Welcome back!

It’s that time of year when we get to spend time with friends and family and give thanks. This is also the time of year for those die-hard shoppers to prepare to assault the stores on what has become known as Black Friday. Now while you may be looking to take advantage of the latest deals, keep in mind that not all deals are found in the stores.

For example, you can find lots of great deals online.

Another option is in the Smyrna Vinings real estate market. Home prices have been reduced, interest rates are phenomenal and if you’re a first-time homebuyer you can qualify for $8,000 and if you’re a move-up homebuyer you can qualify for $6,500.

These kind of deals are going to be hard to beat in the stores or even online. To make your Black Friday shopping spree, easier, we’ve compiled up-to-date lists of Smyrna Vinings short sales as well as foreclosures in Smyrna Vinings.

• Smyrna Foreclosures
• Smyrna Short Sales
• Vinings Foreclosures
• Vinings Short Sales
• Mableton Foreclosures
• Mableton Short Sales

If you’re interested in taking advantage of the Smyrna Vinings Black Friday deals in the real estate market, be sure to contact us for your free buyer consultation.

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As a follow-up to our posts on the Smyrna Town Hall Meeting and Smyrna Economic Development, I did promise to give you an update from the meeting on Jonquil Village. It’s been quite awhile since we’ve provided you with an update.

Jonquil Village is owned and developed by Century Retail. They have invested $17 million of their own money into the project to date. Unfortunately, the project has become a victim of the economy.

Until the commercial lending environment changes, the project is expected to be  at a stand-still. No TAD (Tax Allocation District) funds have been spent on the project according to Andrea Hall, Smyrna’s Economic Development Coordinator.

The good news is that Publix is still committed to the project. The original shopping center has been demolished, the site is graded and much of the underground infrastructure for the parking deck is completed. The 14-acre, $181 million mixed-use project is slated to include 30,000 square feet of office space, 160,000 square feet of retail along with 300 condominiums and 1,300 deck and surface parking spots.

So we’ll continue to wait and see what happens, but commercial lending right now is very difficult to obtain.

Next up is an update on Belmont Hills, which is actually more promising. Stay tuned…

Smyrna Vinings Shopping

With the holiday season upon us, you may dread the trip to the local mall and be looking for an alternative. Smyrna Vinings offers a lot of unique shopping alternatives to help remedy your holiday shopping blues. Be sure to check out:

Ivy Walk

Located at the corner of Atlanta Road and Cumberland Parkway, Ivy Walk offers an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants. You can start your day off with breakfast at J. Christophers, pop into Little Azio’s for a quick lunch and finish off the day at South City Kitchen. In between, you’ll have plenty of time to stroll from store to store and check out the unique shops, such as Seagrass Home and Garden, Hand in Pocket and Lollipops & Lemonade.

West Village

West Village is a hot new development at the corner of I-285 and Atlanta Road, just down the street from Ivy Walk. West Village is quickly expanding their retail offerings, but be sure to check out some of the boutiques such as Je Belle’s, PALO’s Shoe Gallery and Pashmere Ladies Boutique. And don’t forget to stop by Lime, McCray’s Tavern or Blue Moon Pizza for a bite to eat.

Vinings Jubilee

Located in historic Vinings Village, Vinings Jubilee is teeming with a wonderful assortment of quaint shops and tantalizing restaurants. You’ll love the options available for your shopping needs in the Vinings Jubilee, including Limetree & Li’l Squeeze, Belles Choses, Francesca’s Collections and the dining options are fabulous with such standouts as SoHo, LaPaz and Garrison’s.

So don’t despair about the crowds at the mall. Go have fun and make it a day of shopping at one of Smyrna Vinings premier shopping experiences.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Shopping, Vinings Shopping, West Village, Ivy Walk, Vinings Jubilee

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The Crossings at Four Corners Update

Thanks to Ben for the recent inquiry regarding The Crossings at Four Corners. There certainly have been more vacancies recently. You typically a property appear to deteriorate further before being redeveloped. As covered in the January update, The Crossings at Four Corners was purchased by Tri-Land Properties out of Chicago along with several outparcels in front of the shopping center in December of 2006.

The company has been working on several options and no final plans have been completed as of yet, but they are getting close. According to the company, they will working on lining up new tenants and should expect to have a finalized plan within the next 6-9 months and then start the redevelopment. This project will most likely mean a complete raze of the current structures due to functional obsolescence and a brand new concept replacing the current shopping center.

Above is a illustration of a possible plan for the Smyrna redevelopment project. Additionally, you can check out a proposed site plan for the project below (click on the site plan to enlarge).

Needless to say, Smyrna residents are eager to see the redevelopment of this parcel of land due to its high-profile and high impact on the future of this area of the city. Hopefully, the redevelopment of one corner will lead to redevelopment of the other corners as well. I will certainly keep everyone updated as I learn more about this property.

And keep the questions coming. It’s always great to hear what you want to find out about our community. Just click the button below to email us your questions.

Technorati Tags: The Crossings at Four Corners, Smyrna Real Estate, Smyrna Redevelopment, Smyrna Georgia

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In case you missed it in the Smyrna Neighbor yesterday, the Smyrna City Council unanimously approved a development agreement with Halpern Enterprise which will allow for the redevelopment of Belmont Hills at the corner of Atlanta Road and Windy Hill Road in Smyrna to commence. Below is an aerial photo of the current shopping center.

Rather than waiting to see how the Tax Allocation District (TAD) and Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) issues will be resolved as part of a special referendum in November, the City Council has decided to get creative. In January, the Smyrna City Council approved a $23.5 million tax allocation district subsidy for the redevelopment project.

The project was awaiting county and school board approval, but in February the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the portion of property taxes apportioned to schools could not be used to fund redevelopment projects under the current law. With that ruling, approximately half of potential TAD funding for projects was eliminated. This ruling impacts not only Belmont Hills, but also the upcoming Jonquil Village.

Under the new agreement with Halpern Enterprise, the company will self-fund the TAD eligible expenses (infrastructure improvements) and be reimbursed from tax revenue generated by county and city property taxes as a result of the project. It will be up to Halpern Enterprise to acquire the up-front funding to move forward with the project. With this new agreement, the City of Smyrna will not be issuing bonds and Halpern Enterprise bears all the risk. Click here, if you’d like to read the original Smyrna Neighbor article.

The new development, to be called Belmont, currently calls for

• 93,500 square feet in commercial office and retail space
• 344 condos
• 286 townhomes
• 174 luxury rentals
• 8 single family homes

Belmont will be a dynamic, mixed-use development. The 47.5 acre development will feature a pedestrian
friendly atmosphere with wide sidewalks and bike paths. Additionally, it will offer a variety of architectural styles, patios, roundabout intersections and extensive landscaping.

Technorati Tags: Belmont Hills, Jonquil Village, TAD Financing, City of Smyrna, Smyrna Real Estate

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