The Sandy Springs Planning Commission voted July 15 to recommend deferring for up to 90 days city consideration of the redevelopment of Lakeside Office Park, located on Glenridge Drive.
“This is a prime piece of property for the city,” commission Vice Chairman Wayne Thatcher said. “It needs to be developed properly.”
Commission members said they would like to gather project stakeholders — such as the developer MetLife, MARTA, Northside Hospital and possibly Dunwoody officials — to develop a more cohesive plan that addresses the neighborhood’s concerns.
The commission made no recommendation about what action Sandy Springs City Council should take on the request, other than to ask the consideration be delayed.
Traffic congestion has been a major contention both with the current application and the proposal that City Council denied in 2008. Plans for Lakeside have been in litigation since.
The case went into mediation, and the redevelopment proposal was revamped as a compromise between the developer and the city to end legal proceedings.
The city of Sandy Springs is the applicant of the current proposal, which proposes to keep four of five existing office buildings and add 520 apartments, a 16-story office building, covered parking and a restaurant to the 26-acre site.
The application goes to City Council Aug. 17. Council does not have to follow the commission’s recommendation.