Walmart at Lindbergh? (Atlanta: home, stores, safe)

[cqholt]

Tunnels often frighten people, because they create dark, confined spaces, but in this case I think it might work.

I love walking thru Krog Street tunnel. It doesn't get darker than that.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Make a deal on new ground floor retail at the corner or another prime spot. That building has to expensive to maintain, make a deal for new infrastructure in a new mixed-use development.

A deal like that could be one of the most expensive aspects of the entire project. I seriously doubt there's any debt on thee proprieties after 60 years of ownership and the maintenance costs are probably negligible. So there's not a lot of motivation to sell.

If it were me and I didn't need the cash, I'd sit tight and watch the value go up.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Easier said than done, though. Both of them have been there for 60 years, knowing that the land would someday be extremely valuable. It's not likely the owners would be enticed to sell for anything less than a premium price.

Didn't the Supreme Court recently rule that private property could be seized to sell to another private party if it increases property taxes? Horrible decision by the Court in my opinion.

I want the Zesto's to stay as is. Sort of a throw back to the 1960s.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Mathman, I know you love to play the contrarian

I am not!

To me, Lindbergh is mostly strip mall. I see no harm in a classic Walmart. Lindbergh is more suburban than urban.

[arjay57]

I can't understand why the city would approve this. The land has been set aside for TOD, plus it's adjacent to the Beltline.

How does a big box store with a huge surface parking lot fit in with that?



Looks like the opponents have a website: Save Lindbergh

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I can't understand why the city would approve this. The land has been set aside for TOD, plus it's adjacent to the Beltline.

How does a big box store with a huge surface parking lot fit in with that?



Looks like the opponents have a website: Save Lindbergh

...and a petition: Petition | Walmart: Don't build a 150,000 square foot superstore across from Lindbergh MARTA | Change.org

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I can't understand why the city would approve this. The land has been set aside for TOD, plus it's adjacent to the Beltline.

How does a big box store with a huge surface parking lot fit in with that?



Looks like the opponents have a website: Save Lindbergh

Why doesn't Walmart build their store here with apartments above? Seems like this would be the perfect site for that since it's right next to a Marta stop. They are already building a Walmart with apartments above it in DC and that model should be used for all urban area's in my opinion. Walmart needs to learn how to add to the urban environment instead of taking from it. I thought they had learned that considering what they are building in DC and their proposals for NYC and Boston. Im glad the neighborhood is fighting it, seems like there may still be time to switch it to an urban format. Here is one of their urban Walmarts with apartments above it:

NoMa Walmart Residences to Deliver in Late-2013

and here is another one:
http://forttottennews.com/

[AcidSnake]

What's probably needed here is a Super-PAC(political action committee).

Because it is nakedly obvious that whoever is in charge of NPU-B or whoever is the city councilman for this area is not listening to the residents. Folks need to realize that y'all can't just vote and then forget for the next couple years until the next election.

You gotta stay on your elected officials; constantly.

You have to be just as willing to attend a city council meeting as you are to hang with your friends on a Friday night at the Tongue & Groove. Because it's pretty obvious that Wal-Mart has the ears of your local elected officials. And that won't change unless the anti-Wal-Mart folks who reside in Lindbergh come together and "Super-PAC" your local city councilman out of office and put someone in who actually gives a crap about your needs.

Just my humble two pennies on the whole issue.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

...and a petition: Petition | Walmart: Don't build a 150,000 square foot superstore across from Lindbergh MARTA | Change.org

Wow, and a 6.7 acre surface parking lot! How can that be compatible with the Beltline or any other sort of TOD?

[ATLTJL]

Acidsnake is exactly right.

Based on what I'm reading, current zoning laws do not allow this development. The developer is trying to change the zoning laws. So concerned residents do not have to have their government take any action at all, all they have to do is prevent them from taking action. What's the point of even making zoning laws if they can be changed any time?

When I bought my house 3 years ago, one of the things I found out was that the community had gotten together and prevented a Wal-Mart from opening up. That made me think highly of the area, anywhere with enough community involvement to take on Wal-Mart has to be good. However, when I read further, I found out what actually happened was that the community was not able to take on Wal-Mart. They tried for months, but ultimately failed. Wal-Mart won and was coming.

So the community went into "if they're going to build it, it's at least going to be nice" mode, so they pressured the government and refused to allow exceptions to architectural standards. The Wal-Mart would have had to have 3 sides of brick or stone, and a bunch of other things that would have been quite expensive for Wal-Mart to do. In the end, Wal-Mart voluntarily pulled out of the project because they didn't want to construct a high-end store, and to this day there is no Wal-Mart there.

My point is this: You can't just say Wal-Mart should do this, why can't they do that? Well, they CAN do whatever they want, but they will never do more than what is required of them by local governments. I'm pretty sure that Wal-Mart never voluntarily built apartments in their buildings or constructed underground parking decks. They did so because areas where they really wanted to go required it. Thus, anybody who petitions Wal-Mart directly to upgrade their store is completely wasting their time. What you have to do is pressure the government and zoning boards to require it. If Wal-Mart wants in badly enough, they will do what is required. If they determine it isn't worth the effort, they will just give up and not build.

So these people need to keep on the zoning board. They also need to take a look at reality. It's one thing to say "we want high density housing!" but when the rubber meets the road, you have to have people who are willing to pay the price to live in that housing as well as people who want to be in the neighborhood. You can't just build it and they will come, you have to make sure the demand is there. If you build it, they will definitely come, but you want to make sure prices don't have to bottom out and everybody loses money before they are willing to come.

The big question is, is the land valuable enough and do the residents care enough to try to bully Wal-Mart? If so, the proper avenue is through the zoning board, or whoever has the authority to change the rules. This will be a test of how powerful the community as and how much the people care. One problem with having a lot of apartments is renters rarely, if ever, care enough to go to bat for their communities. I guess we will see if the homeowners are powerful enough.