High Profile Design Changes; More Rent v. Buy; Rumormongering

All the latest neighborhood and real estate news from Curbed Atlanta.

Midtown/Downtown— Two high-profile development projects announced design changes this week. In the case of Novare's new apartment tower on 6th Street, the changes are for the better. In the case of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, let's just say the new design is going to save $30 million...infer what you will.

Everywhere— As housing begins to show signs of an actual improvement, the Rent vs. Buy question gets ever more complex. Why? Gobs of investment dollars are flowing into both new multifamily development and ventures seeking to buy foreclosed single family homes and convert them into rental housing. Tough to know how all of these forces will come together, but if you know please share.

Grant Park— We got our rumor-monger on early this week, mashing a couple of completely unsubstantiated pieces of real estate gossip together to deduce that Sembler will be developing a Walmart-anchored shopping center on the old LaFarge site on Glenwood Avenue.

Midtown— Preservationists are rallying to save the historic Crum & Forster building in Midtown from the Georgia Tech Foundation, who have been trying to tear the thing down to make way for new development since 2007. The conflict pits all manner of Atlanta power players against each other, including city hall, preservation leaders and the formidable Board of the GT Foundation itself. This will be an interesting one to watch.

House of the Week— if you're in the market for a 5 bedroom house and like Decatur, get thee to this house on Melrose Avenue post-haste. The 1920's Craftsman still has most of its original details plus the modern upgrades you crave...all for $639,000. With Buckhead seeing the return of the $600k+ 3 bedroom listing, seems like a deal.