umm...Walmart? Really? There is one off Gresham...we certainly do not need another one.

What the Fuqua!!! Why is Jeff Fuqua insistent on jamming Wal-Mart down our throats?!?! In large, WE DON'T WANT WAL-MARTS IN OUR CITY!!! If he's so hell bent on building a Wallyworld, there are plenty of parcels OTP and plenty of people there that would welcome them with open arms.

I think a Whole Foods or a Publix would better fit in this neighborhood but certainly not a Wal-Mart! And this development does not need to be suburban style with huge surface parking lots. This will kill Glenwood Park!

what Chris said.

Four things:

1. Above ground parking will be a huge eyesore
2. Underground parking will be dangerous- just ask the folks that are getting carjacked at Edgewood
3. No way in hell that Glenwood and/or Bill Kennedy can support the traffic. It's already bad.
4. We don't want or need a Wal-Mart!

I hope we have some good lawyers among us!

Yes... We all have to band together on this one... No Wally World. This will kill all the small businesses around here along with devalue the culture we're trying to create. I agree with the other comments and also suggest a "Trader Joes".

I created a "No Big Box retail in Grant Park" facebook page. Please join.

What Chris said 2!

So what would you rather it be, an abandoned cement facility? It's not like people are jumping to build retail developments throughout Atlanta. Looking at the renderings this place actually looks alright with store frontage along Glenwood Avenue. People said the same thing about Edgewood shopping center and that has been a success. To say that above ground parking is bad, below ground parking is bad, does not give you many options for any kind of development. How about working to create a nice looking retail space. If people don't like Walmart, don't shop there, but this is not a Walmart only location. It has a lot more retail components to it. This will bring jobs to the area which is also a positive. Even Buckhead is getting one. I can understand why you would not want just a big box retail only location, but with the design of other retail stores this looks like it could be a good opportunity to help turn a piece of useless property into something useful.

go check out Town Brookhaven. For a retail location it is not that bad of site.

I'm personally a little sick of these super developments. They look artificial to me, even the ones done well.

Sigh. Always the southeast Atlanta development argument: it looks like crud, so folks living here should be happy with letting developers call all the shots. The site on Glenwood is unique: across from a high school undergoing a 40 million dollar renovation. On the Beltline. Across from a development where houses (once) cost 3/4s of a million apiece. Is a Wal Mart the best vision we can hope for... just because it's better than a cement factory? The neighborhood doesn't HAVE to think inside the box on this one just because that's good for Wal-Mart. Give us a specialty grocery store. Give us a movie theatre. Give us something we can be proud of.

You think the Edgewood Retail District is a success? It's crowded, a magnet for crime, and completely overpowers the neighborhoods on either side of it. I'm all for developing the Glenwood Park area. However, do it appropriate to scale and put something there that matches the wants and needs of the communities right around it.

A magnet for crime? Not sure how a high-end Kroger, Best Buy, Lowes and multiple other retail stores created a magnet for crime except that criminals go where they can find targets? I guess you could say that about North Highland Steel in Inman Park because of the nice restaurants there as well as the retail shops in the Highlands. Edgewood is successful because it is busy, which means that local people are shopping there. That's why it is busy. We wanted it and we shop there. It vastly improved the property values in the surrounding area after it was built. I don't want or need a Walmart. My point is to think about what you want and offer solutions versus saying all retail development is bad and throwing up roadblocks. Nobody is going to build a Ponce City Market at that location, but a large mixed use development could work. If not that, then what do you propose? Who would have the capital to turn it into something else? Eventually developers will start looking elsewhere if at the start of every project the community just says no. Besides, it has not even been reported that it is a Walmart. They THINK it could be a Walmart.

Edgewood RD has not "vastly improved the property values in the surrounding area;" look across Moreland at Reynoldstown, where changes have come incrementally over the last 20+ years, and the same with Kirkwood and Edgewood. It's nice that it's there, but it also has had negative effects, like its impact on Moreland Ave., which was a PITA road before Edgewood and is even more so since.

This "plan" is merely an advertisement for tennants- he doesn't own the property, doesn't have any tennants, just a wish list. Still, it would behoove all of that live near it or use those streets daily (or Boulevard or Moreland or Memorial, because development there will affect them too) to pay attention to what is proposed.

As a Cabbagetown resident, the concern with any development in that space is the increased congestion it could cause. Whether it's Trader Joe's, WalMart, or a multiplex Cheetah Striptopia, a popular store is going to increase traffic, period. If we didn't want that, we should have been more vocal back when the area was planned, and spoken through the neighborhood associations and NPU meetings. This is another great example of why it's important to set conditions on developments at the planning level, and not just rah-rah the architects when they come to neighborhood meetings with their renderings showing art galleries and cafes. The reality is that real estate on the Memorial Corridor is going to blow up. Folks have just been waiting for the economy to show glimmers of life. I share others' concerns that the planning on this has been less than "site-specific" e.g. Here we have a Beltline site, IB High school, progressive neighborhoods, let's do something thoughtful and useful, but frankly, GPNA has had a head-in-the-sand attitude about development on the north side of 20 for too long.

We- Ormewood (SAND) and GPNA- were vocal about planning for the area. Despite the NPU not agreeing to the Beltline overlay, it was passed in Council anyway. But regardless of that fact, the cement plant is zoned industrial, and therefore the proposed use doesn't come under neighborhood purview.

This development is south of I-20, so I don't get your point about Memorial.

You can see a site plan here:

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2012/09/24/site-plans-for-fuquas-proposed-retail-complex-along-beltline-now-available-for-your-viewing-pleasure

It's a suburban model Fuqua has used all over metro Atlanta - one that has nothing in common with the neighborhoods adjacent to this lot.

Why can't these developers get it right.....we want areas composed of an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, coffee places and services similar to those found in Virginia Highlands, and any other older areas of cities. Check out San Francisco and find out how many vibrant commercial areas they have! We want Trader Joe's, Publix, Whole Foods etc. and not Walmart. Sorry Wally but enough is enough!

I think where the dissconnect is there are people who are of the mentality of "More is better!" instead of "Less but of higher quality". There are people in our area that think buying a $10 lunchbox every year is the way to go instead of buying ONE for $20 and it last for 10 years! Also I would rather have ONE shirt that fits well, can be washed a millon times but cost $50. Instead someone else would rather own 5 shirts for $10 each and just throw them away after a few washings. Lastly, most people shop because they are bored... How about filling these spaces with parks, festivals, playgrounds, picnic areas, beautiful gardens or work out equipment?

Are there any state or local programs that subsidize development that provides low rent for new small businesses? I love shops that sell homemade soaps, etc.. but it is hard to pay the rent when you are selling $3 bars of soap. but they are really cute shops!

so tired of all the ghetto developments that keep popping up in grant park, east atlanta, glenwood park. we all need to fight this development

Walmart would be a great addition, there are people in the area like me who welcome such development! Glenwood park needed a grocery store of some sort and there probably could have been one there already, a nice little corner grocery or co-op, but there hasnt been anything if the sort in the five or so years since the neighborhood was developed. I imagine the rent is too high or people really dont want that sort of thing enough. There needs to be some sort if grocery store there that would service Grant park, glenwood park and ormewood park. My first vote would be trader joes, the walmart, please no whole foods (whole paycheck) what about ingles?

Dear "Kirkwood Resident",
You referenced Town Brookhaven before and I can tell you, having lived there before moving to Glenwood Park, that once all the retail stores started opening up traffic became a nightmare for the residents of Town, parking was impossible and safety became a concern. You could no longer walk around safely because you had an influx of non-residents hanging about and coming into gated apt complexes. There was an increase of break-ins into apartments and vehicles (even inside gated parking garages).
The community no longer catered to its residents as much as it did for visitors. I am in favor of doing something with that space, but it should be something that benefits the community and not devalue our quality of life.

I don't care if it is a WalMart or any other big box. ANY store of that size is going to negatively impact the neighborhood and the Beltline. The site is right across from a High School and the traffic would be a nightmare. Sadly I expect the city administration to ignore all of the protestations and negatives and give Fuqua what he wants. Anything for a buck, right?