ATLANTA— A Boston-based development group has selected a 36-acre parcel next to Perimeter Mall and the Dunwoody MARTA station here for its first metro Atlanta mixed-use project. GID Urban Development Group plans to ask the DeKalb County Commission to rezone the parcel for 3,000 residential units, 400,000 square feet of retail, 400,000 square feet of office and 400 hotel rooms. The project, which GID calls High Street, would begin construction in 2009 and open for first occupancy in 2011 at the intersection of Hammond Drive and Perimeter Center Parkway. John Darrah, vp of GID Urban Development, said the company wants to create the livable, pedestrian heart the Perimeter community currently lacks and is modeling its approach after its Regent Square project five miles from downtown Houston. Regent Square was GID Urban Developments first effort at creating a mixed-use urban project. Houston is often compared to Atlanta as a sprawling Sun Belt city where growing traffic gridlock is prompting civic leaders to consider more mixed-use development that promotes pedestrian activity. Although the 24-acre Regent Square, announced in January, is a somewhat smaller development than GID is planning for High Street, it features many of the same amenities, such as sidewalks and a mix of traditional architecture and street-level retail.
