Atlantic Station

OK, so this area is a mixed bag. This was supposed to be like the second coming of Christ when it was developed five or six years ago. It is across the freeway from Midtown. Thus you are a bit cut off from midtown and Piedmont Park. Certainly not walking distance, perhaps running if you’re going to the park. Atlantic Station is a mixed-use development with a lot of retail, a movie theater, and plenty of dining options. I really liken this to living in Times Square in New York, or on the 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica. It is just tons and tons of people from the suburbs going to Dillard’s, GAP, or California Pizza Kitchen. For the most part, it is all chain dining and chain retail like you would find in a mall. On the weekends the traffic for the movie theater can be pretty heavy.

There are a couple of nice highrises and many nice townhomes here. For the most part, this area is very safe. That said it seems like there are a lot of people from South Atlanta cruising around all the time and there have been some shootings here with all of the weekend traffic coming through, but this area is still considered a very safe option. In some buildings, prices here have fallen on average of 40-60% since their initial sale. There are many foreclosures here and even developers are clearing out the few remaining units that have not sold.
Overall Atlantic Station is pretty nice, but not necessarily my top pick. That said, a new Master Developer took over the development about a year ago and intends to move it more upmarket. CB Richard Ellis and a few other big commercial players are now controlling the development. Perhaps the opening of The Atlantic Station Residences is also helping the Atlantic Station market and providing a greater degree of allure to this area.