CID Synergies Build Teamwork

If you live or work anywhere around the Metro Atlanta area where I-285 and Georgia 400 meet, you’ve been affected by the Transform 285/400 improvement project, which will be substantially- complete this summer.

Collaborative Leader: Perimeter CIDs Executive Director Ann Hanlon, along Ashford Dunwoody Road, photo Daemon Baizan.

The project, which began more than seven years ago, includes 10.5 miles of improved highway (including new flyover ramps) and 12 miles of collector-distributor lanes (barrier-separated exit and entrance lanes) along Georgia 400 and I-285, resulting in eight fewer merge conflict areas within the interchange. Also part of the project are new bridges at Mt. Vernon Highway and Glenridge Drive and widening of Glenridge Drive and Peachtree Dunwoody Road (including sidewalks).

And while the state paid the lion’s share of the cost, another big contributor was the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts (CIDs). CIDs are areas where businesses tax themselves voluntarily to fund projects within the district, such as road construction, landscaping, water and sewage systems, signage and wayfinding, and public transportation systems. The work of the CIDs increases property values for businesses inside the district while improving quality of life for residents, who don’t have to pay extra taxes. There are now at least 30 CIDs in Georgia.

The transformational interstate project is just one example of the strength of the CIDs in north Metro Atlanta – and the powerful synergy between them.

The Perimeter CIDs: Bridging Communities

Focus Brands Perimeter Pretzel promotion celebrating the project’s impending end, photo contributed.

The Perimeter CIDs, which include the Fulton Perimeter CID and Central (DeKalb) Perimeter CID, were formed in 1998 by a group of businesses located around Perimeter Mall in what is now the city of Dunwoody. Since then, the CIDs have invested $49 million into 169 different infrastructure and transportation projects in the area. These CIDs encompass the cities of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Brookhaven in Fulton and DeKalb counties.

“Knot Much Longer”: Focus Brands Perimeter Pretzel promotion celebrating the project’s impending end, photo contributed.

With its abundant Class A office space, the Perimeter district has long been known as a central location for business in Atlanta. The district is home to more than 5,000 companies, including the corporate headquarters of UPS, Cox Enterprises, Mercedes-Benz, Focus Brands and as of this year, Zaxby’s. State Farm also has a big presence in the area.

The Perimeter district contains 29 million square feet of office space, 4.6 million square feet of residential, 3 million square feet of hospitality, 8,900 multifamily residential units, nearly 5,000 hotel rooms and 120,000 square feet of convention and meeting space. Another 3.5 million square feet of commercial space is currently in development. All of this is connected by intentional infrastructure – including four MARTA stations, seven bus routes and 15 shuttles providing critical first-last mile access – making Perimeter one of the most reliably linked communities in the Southeast.

“For more than 20 years, the Perimeter [CIDs have] bridged government, development and business communities to fuel one of the most influential business districts in Georgia,” says Perimeter CIDs Executive Director Ann Hanlon.

Celebrating a Milestone

Blazing a Trail: PATH400, a bike and pedestrian path, will be a five-mile greenway connecting Buckhead to the Perimeter area, photo contributed.

The Perimeter CIDs contributed $10 million to the massive Transform 285/400 project for aesthetics like street lighting and landscaping that weren’t included in the state’s $800 million budget, as well as a trail connection along Peachtree Dunwoody Road underneath I-285, according to Hanlon. “Building trail projects like this is very expensive and time-consuming,” she says. “This trail connection would have taken decades otherwise.”

The nearby Buckhead CID shares common goals with the Perimeter CIDs. Executive Director Jim Durrett says the Buckhead CID has a significant interest in the 285/400 project. “This interchange is the gateway to both the Buckhead and Perimeter markets and will open up access to these markets from the entire top half of Metro Atlanta,” he says.

“Additionally, [bike/pedestrian route] PATH400 will be part of this interchange, reaching far to the north of the city of Atlanta into the city of Sandy Springs,” adds Durrett. “CID taxpayers in both Buckhead and Perimeter are eager to complete this trail, which will ultimately connect the Perimeter market through Buckhead to the BeltLine.”

Hanlon says the Perimeter CIDs are working with Focus Brands, which owns Moe’s Southwestern Grill and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, to come up with fun and creative ways to celebrate the completion of the 285/400 improvement project. For example, the campaign has dubbed the new interchange the Perimeter Pretzel and said it will be “knot much longer” until it is finished. “This has been a long, difficult process for businesses in the Perimeter district and their employees, so we want to help everyone celebrate the completion,” she says.

The next major road project in the area will be the construction of express lanes along 400 and the top end of 285 to help improve traffic flow in that stretch. Two 16-mile barrier-separated express lanes will run both north and south along 400 between the North Springs MARTA station and McGinnis Ferry Road. From there, one buffer-separated lane is planned in each direction from McGinnis Ferry to McFarland Parkway. Also, two barrier-separated express lanes will run east and west along 285 between I-20 on the west and east sides of the top-end of the interstate. The construction timelines for the projects are 2025-2031 and 2025-2035, respectively. When finished, the express lanes are expected to ease congestion and reduce commute times.

More Than Just 9-to-5

Hanlon says the Perimeter district has worked hard to position itself as more than just a 9-to-5 area where employees commute in and out. “Coming out of COVID, we felt like we wanted to capitalize on all the vibrant energy here from new developments like the High Street and Campus 244 mixed-used communities,” says Hanlon. “So the Perimeter CIDs embarked on a new branding initiative last year to bring attention to the area’s many benefits for businesses and residents.” High Street is a $2 billion development that includes apartments, retail, offices, a park and an ice-skating rink. Campus 244 contains 380,000 square feet of workspace, a boutique hotel, dining, retail and a fitness center.

Bikers and Walkers: PATH400 will eventually stretch from the Perimeter area through Buckhead to the Atlanta BeltLine., photo contributed.

The branding initiative created a new logo, website and tagline: “Where everything works.” It emphasizes Perimeter’s diverse retail and restaurant options, scenic paths and multipurpose trails, such as the Gorla Ravinia Park, green-space lined with public art and convenient transit options. Eight new miles of multipurpose trails are under development, including the aforementioned bike/pedestrian route, PATH400. This project will provide a five-mile greenway connecting Buckhead to Perimeter, eventually connecting to the Atlanta BeltLine to provide a key link to the regional trail network.

Other new trails under development include the Ashford Dunwoody Trail, which will run from Hammond Drive to Mt. Vernon, and the Mt. Vernon Trail, which will run from the Sandy Springs MARTA station west over 400. When complete, this segment will continue all the way to City Springs, a mixed-use development that includes Sandy Springs City Hall, the City Green, restaurants, apartments and the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center.

While road improvements and trails are practical, one project is a bit more whimsical – a giant mural on the southern face of the MARTA parking deck in Dunwoody. Titled Flora Chroma, the mural, created by world-renowned artist DAAS, covers 2,500 square feet. DAAS called the mural, which is inspired by Georgia flowers such as the Cherokee rose and the azalea, “a celebration of the power of color and the beauty of nature.”

Public Art: A giant mural brightens the southern face of the parking deck at the Dunwoody MARTA station, photo contributed.

Hanlon says the mural includes an interactive element. When you stand in a certain spot and hold your phone up to a QR code, the mural comes alive virtually on your phone. “We have gotten great feedback on the mural,” says Hanlon. “It has sparked joy among people and is another way that we’re trying to keep things vibrant and energetic here in the Perimeter district.”

Hanlon and her staff work closely with another CID, True North 400, given their proximity and shared interests.

“There’s a lot of synergy between our organizations,” she says. “For example, Georgia 400 is the main transportation artery that serves both of our districts, so we each have a vested interest in the improvements being made. We all want to make sure that the Georgia 400 corridor remains one of the best areas in the state to do business.”

True North 400 Brings Value

True North 400 encompasses three cities: Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell. Its mission is to work continuously to improve the area’s economic viability, including developing more efficient transportation systems. Executive Director Brandon Beach says the CID was born out of an infrastructure problem right in the heart of the booming area.

“We desperately needed to finish Westside Parkway,” says Beach, a Republican who has served in the state Senate since 2013 and is a strong advocate of regional transportation. “The section in the middle had been built, but it didn’t connect to Mansell Road on the south or Windward Parkway on the north.”

The solution was to create the CID, first named North Fulton CID and now called True North 400, to help spur the project. Data reveals the value True North 400 brings to businesses in the district. The average appraised property values within the True North 400 footprint are 32% higher than in the rest of North Fulton County and increased by 64% between 2016 and 2021. Retail and office space in the district outperform the rest of North Fulton County on lease rates, generating premiums between 15% and 20%.

According to Beach, improvement projects spurred by True North 400 create a “halo effect” in which adjacent property values also increase. Properties located within a half-mile radius of major True North 400 investments experienced a 10% property value increase above and beyond other properties within the district.

Front and Center: Construction is scheduled this year on the Encore Greenway Park and Gateway, at North Point Parkway and Encore Parkway, photo contributed.

A good example is the Encore Parkway bridge and corridor improvement project that transformed a narrow two-lane corridor into a complete street with dedicated bicycle lanes, generous pedestrian sidewalks and improved aesthetics. The project created a new gateway into North Fulton County and became a focal point for private development by extending commercial activity to the west side of Georgia 400, including more than 300 residential units and 70,000 square feet of retail space. True North 400 funded $6 million of the nearly $18 million project.

As of 2022, True North 400 had invested about $28 million to bring about $170 million in investment to the district. Despite occupying just 4% of the total land area of North Fulton County, the CID hosts nearly half of the area’s retail and office space and a quarter of the area’s jobs.

Transaction Alley

Working Together: Tim Perry, managing partner of North American Properties (left), with state Sen. Brandon Beach, executive director of True North 400 (right), at Avalon in Alpharetta, photo Daemon Baizan.

True North 400 encompasses the Georgia 400 corridor, which Beach says is home to 900 technology companies, including AT&T, Fiserv, ADP, eTrade and Global Payments. The 400 corridor is part of an area known as Transaction Alley; 70% of all digital transactions in the United States pass through Transaction Alley every day. “I believe the Georgia 400 corridor is one of the primary economic engines in our state,” says Beach.

Beach has served as the executive director of the CID since 2018. “I’m a firm believer that there is a direct correlation between infrastructure development and job creation,” he says. “Our goal is to do everything we can to improve infrastructure in this area, so it is an attractive place for companies to do business and employees to live.”

Beach says True North 400 does the prep work to help get projects shovel- ready. “This includes environmental analysis, project design and engineering plans,” he says. “We have skin in the game and can usually get things done faster than a government entity.”

For example, when a large employer was considering relocating to Alpharetta, it asked the city for some roadwork to improve ingress and egress to its facility. “The city would have had to go out for bids, which would have taken time they didn’t have, so they asked us to help,” says Beach. “We got it done quickly, which helped bring 450 jobs to the city.”

Transportation Artery: Rendering of an aerial view of the 400/285 interchange.

As the managing partner of North American Properties, Tim Perry worked closely with True North 400 when developing Avalon, the 86-acre mixed-use community in the heart of Alpharetta that opened in 2014. “True North 400 helped fund road construction that made Avalon possible,” says Perry, who now serves as the chair of True North 400’s board of directors. “I saw how efficient the process was and how a CID was able to move quickly and nimbly to make important transportation improvements.”

Perry also points to True North 400’s role in extending Northwinds Parkway from Kimball Bridge Road to Old Milton Parkway. True North 400 funded $2 million of the $6 million project. “This was a critical factor in the decision by Gwinnett Technical College to open their North Fulton campus across from Avalon in 2016,” he says.

More Projects to Come

Greater Access: True North 400 Deputy Executive Director Kristin Winzeler, photo contributed.

Beach and Perry point to a number of active True North 400 projects they believe will play a major role in economic development in North Fulton County in the coming years. One of these is a new strategic master plan for the Windward Parkway and Highway 9 corridors, which are home to major employers, shopping destinations and thousands of residents. The new plan is building on a 2012 master plan for the area by incorporating significant changes that have occurred over the past decade.

“With development trends moving away from automobile-dominated land uses, this area needs an updated community vision and action plan,” says Beach.

Another project set to begin this year is the Encore Greenway Park and Gateway at North Point Parkway and Encore Parkway. “This project will bring one of Alpharetta’s most beloved public amenities, the Big Creek Greenway, front and center on the North Point Parkway corridor,” says True North 400 Deputy Executive Director Kristin Winzeler. “It will allow greater access to the multipurpose trails for people who live and work in the area.” True North 400 is contributing $430,000 to the project.

Supporting Mass Transit: Five upgraded MARTA bus shelters have been built in Alpharetta so far, photo contributed.

Beach points to the upgraded MARTA Bus Shelter Program as an example of True North 400’s support of mass transit in the corridor. Five upgraded MARTA bus shelters have been built in Alpharetta so far, and True North 400 members can apply to receive funding for upgraded bus shelters that are adjacent to their property and within the public right-of-way. “I believe that if mass transit is safe, seamless and clean, people will use it,” says Beach.

From supporting mass transit to creating new trails to improving highways, the CIDs in northern Metro Atlanta work in tandem to make the region a better place to live and work.