster by Disney-fying the area. I guess we’ll see. At least there will be street-level retail, so that’s good.

Filed at 12:18 pm

2 Responses to “Goodbye Wachovia, hello Fox Plaza”

ryan wrote:

however, this should be spectacular:
“The company plans to implode the existing structures this fall.”

time to start looking for a good vantage point.

Wednesday, 06.28.2006 at 1:32 pm
Joe wrote:

I think we’re looking at a strong net benefit with this development. If anything new at that block represents a Disney-fication of the area, then nothing would be good enough. Besides, most of the stuff at the Fox is Broadway musicals and other shows for mass audiences. Not that that’s such an awful thing, but I’m just saying it is what it is

I attended the NPU meeting where Cousins presented their plan. The only serious objections came from the residents of the building next door, who were primarily concerned about access to the dumpster for their building. (All the other objections I heard that evening were architectural in nature, which I couldn’t agree with after visiting the site in person)

I’m not a fan of the Wachovia building by any means (or the Bank of America plaza for that matter, but that’s a different issue). I walk and bike by there on my way to and from work, and I generally find it a bit depressing. On one side is a mostly blank wall and an ugly parking deck. The other side is an old drive-thru banking facility that’s no longer in use.

For that development, Cousins is planning to build street level retail along Peachtree, Ponce and Juniper. The number of parking spaces will be limited, based on standards set forth by the Midtown Blueprint. The parking deck will be hidden. My hope of course is that the additional density planned for the site will justify the additional retail — it will certainly put new pressure on the nearby Publix on North Ave, which I’m all for.

Overall, I’m very much in support of this development. This, along with the SCAD development at the Mansion at Ponce and Myrtle, will make a positive difference in the walkability of that whole section of Ponce.

Wednesday, 06.28.2006 at 6:47 pm