Fresh off of a key permit approval, the developer of the planned 32-story Ritz-Carlton hotel and condo tower in Buckhead is now facing an appeal filed by neighboring condo owners.
Eyed for 3650 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd., the project received special administrative permit approvals in April. But in an appeal of that decision filed this month, the 3630 Peachtree Master Condominium Association claims owner and developer Atlas Capital Ventures didn’t have the association’s necessary consent to submit an SAP application for the project site, let alone receive approvals for one.
“Despite these facts, and somewhat inexplicably, the City approved the SAP Application on April 6, 2021, authorizing, among other things, significant construction activity on the ± 3.282 acre Developed Property that the Primary Owner—not the Building Pad Owner–owns,” attorneys for the association write in its appeal filing.
Atlas Capital Ventures’ plans for the site go back to 2019, when an affiliate acquired the nearly half-acre project parcel from Mid-America Apartment Communities for just under $9 million. The site is just north of 3.28-acre 3630 Peachtree Rd. NE, which holds the 40-story tower that includes the condo association’s homes (and as a whole is owned by Chicago-based company Heitman).
A spokesperson for the city’s Office of Zoning and Development, which reviews and approves SAP applications, said it had no comment at this time, while Atlas Capital Ventures and planning consultant Kimley-Horn also declined to comment.
In its filing, the appellant also argue that the city improperly approved the SAP application by doing so before the SPI-12 Design Review Committee, a special public interest district committee for Buckhead, had been presented with a complete application and issued a formal comment to city planning staff.
The appeal will go before the city’s Board of Zoning Adjustment on Thursday, July 1. If the appeal is denied, the new Ritz-Carlton project will move forward with plans for 256 hotel rooms and 82 condos.
Attorneys for the condo association didn’t immediately responded to requests for comment.
