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Apartments Feeding Esther Jackson Elementary

There has been interest in the contribution of apartments to the K-5 student population at Esther Jackson Elementary School, and in particular how the demolition of the King's Bridge apartments to make way for Roswell East would affect the composition of the Esther Jackson Elementary student population.

This information from Fulton County indicates that 70% of students who live in apartments and attend Esther Jackson Elementary come from apartments other than King's Bridge, mostly from the West side of GA 400. (King's Bridge is on the East).

The developer states "Proposed type and number of residential units proposed for Roswell East creates about 50 fewer students for the surrounding schools when compared to the current apartments"

Therefore, after Roswell East is built, the contribution that the apartments on the other side (West side) of GA 400 make to Esther Jackson should be a higher percentage than it is now, and may go up in absolute terms as well if additional capacity at Esther Jackson Elementary is opened up by the Roswell East project.

The map shows the student counts from the various apartment complexes and their locations.

	Gables Wood Crossing	King's Bridge	Avistele	Roswell Gables	Wood Creek	All Apartments
Number of K-5 Students	43	123	47	71	128	412
Percentage of apartments	10.4%	29.9%	11.4%	17.2%	31.1%	100%

ROSWELL: Huge project faces hurdles

Click here for an AJC article on the subject with the above title. (free AJC registration required)
Here is another link to a similar AJC article: click here
Basically mayor Jere Wood reiterates / clarifies that his support for the "Charlie Brown" Roswell East project is conditional on "certainty", not just "probability" of funding for the road projects to offset the added traffic load.

More Roswell East Conceptual Pictures. These made by the Developer.

This is the Developer's drawing of their proposed Roswell East development: (click the image for a larger version)

Burbs Going Vertical

AJC also did an article on the Roswell East development: Is Roswell Ready (free AJC registration may be required)

Relative Roswell East Project Density

	Roswell East	Centennial Walk	Windfaire	Martin's Landing
Households	2,975	167	38	1,964
Retail/Office Sq Ft	950,000	159,900	0	0
Status	Not yet approved	Recently approved	Recently approved	Existing

3D Drawings of Roswell East Proposal Based on Conceptual Site Plan

(New image set from 3/2/2007)
All Views in one PDF file
roswell_east.pdf (large - 4.2mb)
Chart Listing Building Heights
(click the above image for a larger image)
First Conceptual View (Looking North on State Route 400)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)
Second Conceptual View (Looking Northwest from Martin's Landing)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)
Third Conceptual View (Looking West from Martin's Landing)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)
Fourth Conceptual View (Looking East from State Route 400)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)
Fifth Conceptual View (Looking East from State Route 400 - Through Buildings)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)
Sixth Conceptual View (Birds eye view looking Northeast along State Route 400)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)
Seventh Conceptual View (Birds eye view looking Northwest from Martin's Landing)
With building placement
(click the above image for a larger image)

Conceptual images produced by City of Roswell Community Development Department Staff from Conceptual Site plan and building heights provided by the applicant

The drawings and buildings at this stage in the development process are conceptual. The City has only been provided by the applicant a conceptual site plan as well as a general table that indicates the number of stories of the parts of the buildings but not elevations. From the site plan you can identify what is the taller part of the building. From the aerial photo you can measure a known building and then transfer the proportions to the other aspects of the other buildings which was done such that the buildings are internally proportionate. However, they have been placed on the plain of the photo image which is a flat surface. The actual topography of the land varies by 100 feet(+/-). The city is working on representing the topography of the site such that the building height could be seen in relation to a representation of the actual ground.

Note: If you click on an image to get a larger view, Internet Explorer might shrink the image to fit in the new window. If you want to see the image in full resolution, hover your mouse over the image and an expand image like this will appear:
If you click on it you will see the image in full resolution.

Pricey change at Holcomb Bridge interchange may be hard to fund

By PAUL KAPLAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/14/07

Most of the talk swirling around Roswell East, Charlie Brown's $2 billion megaproject, has focused on his plan to build high-rise towers in a city that has no tall buildings.

But for Brown, a potentially higher hurdle has emerged. Improvements to the interchange of Ga. 400 and Holcomb Bridge Road aren't on the regional planning agency's 25-year wish list.

The biggest project in Roswell's history now hinges largely on a road improvement that isn't even on the land where the development would be built.

Roswell Mayor Jere Wood says he can't support the development without a major improvement to the interchange at Ga. 400 and Holcomb Bridge Road.

Brown's high-density project would feed traffic onto both of those roads, which are already overburdened.

"I support his proposal, provided we do an interchange improvement at the same time," Wood said. "Charlie Brown has some thoughts on that, but we need [more]. We need to have a commitment. This isn't a matter of faith."

But a commitment from whom?

Brown's vision of a flyover bridge to feed westbound Holcomb Bridge traffic directly onto southbound 400 would cost a fortune. There are no official estimates, but it would cost much more than either Brown or Roswell could likely afford. And the interchange is not on the Atlanta Regional Commission's 25-year wish list of road projects to fund.

So what will Wood and Brown do?

"You go down on your knees and you beg," Wood said. "You go to the Department of Transportation, you go to the Atlanta Regional Commission, you go to the governor, you go to your local representative, your senator, your congressman. You get on your knees and beg."

Brown knows the drill.

Ask the veteran deal-maker what he actually does at his company, CRB Realty, and he says, "Tilt at windmills."

What he means is that the development process is fraught with roadblocks, and you have to work through each of them, one by one. The bigger the project, the taller the roadblocks, and Roswell East is big.

Brown had hoped to present his project to the city, get it approved and then push for funding for the interchange improvement. But without Wood's support, that approach appears dead.

"Charlie would like to get his project started without this interchange, but I don't think the public will support it without a large improvement," Wood said.

Brown is not shrinking from the task. He points out that Holcomb Bridge connects Fulton to three counties — Cobb, Cherokee and Gwinnett — and that 400 connects Fulton and Forsyth counties, so he expects support from several stakeholders.

"This is a regional situation, a regional crossroads, so it's reasonable to expect a regional solution," Brown said.

Roswell has asked the ARC to add the Holcomb Bridge/400 interchange to its priority list, but road money is getting tighter, not looser. Because of a projected shortfall in state road funds, more projects are coming off the list than are being added to it.

A $2 billion development would generate a lot of tax revenue, however, and Wood thinks the potential revenue could give Roswell a leg up in getting the interchange rebuilt.

"It's easier to do it if you've got money coming to the city, county and state from a project — there are a lot more financing options," Wood said.

One option would be support from the city, and Wood has not ruled that out. Roswell has commissioned its own study of the interchange and will be getting feedback soon on how best to build the flyover and what it would cost.

But Wood would need support from the City Council, and several members are already dubious about the height and density of Brown's proposed project. An expensive road addition tossed in could push the whole package over the edge, so it's not Wood's preferred approach.

"Who pays for it I haven't resolved yet," he said. "My first preference is to use other people's money."