The Meridian Real Estate Group recently closed on a land development deal representing Sanctuary Companies that will transform the area to the north of downtown Kennesaw along Cherokee Street into a vibrant mixed-use community focused on walkability and providing more diverse housing options.
The development called Eastpark Village is being designed by award winning architect Tony Miller, and will consist of 850 residential units along with approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial, retail, and office space. There will be shopping, restaurants, open markets, courtyards, and a network of sidewalks and strategically placed parks connecting the area to historic downtown Kennesaw. It is an estimated three year development project at $280 million with construction starting in January 2019.
A decade ago the City identified the area, that was underperforming economically and high in crime, as prime for redevelopment. The City had to modify zoning ordinances, adopting form based code, to set the stage for redevelopment in the area.
City of Kennesaw Zoning Administrator, Darryl Simmons stated that this is the largest land assemblage in the history of Kennesaw in terms of the number of parcels with individual owners assembled. He views this project, along with the Revival on Main in downtown Kennesaw and the Kennesaw Marketplace at the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Barrett Parkway, as catalyst projects that will change the direction of Kennesaw in a positive way and help to revitalize the entire area.
Tony Morris, of the Meridian Real Estate Group, worked diligently over the last three years to put this deal together and get it to the finish line. Darryl Simmons had this to say about the efforts of the Meridian Real Estate Group: “I think the reason why we were successful in getting this done is because you guys were really on your game as far as getting out there, talking to your clients, and talking to the property owners. Obviously this is the largest residential assemblage Kennesaw has had, you’re talking over 70 parcels in a small area. There’s a lot of ways it could have gone wrong. There’s a lot of things that could have derailed the project, but because of your diligent work and you guys hitting the bricks everyday to keep the project going forward, the assemblage part, which is the heavy lifting, was possible.”