ATLANTA (defeo.biz) — Buckhead is known the world over for its shopping, dining and entertainment options. But, the community’s continued growth will dramatically change the community profile over the 36 months.
That was the message of former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell, who gave his annual “State of Buckhead” on Feb. 23 to the Buckhead Business Association (BBA).
“Unless you are visually impaired, all you need do is drive Peachtree, Piedmont, Roswell, Paces Ferry and other major arteries to see that Buckhead is booming,” Massell told the crowd gathered at the City Club of Buckhead.
By 2020, Massell predicted:
- The average annual square footage rental rate for an office will increase 32.7 percent (from $32.54 to $43.18)
- The average office building vacancy rate will decrease from 11.1 percent to 3.1 percent
- Annual retail sales will grow from more than $2.9 billion to $3,7 billion
- The average hotel occupancy rate will increase from 78.9 percent to 81.3 percent
- The average single-family home price will increase from $1,114,891 to $1,494,130
- The estimated population will grow approximately 4.8 percent (from 87,314 to 91,487)
- The average commercial land sales price per square foot from $91.97 to $141,740
In his address a year ago, Massell tackled the issue of Buckhead’s apartment boom and urged community members “to make our new rental residents feel at home, and we will benefit from their contributions in many ways.”
“As the physical center of the twenty-county Atlanta Metropolitan Region, and Georgia’s gateway to government services, performing arts, professional sports, and more, we affect its six-plus-million population,” Massell said.
“I have had the good fortune to witness Buckhead flourish, being identified as ‘The Beverly Hills of the East,’ elevated to the stage where Beverly Hills can be proudly called ‘The Buckhead of the West,’” Massell added. “Occupying about twenty percent of Atlanta’s geography, and housing about twenty percent of its population, while paying about forty-five percent of the City’s ad valorem taxes, certainly places us as a significant supporter of this City. At the same time, Atlanta is certainly extremely relevant to Buckhead.”
