Buckhead CID, Livable Buckhead to present ‘Building Blocks for Buckhead’ program—a 20-year vision

Three major organizations--actively creating and executing a vision for what Buckhead will look like in 20 years--will hold their first-ever meeting Friday of community stakeholders and marketers to lay out plans and programs with the theme of “Building Blocks for Buckhead.”

The three organizations—which work together hand-in-glove on improving development standards, improving streetscapes, transportation and traffic-flow issues, parks and green spaces and community sustainability—are the Buckhead Community Improvement District, Livable Buckhead Inc. and the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association.

CID Executive Director Jim Durrett will lead the Friday event

The groups are hoping for an attendance of 300 stakeholders and members of the public at the meeting Friday (July 27) from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road (across from Charlie Loudermilk Park and just north of the intersection of Roswell and Peachtree roads).

Besides answering what Buckhead will look like in 20years, some of the other questions the program will focus on answering will be: Will Peachtree construction ever end? Who is responsible for changes in and around Buckhead? How are these changes funded? What are the plans to get more green space in Buckhead? What are all those bucks doing in Buckhead?

The program will be led by Jim Durrett, executive director of the Buckhead CID, and Denise Starling, who is executive director of both Livable Buckhead and BATMA. Livable Buckhead and BATMA are both non-profit organizations that have been formed and substantially funded over the years through the efforts of the CID. Their differences and how they work together will be explained.

Buckhead Theatre will be location for the Friday program. 

Durrett emphasized that those planning to attend must register in advance with the CID’s office, since there really is only space for 300 seats in the auditorium of the Buckhead Theatre. To register for the event email jcarlson@buckheadcid.com  or phone 404-842-2686.

He said that more than 80 had registered by Friday and he predicted many more would sign up early in the week, beginning Monday.

Durrett told BuckheadView the idea for this first-ever joint meeting of these organizations was “to talk to the community and present a clear understanding of what we are doing, why and how we are executing these programs. We want them to have a better understanding of who we are and what we are doing,” he added.

In the past, Durrett said, “the only real public outreach efforts of the CID have been through public hearings on specific projects, ribbon cutting events, the annual report and the web site and recently a quarterly newsletter.”

Denise Starling will be co-leader
for the program Friday. 

He said Central Atlanta Progress downtown and the Midtown Alliance and CID do major annual presentations for usually 1,000 or more interested parties. “We are not looking to do anything on that scale, but we wanted to do something,” Durrett explained. He predicted it will become an annual event.  

Both Durrett and Starling said that the initial invitations were sent out to the commercial property owners who are members of the Buckhead CID and pay extra property taxes on their properties to fund the projects paid for by the CID, such as the buc shuttle service in the commercial district and both the studies and improvements involving the Peachtree and Piedmont road corridors and future work in the Buckhead Village area along Peachtree and Roswell roads.

Starling also said another initial audience sought out for the program were the leasing agents who are always dealing with marketing the commercial, retail and residential spaces in Buckhead to companies and individuals.

Durrett said that it is not closed to the public, but the initial push for attendance has been to those specific groups of stakeholders and Starling added that the program is geared more toward those audiences.  

The Peachtree Boulevard streetscape projects have
been one of the major CID undertakings. 

Burrett said the program will start with CID 101:  What it is, why it was formed, what it does, how it is funded and how it is administered. “There are a lot of people out there that still don’t fully understand who we are and what we do,” he told BuckheadView.

Throughout the program, Durrett said he and Starling will play off of each other in offering “as complete levels of presentation as are appropriate,” indicating there still will be some projects or issues that will not be able to be fully discussed.

However, he said, “At the end of the brief presentation, we will open it up to questions and concerns from the audience,” about projects or issues in Buckhead. “As you know, I am always very open about answering questions,” he added.

An early concept rendering of what the GA 400
Trail might look like in the area south of the
Buckhead central business center but north
of the Lindbergh area.  To view a video
presentation on the trail, go here. 

Starling said she expects the program will focus on four themes: Transportation, alternative modes, sustainability and creating community.

She said there are 24 different projects that likely will be discussed at some level, including Peachtree Road, SPI-9 and SPI-12 development reviews, the new buc shuttle schedule and format, the search for more green space and parks in Buckhead and most certainly the GA 400 Trail project. (To view a video presentation on the GA 400 Trail, go  here.) 

At the end of the program, Durrett will be making a brief presentation regarding the importance of those in attendance voting July 31 on the T-SPLOST referendum.
 

Regarding parking for the Building Blocks of Buckhead program Friday morning, there is a surface parking lot located just north of the Buckhead Theatre on the west side of Roswell Road.  The parking rate is $5.  If you arrive and the lot is full, there are other lots in the area.

Those attending are also encouraged to take mass transit. The #110 MARTA bus, “The Peach”, travels north and south on Peachtree, from either the Lenox or Buckhead MARTA stations and passes right by Loudermilk Park where the Buckhead Theatre is located.