Colony Square redeveloper plans new 'downtown' for Cobb County (Atlanta: neighborhood, restaurants)

[LynnHarris1]

North American Properties hopes to revive The Avenue East Cobb in Marietta

The developer behind Atlantic Station’s transformation and Colony Square’s ongoing redo is planning to give a well-known, 22-year-old shopping center in Cobb County an Avalon-style makeover..."

https://urbanize.city/atlanta/post/a...can-properties

SOURCE: Urbanize Atlanta

[UrbanQuest]

Cool. Atlanta’s suburbs need more of this.

[Citykid3785]

As and East Cobb resident, I was happy to hear this for several reasons:

1) East Cobb lacks a "downtown" identity like neighboring Roswell, Alpharetta, Marietta, and Woodstock
2) The avenues is nice, but stuck in the 90's. No one desires to eat at Panera or shop at tha Gap anymore.
3) post COVID, many of the shops close at 7pm, so even if you head over there on a date night, there is no shopping to be done afterward.

[ATLHRLGUY]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

As and East Cobb resident, I was happy to hear this for several reasons:

1) East Cobb lacks a "downtown" identity like neighboring Roswell, Alpharetta, Marietta, and Woodstock
2) The avenues is nice, but stuck in the 90's. No one desires to eat at Panera or shop at the Gap anymore.
3) post COVID, many of the shops close at 7pm, so even if you head over there on a date night, there is no shopping to be done afterward.

Exacltly. I don't know why but that gave me a huge laugh.



You're right nothing is wrong with the avenues but it needs a refresh. I think based on Colony Square (ppl should check it out if they haven't) and Avalon I think North American Properties will do a good job.

[ATL Golfer]

More malls, yay.

[LynnHarris1]

Avenue East Cobb redo breaks ground, promising 'downtown' vibes

Plans call for demolishing a portion of a central building to create an 8,000-square-foot plaza surrounded by restaurants, patios, and a raised stage, where more than 100 events are expected to be held annually ..."

https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/a...downtown-vibes

Urbanize Atlanta

[cranberrysaus]

Nothing about those new renders really screams "Avalon" to me. You still have a sea of parking in the middle of it all.

[Prickly Pear]

This complex has a lot of parking, and the way it’s designed it would be hard to make any real improvements without a total tear down.

East Cobb to me doesn’t really need a “Downtown” it just needs some more mixed use density. And free public space. Those things that need a “downtown” would be better off going to the actual incorporated areas. Why not Marietta for things like that, or the Cumberland? I’d rather have a bigger, denser Cumberland or Marietta than sprawling all the events throughout the metro. We benefit focusing our infrastructure and needs on a few key areas rather than every which way. Sprawling residential and sprawling commercial/office leads to the same effects.

Especially given the fact that the whole reason people move to the suburbs is because it’s allegedly “quieter”, if this is supposed to hold hundreds of events a year it’s definitely not that whatsoever.

In fact it’s rather insulting to actual Downtown or hubs to call this project as the same thing. Call it improving an outdated shopping complex sure but don’t call it a “Downtown” or the “upcoming Atlantic Station” we all know it’s not that

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

This complex has a lot of parking, and the way it’s designed it would be hard to make any real improvements without a total tear down.

East Cobb to me doesn’t really need a “Downtown” it just needs some more mixed use density. And free public space. Those things that need a “downtown” would be better off going to the actual incorporated areas. Why not Marietta for things like that, or the Cumberland? I’d rather have a bigger, denser Cumberland or Marietta than sprawling all the events throughout the metro. We benefit focusing our infrastructure and needs on a few key areas rather than every which way. Sprawling residential and sprawling commercial/office leads to the same effects.

Especially given the fact that the whole reason people move to the suburbs is because it’s allegedly “quieter”, if this is supposed to hold hundreds of events a year it’s definitely not that whatsoever.

In fact it’s rather insulting to actual Downtown or hubs to call this project as the same thing. Call it improving an outdated shopping complex sure but don’t call it a “Downtown” or the “upcoming Atlantic Station” we all know it’s not that

When a late-20th Century era suburban bedroom community like East Cobb talks about having its own “Downtown” area, it’s much more along the lines of the East Cobb community wanting its own kind of somewhat-walkable neighborhood village area and community gathering spot than wanting to have a large commercial district that is along the lines of a Downtown Marietta or a Cumberland.

While being somewhat closely aligned with both Marietta (and almost completely having a Marietta mailing address) and Cumberland (where many of East Cobb’s residents have commuted to work for decades), East Cobb has long had its own civic identity that is separate and unique from the neighboring historic legacy City of Marietta proper.

And East Cobb has long wanted a small ‘downtown’ village area and community gathering spot that is reflective of the area’s unique civic identity as a late-20th Century era suburban bedroom community.

East Cobb’s desire to have a small ‘downtown’ village area of community gathering spot is not at all unusual amongst late 20th Century suburbs that developed without a walkable core village area.

Other Atlanta suburbs like Johns Creek (which has long talked of developing a ‘downtown’ village area) and Peachtree Corners (which has developed its own ‘downtown’ village area in the form of open-air commercial areas like Peachtree Corners Town Center and The Forum Peachtree Corners (formerly The Forum on Peachtree Parkway)) come to mind as areas that originally developed as completely automobile-oriented suburban bedroom communities in the late 20th Century but have strongly desired to develop at least somewhat walkable ‘downtown’ village areas and community gathering spots.

Like many suburban bedroom communities built in the late 20th Century, East Cobb is just simply looking to enhance its civic identity and sense of place by attempting to develop something that might at least resemble a small ‘downtown’ village area where they can have more community gatherings and social events. They don’t look to be at all attempting to seriously compete with existing ‘downtown’ areas like Cumberland, Downtown Marietta/Marietta Square, Downtown Decatur, etc.