CityWalk merchants are due to meet again with the new management team for the Sandy Springs shopping center Jan. 13 at the Naked Clay studio to review the common area maintenance (CAM) fees charged each merchant.
At least two merchants voiced disappointment in the attendance at a Dec. 2 meeting and in the fact that the new ReMax Commercial Atlanta management team of Stephen Thomas, Dave Thomas and Shamey Chern apparently had little progress to report on obtaining signage for individual stores on the major center signs along Hammond Drive and Sandy Springs Circle and directional signs to the stores within the center.Mayor Eva Galambos, who attended the first meeting with the merchants and new management representatives Nov. 11, was unable to attend the Dec. 2 meeting because of a City Council meeting and city birthday part that night. During the party she voiced concern that nothing seemed to be proceeding with regard to the signs.
She said the city paved the way for both the store signs to be placed on the main center signs and for the directional signage within the center. She said the city also has considered allowing stores along Hammond Drive to have signs that protrude from the storefronts so that motorists can identify them.
Patricia Pennington, the owner of Belles Choses, said only a handful of merchants attended the Dec. 2 meeting, and the management team had no updates. She predicted the Jan. 13 meeting, which will be held at 6:30 p.m., will prove to be an interesting discussion of how the CAM fees are spent.
Both Pennington and Potpourri owner Julie Routenberg, who was not able to attend the Dec. 2 meeting, said a major problem seems to be that the new management team doesn’t even have copies of the tenant leases.