3475 Piedmont Road

Description: New construction of an Element Hotel including 166 rooms, 6 stories in height.  No additional parking is proposed as there will be shared parking with the Prominence office building.  The hotel is geared toward the business traveler and includes meeting space and public facing components along the Piedmont Road frontage.  The opportunity for future interparcel access between this site and the Piedmont Center development to the north is maintained with this proposal.

Click image to download all documents:

Applicant:  REVPar, Pete Patel

SAP#:

Variation Requested: Several

Recommendations Regarding Variations:

 

Section 16-18L.010.3.b:   The applicant requests a reduction in the amount of area in the supplemental zone that must be required to be publically accessible from 75% to 25%.  The rationale for this request is to provide additional landscaping in the area that provides a buffer between the meeting rooms and the street.

Recommendation:   The committee recommends approval of this request.

 

Section 16-18L.011:  Relationship of building to the street:  The applicant is requesting a reduction in the required minimum floor to ceiling height along Piedmont Road from the required 18’ to 12’.

Recommendation:  The committee notes that this code requirement is intended for use in mixed use developments as a way to ensure active (retail) spaces are incorporated along street frontages.  This development, being a hotel, is not a candidate for the inclusion of retail and is not anticipated to change uses in the future, so the committee recommends approval of this request.

Section 16-18L.018: Developments over 50,000 sf are required to join the transportation management association.

Recommendation:  The committee recommends the applicant comply with this section of the code by joining Livable Buckhead at the community champion level for hotels.  The annual membership dues for this level are calculated upon the number of guest rooms and are currently $3.09 per room ($512.94).  Contact Denise Starling 404-842-2682 for additional information.

 

Additional Recommendations

• The committee recommends the applicant work with GDOT and the adjacent parcel to reconfigure the walkway crossing of the right-in-right-out on Piedmont Road to incorporate a direct crossing rather than the proposed alignment that jogs back into the development to. This change would minimize the pinch to the sidewalk and enhance pedestrian connectivity along Piedmont.
• The committee recommends the applicant explore the inclusion of wayfinding signage on the site to direct visitors and staff to the Buckhead MARTA station and PATH400.
• The committee recommends the applicant provide more significant separation between the traffic accessing/exiting the office building and the internal loading entrance for the hotel. A landscaped median is suggested.

 

The Development Committee does not expect to see this applicant again unless significant changes are made to the proposed plans that necessitate additional variations or the City staff requests additional input from the DRC.