John Ruch, Author at Reporter Newspapers

Leftover Sandy Springs street gets a new name

Posted by John Ruch | Apr 22, 2018

A stub of street left over from the realignment of the Windsor Parkway and Roswell Road intersection in Sandy Springs has a new name. The dead-end section of what was once Windsor Parkway is now Old Windsor Parkway after a renaming approved by the City Council April 17. The realignment, completed two years ago, left a Popeyes Louisiana Chicken restaurant on an island surrounded by roadways. The newly realigned Windsor Parkway now runs to the north of the restaurant, while Old Windsor Parkway is to the south. Old Windsor Parkway dead-ends past the...

Sandy Springs council OKs replacing church with houses

Posted by John Ruch | Apr 21, 2018

A Baptist church in Sandy Springs will be replaced with two houses priced at $1.5 million to $2 million each after gaining City Council approval on April 17. The Metropolitan Baptist Church at 4795 Peachtree-Dunwoody Road is shutting down after more than 40 years as its attendance has dwindled to only seven members. The 2-acre property near the Buckhead and Brookhaven borders went on the market for $1.485 million last fall. The redevelopment will be carried out by Eddie Levin of Sandy Springs-based Design Construction by Craftmaster. The houses will front on Peachtree-Dunwoody...

Transform 285/400 traffic changes through April 30

Posted by John Ruch | Apr 20, 2018

The Georgia Department of Transportation has announced the latest round of lane and ramp closures and other traffic changes for Transform 285/400, its massive project to reconstruct the I-285/Ga. 400 interchange. Schedules may change based on the work and the weather. Ga. 400 lane closures April 20-22: Northbound and southbound between Hammond Drive and Abernathy Road, two left lanes, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. April 21: Northbound and southbound between Hammond Drive and Abernathy Road, one left lane, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. April 27-28: Northbound and southbound between Glenridge Connector and Pitts Road, alternating one right lane and one...

Sandy Springs developer withdraws grocery-anchored concept, says cemetery is safe

Posted by John Ruch | Apr 20, 2018

A Sandy Springs developer is pulling back from a gigantic mixed-use proposal at Roswell and Pitts roads and saying the concept never involved relocating a historic cemetery, despite family members saying the company made recent offers. Heritage Capitol Partners had a redevelopment concept posted on its website for the Dunwoody Pointe apartments, an office complex and a 19-acre woodland that includes the historic Power family cemetery. The concept called for a Kroger-anchored project with hundreds of apartments and townhomes and several commercial buildings. “I’m taking the concept off the website,” said Joseph Ashkouti, principal at Heritage Capitol Partners, citing...

Grocery-anchored Sandy Springs project could replace apartments, displace historic cemetery

Posted by John Ruch | Apr 19, 2018

A gigantic, grocery-anchored development proposed at Roswell and Pitts roads in Sandy Springs would demolish hundreds of existing apartments, clear a 19-acre woodland and possibly displace a historic cemetery where members of one of the city’s founding families were laid to rest. One descendent of that historic Power family is fighting the concept and calling for the woodland to become a city park. Sandy Springs-based developer Heritage Capitol Partners is now pulling back from its concept and says there never was an offer to relocate the cemetery. The conceptual plan of the massive project –covering roughly 40 acres with...