wow!! thanks! i re-posted this on city-data so more people can hear about it.

the only thing they missed is that 'grand' entrance below the smaller window along decatur street. you can see it in the top left historical photo. that would be really cool to come back with, but even as-is this is a fantastic comeback for that building. i'm glad to see this happening.

two more questions though— first, will the walgreen's have a 'lunch counter' like the old pharmacies used to? second, what currently occupies the second floor, and what will occupy the second floor after the renovation?

I think this looks fantastic! :tup:

Walgreens will occupy all three floors (basement, ground floor, second floor). In keeping with the zoning, they have agreed not to put any shelves in front of windows, so you'll be able to look into the store from all sides.

There is no lunch counter, but at least 25% of their sales must be grocery items to comply with their grocer alcohol license. The majority of the first floor will likely be dedicated to this.

Terrific! This is an outstanding restoration on a lovely old building. I think it will really help the Five Points area.

(When I was little we would sometimes meet my dad downtown after work -- my sister and I called this the Wormy Hat building. We thought that was hilarious).

This is fantastic. Hopefully it kicks off a revitalization in that area.

That area is actually very vital already, with the exception of this vacant building. It's a busy pedestrian intersection with residential and shops along Peachtree, Marrietta, Decatur, and Broad...and Georgia State buildings and students galore.

I have long wished for someone to revive Olympia. Glad it's finally happening!

It certainly is a vital area, with plenty of foot traffic. My comment was that I hope the Walgreens brings higher quality retail to the area.

Agreed, now all we need is the streetcar to go along peachtree and this will be great

:tup:Maybe it's a start...quality retail is something our downtown is lacking, and adding more residential should help.

Walgreens has done a historic building retrofit in Chicago. http://blog.chicagoarchitecture.info...bank-building/

Last fall while in Chicago I happened into the Walgreens at the Noel State Bank without knowing that it was anything other than an ordinary Walgreens. If their execution is at the Olympia building anything close to the quality of their work at the Noel State Bank Building this will be a great addition.

Kudos to Walgreens for that. Very nice!

Re the Olympia Building, if the net lot area is 10,225 sf and the FAR is .89, does that mean each floor has about 9,000 sf?

If so and they are using the basement and the two floors above ground, that makes for a substantial retail space.

According to Walgreens website, this is their typical store:

Total size: 14,530 square feet
Sales area: 11,261 square feet
Items for sale: 18,000
Employees: 20-25
Annual sales: $8.5 million

This would be roughly twice that size!

The FAR is really 2.0 (100% lot coverage on 2 above-ground floors). The only reason the plan says 0.89 is because they've calculated incorrectly and included 1/2 the adjacent ROW.

Ah, thanks, Terminus.

I'm looking forward to seeing this store open. Do you know of the interiors are in decent shape? Or is all that coming out anyway?

Another Add to the List - Centergy North

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/85...90/22/wcqm.png

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/86...90/89/1370.png

Not so much. This was an attempt to market the property to potential office tenants several years ago. As you can see, the northern part of that property has been sold and is where the student apartments are now under construction. "Centergy North" is now also the proposed student apartment tower on the same block.

There is a lot more planned for this site than 1 or 2 housing towers.

• Submarket: Midtown, Atlanta
• Total Land Area: 7.15 acres
• Zoning: SPI-16 Mixed Use/High Density
• Floor Area Ratio: 10.2
• Frontage: I-75/85 - 600 ft
• Approved Density: 2,266 residential units

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/82...0/138/0qo5.png

He didn't say that it's only student apartments. Those obviously take up pieces of the lot shown in that graphic. The point is that that plan is not happening, which I'm happy about.

I wont be surprised that area would be dense before 2020