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LIVE/WORK: Convenient lifestyle booms across metro Atlanta: Reclaimed older buildings, new construction in mix
By C.W. Cameron
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/06/07
"Hold on, the train is coming by, and I need to close the doors."
That's not the barber on Main Street in some sleepy Southern town talking; it's Grover Sterling closing the doors on the back of his commercial photography studio on Marietta Street just west of downtown Atlanta.
Sterling lives and works in a 1920s warehouse that once stored ice for Atlanta citizens. "Trains would come from up north with ice, and unload it into this building."
When Sterling bought the warehouse in 1991, he had a tough time convincing bankers that live/work was a good idea. "The biggest banks laughed in my face," he says. Now, he's gaining neighbors, and his loft has been featured on HGTV's "Lofty Ideas." It was even voted the best live/work space during the Atlanta Downtown Festival and Loft Tour.
"In doing my renovation, I kept the outside nondescript so it wouldn't gather too much curiosity," Sterling says. Inside, he created a large open studio space with a restaurant-style kitchen that meets the needs of both work and home.
The bedroom and a media room are tucked away into a second floor space overlooking the studio. "I didn't want people who came here to feel they were working in my house, so it's a very businesslike space."
Live/work is different from a traditional home office, providing commercial and customer activity at the street level with living space above or behind.
In 2001, designer Patrick Seferovich bought a two-story, 100-year-old building on Marietta Street and converted it into an office and living space.
"In designing live/work, it's best if you have a door off the street for your office or retail space, a separate entrance, so you can literally leave your 'home life' when you go into the office."
As Seferovich continues to design and build live/work arrangements, he keeps that in mind. "Live/work gives a lot of flexibility to people with small businesses who want to get back their travel time. And if they're going to an office, they're probably leasing it, and they'd rather invest it in something they own," Seferovich says.
It's not just the older commercial and industrial core of Atlanta that's being filled with live/work spaces. Glenn and Kelli Galish were living in a Midtown high-rise and looking for a home where Glenn could also have a storefront office.
When they found the new construction at 752 Moreland Ave. in East Atlanta, they fell in love. They bought a three-floor townhouse with 2,600 square feet, which includes 700 square feet of office space on the ground floor.
With this arrangement, Glenn Galish says "You can get so much more done. We gained two hours a day."
They love being in the midst of the pedestrian traffic on Moreland Avenue in their distinctive building. "Driving by this building, you really can't miss it."
When he and Kelli started shopping, they found there wasn't a huge number of live/work units out there. "With more people working out of their homes and running their own businesses, we were surprised there wasn't a larger selection."
More live/work units are being built. North Highland Steel is being built on industrial property adjoining the proposed Beltline in northeast Atlanta.
Aaron Goldman of Perennial Properties says, "It's an outgrowth of technology. People can be dialed into their own business or running an office for somebody else's business. As land becomes more expensive, it makes sense to use the same roof to provide for housing and for work. It increases the capital that's available for other parts of their lives."
Steven Cover, commissioner of planning and community development for Atlanta, says, "The live/work concept is something we are definitely encouraging. It provides a unique situation you can't find in traditional suburbs, and appeals to everyone from artists to people who are starting their own businesses. If you have that kind of scenario, you provide a really attractive lifestyle."
Pedestrian-friendly zoning and policies to encourage adaptive reuse of abandoned and underused buildings are being used all over metro Atlanta to encourage a variety of housing types appealing to many different homeowners. Cover says, "It's happening in a lot of different areas, and it's very exciting."
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