A 7-story AC-brand hotel and 5-story parking deck in Perimeter Center got the go ahead from the Dunwoody City Council at its Dec. 11 meeting despite some concerns from apartment residents adjacent to the site as well a couple council members concerned they did not have a clear vision of what is to be constructed.
The vote to approve the Prado Perimeter Center LLC project at 121 Perimeter Center West was 5-2, with Councilmembers Terry Nall and Lynn Deutsch voting no.
“There is not enough information for me to be comfortable with this,” Nall said in making a motion to defer the project for 30 days. The motion failed.
Nall and Deutsch agreed there was not enough specific designs and renderings of what the 157-room AC-brand hotel would look like, but Prado attorney Den Webb argued that the hotel is being built in the newly created Perimeter Center zoning district that includes strict requirements that must be approved by the Community Development Department.
The new hotel will be developed and owned by Hotel Development Partners and managed by Hotel Equities. Both companies are based in Dunwoody.
The renderings submitted to the City Council of the hotel are preliminary illustration and better design plans were intended to be completed after the rezoning request was completed for the project, said Steven Smith of Hotel Development Partners.
Plans are to begin the hotel design shortly after the New Year, with a complete design set to be completed in about four months, Smith told the council. Plans would then be to break ground next summer following the construction of the parking deck, he added.
Amenities of the hotel include a full-service bar, lounge seating and multimedia area, a breakfas dining area with outdoor seating and a 4,575 square-foot rooftop amenity area with a bar and catering kitchen.
Smith noted Hotel Development Partners developed four other hotels in Dunwoody, including the Hampton Inn & Suites – Atlanta Perimeter and the Residence Inn-Atlanta Perimeter Center, both located on Ashford-Dunwoody Road.
“The AC brand is the fastest growing brand Marriott has ever produced,” Smith said. “We want to make the city happy.”
Residents living in the Flats at Perimeter Place have argued specifically that the parking deck of the new development, with 320 spaces, will just be a just over 30 feet away from many of those living south side of the building, blocking the sun and offering the view of a concrete wall.
Revenue for the aparmtent complex would also be hurt by the new development, according to a Flats at Perimeter representative. The apartment has been in Dunwoody for 11 years and is valued at $70 million by DeKalb County. Estimated loss in value due to lost rent for the 86 units facing the parking deck is estimated at $3 million to $4 million, and a lost tax revenue to the county is estimated between $50,000 to $65,000 a year.
Webb said the parking deck is being built within the city-required lawful buffer.
The developers did agree to the council’s request that the north side of the parking deck be a solid wall with architectural treatment to try to mitigate being so close to the homes of the apartment residents on the south side of the building.
The development also includes an up to 10,000 square-feet restaurant on nearly five acres of mostly parking lot at 121 Perimeter Center West. The new development is planned alongside a 3-story building that houses a SunTrust bank branch and a Tin Lizzy’s restaurant.