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For sale: Two bedrooms, one bath, and an art gallery
By KIRSTEN TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/16/07
Who needs a doorman when you can have a docent?
More and more Atlantans simply can't live without art - and several local builders are making sure they won't have
to when they open new mixed-use projects around the city in the next two years. They are planning projects with
theaters and/or sizable art galleries included.
"This is the new growth," said Atlanta city Councilman Kwanza Hall, whose district includes Auburn Avenue and part
of Midtown and is home to at least two of the developments. "People are beginning to see the benefit of having
art around you."
Potentially in the mix: rooftop stages, name-brand curators, lecture halls and more.
Here's an advance look at arts-focused residential projects in the works:
One Museum Place
Home builder John Wieland, a major donor to the High Museum of Art, plans 96 luxury condos for his midrise
building across Peachtree Street from the museum. The project officially broke ground Sept. 5.
British architect David Chipperfield is nearly finished with the design development of the $135 million
project, scheduled to open in 2009. A centerpiece of the building is a 15,000-square-foot gallery for
contemporary art, which will be subsidized for the first 10 years by the Wieland Family Foundation. The
gallery will be programmed in consultation with the High Museum's contemporary art curator, Jeffrey Grove.
The museum will have the opportunity to acquire the gallery for $1 after 10 years.
Wieland also has said he plans to have an artist in residence.
The Gallery Tower
Plenty of developers boast about the artwork in their lobbies. Novare Group is taking that idea a step
further with Gallery, its nearly completed condo tower on the corner of Peachtree Street and Rumson Road
in Atlanta. Designer Janice Dietz helped Novare plan a 1,200-square-foot gallery on the ground floor that
will feature changing exhibitions from four of Atlanta's big-name art galleries. Dietz has a distinguished
pedigree: She is the daughter of Burton and the late Lenore Gold, who for years were among the most important
collectors of contemporary art in Atlanta - and who generously gave many important pieces to the
High Museum. The galleries she chose for the project are Marcia Wood Gallery; Tew Galleries; Bill Lowe
Gallery; and Mason Murer Fine Art. The art gallery will have a sign on Peachtree and large glass walls
allowing passers-by to glimpse the sculpture, paintings and photographs within. "It's primarily a venue
for the residents," said Mark Karelson, director of Mason Murer Fine Art. "There's great potential among
that group of residents just because they're interested in living in a place called Gallery." Another
unusual feature of Gallery: The model units are furnished with original contemporary artwork on loan.
True Colors Theatre/Studioplex
After years with no fixed address, True Colors Theatre Company may finally get a performance space to
call its own. Co-founded in 2002 by Kenny Leon - who remains artistic director - True Colors currently
produces 2 to 4 shows a year, renting such venues as the Rialto Performing Arts Center and the Balzer
Theater in downtown Atlanta. "It's what we call a 'moveable feast,'" said Jenny Costantino, the theater's
communications director. Maybe not for long. True Colors is exploring building a black box theater with
about 500 seats as part of the planned expansion of Studioplex in the Sweet Auburn district of downtown
Atlanta. The theater would be on the third or fourth floor of one of the condo buildings, Costantino said.
True Colors' offices would remain in the existing Studioplex building, and the troupe would rent out the
theater - dubbed "The Auburn" - when not using it. Developers own 10 acres on the site, and plan to
build five mixed-use buildings, said Dillon Baynes, president of Orinda Corp., which is managing the
project. "People who buy into the urban living concept have a different idea of amenities than people
who want to live in subdivisions," he said. "They want proximity to mass transit, restaurants and shops,
and they like to live near art galleries and entertainment options." True Colors is expected to launch a
capital campaign this fall to raise funds for the new theater.
Spruill Gallery
This farmhouse-turned-gallery in Dunwoody sits on 5 1/2 acres of undeveloped land near Perimeter Mall.
But early next year, Mulberry Development Group of Atlanta and Inland America Communities of Dallas will
begin construction on a mixed-use project that will include 258 high-end rental apartments and 30,000
square feet of retail space. At the heart of it all: a 12,000 square-foot art gallery complex, transforming
Spruill into one of the biggest nonprofit galleries in metro Atlanta. There will be several exhibition
galleries, a 120-seat lecture theater, a catering kitchen and classrooms. This is one project that had
to revolve around art. The Spruill family donated the land with the provision that if it ceased to be
used to promote the arts, DeKalb County could take over the property.
An outdoor theater on top of City Hall East?
Nearly every small performing arts group in town, it seems, has met with Emory Morsberger, developer of
the massive City Hall East redevelopment project in Midtown. Ponce Park LLC, which includes the Morsberger
Group, bought the former Sears, Roebuck and Co. store on Ponce de Leon Avenue for $33 million. The
developers take control of the property in October 2008. Morsberger envisions a cultural mecca, with
art galleries on the ground floor and a black box theater in the building. He's even planning an outdoor
theater, perhaps with a partial roof, for the top of the old Sears building. Morsberger said he has
talked to Opera South, Dad's Garage Theatre in Atlanta and the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville - among
many other groups - about their interest in using a theater on the site. Morsberger sees a strong desire
to live near arts and entertainment options among his target market, which, he said, includes "educated
baby boomers who are leaving their 5,000-square-foot homes in Alpharetta or Lawrenceville and moving to
Midtown."
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