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Week in Review
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Big Stories
Atlanta City Council takes up a full 22-mile BeltLine light rail loop. The resolution directs officials to clarify funding and construction plans and protect reserved transit corridors, including high-density segments of the Eastside BeltLine.
A city audit finds Atlanta is owed more than $236 million in unpaid water bills. The Department of Watershed Management audit flags tens of thousands of delinquent accounts, with Old Fourth Ward's Ponce City Market and other prominent names on the list, prompting council scrutiny of billing enforcement.
Invest Atlanta approves a $14.8 million tax break for Portman Holdings' Amsterdam Walk development. The 6-2 vote clears the way for 539 multifamily units bordering Piedmont Park, over objections from neighbors about density and public subsidies. Invest Atlanta also approved incentives for the Trestletree Village Apartments expansion on the Southside BeltLine.
Buckhead Forward launches a five-year plan for infrastructure and public safety. The roadmap, unveiled by Buckhead Coalition and CID CEO Katharine Kelly and funded by the Atlanta Regional Commission, targets walkable streetscapes and infrastructure upgrades over five years.
Chastain Park clears fundraising for its $13 million recreation upgrade. Construction is set to modernize active recreation areas and green infrastructure across the 268-acre park.
A divided DeKalb school board names interim superintendent Dr. Norman C. Sauce III as sole finalist. The 4-3 vote triggers a state-mandated 14-day public comment period before a formal hire vote.
New Hope AME Church in Buckhead gets Atlanta historical landmark status. Founded in 1869, the church is one of the last pillars of Buckhead's early Black communities, and the designation protects the property and its cemetery grounds.
Kyle Waide leaves the Atlanta Community Food Bank to lead Downtown Atlanta Inc. Waide will start in December, overseeing Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.
Chamblee's City Center edges toward groundbreaking on its largest phase. The seven-plus acre mixed-use project is moving through approvals, while Chamblee's DDA is also weighing loan agreements with developer Greystar for the project this week.
Lincoln Memorial University buys three Chamblee office buildings for a $22 million medical campus. The Tennessee-based university acquired the Brandywine Road properties next to the District at Chamblee and Mercer University.
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Sustainable design - Eco-friendly practices and materials that create sustainable designs, enhancing the natural environment and promoting biodiversity.
Green installation - Ecological designs brought to life by carefully shaping land, soil, water, and plant communities into resilient, living systems that grow healthier and more abundant over time.
Stewardship - A stewardship package that ensures each project matures gracefully, stays healthy, and continues to improve ecologically over time.
Business openings, closings, and "watch this space" items
Smileys opens in Summerhill October 1 as Bon Ton closes, giving the Georgia Avenue strip a new dining anchor.
The Talat Market team is opening Thai street food bar Some Luck in Poncey-Highland this October. Some Luck will sit beneath Otto's, run by the duo behind Michelin-recommended Talat Market.
Chef Linton Hopkins is reviving The Buttery and opening Linton's Bar and Grill in Buckhead Village. The James Beard winner's concepts take over the former Brio Tuscan Grille space at Buckhead Center next spring.
Chef Robbie Pacheco is bringing Italian concept Luga to Decatur's Commerce Drive this October. Luga will open at 855 Commerce Drive with a rustic, chef-driven menu.
Darkly Rooted Books is opening a BIPOC-focused sci-fi and horror bookshop on the Westside. The shop lands at 839 Joseph E. Boone Blvd this fall.
Common Ground is filling its former Illuminarium space with tacos, VR, and bagels. Mar Y Masa and Zero Latency are moving in alongside Spread Bagelry, the Philadelphia-based wood-fired bagel chain, at the Eastside BeltLine spot in Old Fourth Ward.
Potbelly opened its first Georgia location in Chamblee. The sandwich chain's debut marks its first-ever Georgia store.
Dueling piano bar Park Bench is opening a second Atlanta location downtown. Park Bench is best known for its Buckhead location's live nightlife format.
Midtown's Humble Mumble sandwich shop has closed for good, per Rough Draft Atlanta's roundup.
MOCA GA cut the ribbon on its new permanent West Midtown home, expanding exhibition space for local artists.
The Leon on Ponce is cutting condo prices near Ponce City Market. Nearly two years into sales, the 74-unit building is discounting remaining inventory steps from the BeltLine.
Other permit-watch items: A 235 Estoria St SE urgent care is filing for site prep in the Memorial Drive corridor, a shampoo bowl permit on Dahlgren Lane SE hints at a new salon, a grease waste line on Flat Shoals Ave SE signals kitchen work, a Marietta Blvd space is getting a full Chipotle rebuild, a 918 Dill Ave SW building is adding affordable housing units above offices, and a new event building with a commercial kitchen is going up on Pinehurst Terrace SW.
Upcoming events | presented by:
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Oakland Cemetery turns 50 with its Golden Jubilee Picnic on Thursday, Sept. 24. The 50th Anniversary Celebration kicks off a weekend that also includes the cemetery's regular Sunday concert series.
Chastain Park hosts back-to-back concerts with Charley Crockett Friday and Sam Barber Saturday.
KAROL G and aespa both play Thursday, Sept. 24. KAROL G hits Atlanta's Stadium while aespa plays State Farm Arena.
The Fox Theatre stacks Sara Bareilles, an Undertale Symphony, and Little Big Town in one week. Sara Bareilles plays Thursday, the Undertale Symphony and Little Big Town follow Friday and Saturday.
The AIDS Walk Atlanta Music Festival & 5K takes over Piedmont Park Saturday. The event runs alongside the Garden of Eden Ball at the Atlanta Botanical Garden that same night.
Brick Store Pub throws its first-ever weekend-long Oktoberfest starting Friday. The celebration in Decatur runs through the weekend.
The Candler Park Tour of Homes and Druid Hills Community Yard Sale both land Saturday. Tour of Homes and the yard sale give neighbors two different ways to peek inside local homes.
Other notable events: The Other Art Fair debuts at Grant Park Oct. 1-4; the Toy Factory Experience opens at Pullman Yards Sept. 30; Sweet Auburn Music Festival hits Auburn Avenue Saturday; Out On Film's LGBTQ festival opens Thursday at Midtown Art Cinema; the inaugural West Midtown Restaurant Week runs through Sept. 26; Rufus Wainwright plays City Winery Tuesday and Lucinda Williams plays Variety Playhouse Thursday; Brookhaven's Mayor John Park delivers his State of the City address Thursday; and Oktoberfest weekend hits both The Grove and Monday Night Brewing's Garage location.
Government | presented by:
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Council committees approved a $40 million expansion of police body and fleet cameras. The Public Safety & Legal Administration Committee also signed off on phased fire inspection fee hikes and settled over $740,000 in legal claims.
The $68 million sale of the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County remains stuck in committee. Both Finance/Executive and Public Safety committees held the proposed 50-year leaseback deal for further review this week.
The Zoning Committee froze new subdivisions of three or more lots in District 8 for 180 days and advanced a substitute draft of the city's comprehensive zoning code rewrite, while also backing landmark status for southwest Atlanta's historic "Just Us" neighborhood.
Fulton County set a proposed 2026 General Fund millage rate of 8.87 mills, kicking off required public hearings before your property tax bill is finalized. Commissioners also approved grant funding for a 54-unit affordable housing project in English Avenue and a resolution urging the state to restrict over-the-counter kratom sales, but a community garden resolution failed after two commissioners withheld votes.
DeKalb commissioners are weighing a $15.85 million countywide paving contract along with a $3.21 million Flat Shoals Parkway sidewalk design, a $4.1 million Michelle Obama Trail extension, and a resolution requiring an independent health study on data centers before lifting the county's moratorium.
Atlanta's Board of Education left its AI classroom policy and FY2028 budget priorities undecided. The Policy Review Committee discussed draft rules on classroom AI use, and the Budget Commission reviewed early revenue projections, but neither produced a vote.
Avondale Estates is weighing a $400,000 match to unlock $1.9 million for its Shared Street Program, which would extend the pedestrian-friendly corridor five more blocks east from the Town Green.
Permits, construction, road work
Memorial Drive Corridor / East Atlanta: Stein Steel Townhomes' Building C is in active construction on Kirkwood Ave with core and shell electrical and plumbing work, and a new urgent care facility broke ground at 235 Estoria St SE. GDOT is installing rectangular rapid flashing beacons at four SR 260 intersections in DeKalb and adding a mid-block pedestrian crossing and restricted U-turn along Memorial Drive between Hill and Pearl Streets.
O4W / Poncey-Highland / Candler Park: A $365,000 addition is underway on Briardale Lane and a new vent hood signals a restaurant opening on McLendon Ave.
Southwest Atlanta / BeltLine Westside: Affordable housing is rising above an existing building at 918 Dill Ave SW, and the Oakland Dr SW recreation center is being demolished. GDOT is fully refurbishing the SR 14 bridge over the BeltLine's Westside Trail near MARTA and CSX tracks.
West Midtown / Blandtown: A full interior demolition and rebuild is underway for a new Chipotle at 2275 Marietta Blvd, following the chain's Habanero prototype design, while two Howell Mill Rd properties are upgrading pool decks and amenity spaces.
Buckhead: Six new four-story townhomes are permitted for Roxboro Road, a demolition permit is filed for 1750 Peachtree St NW, and a phased hospital expansion is moving through three separate permits at 1968 Peachtree Rd NW.
Midtown / Downtown: Peachtree Street towers are churning through interior buildouts, sprinkler relocations, and plumbing upgrades with no ground-up construction this cycle. Downtown, 41 Marietta St NW is converting floors 7-9 from office to multifamily, and crews are demolishing a 14,000-square-foot parking deck at 71 Peachtree Center Ave NE.
VaHi/Morningside / Chamblee-Brookhaven: A 211-unit multifamily project is under construction at 1155 La Vista Rd NE with new electrical service and HVAC work. GDOT is widening the I-285 eastbound ramp at Ashford-Dunwoody Road to three lanes and resurfacing SR 13 between the Fulton County line and Chamblee Tucker Road.
Druid Hills / Decatur: Clifton Road is prepping for demolition with a sewer plug permit, an $800,000 full rebuild is underway on Crestline Drive, and GDOT is extending a left-turn lane and upgrading signals on LaVista Road at Clairmont Road and Shepherds Lane.
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Until next week,
Busybody ATL
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