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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Terry's Tiny Tour: 101 Seconds at Frogtoon in Atlanta Tech Village with Yassine, Selah, & Trish


Was it a rave or a tech start-up incubator?  "I think maybe it's both." - Forrest Gump.

Hypepotamus and Architecture Tourist are teaming to tour tech work-spaces and to meet the cool folks who work there.

Our second stop was Atlanta Tech Village. It's a whole building full of tech companies smack on the corner of Piedmont and the Buckhead Loop. Trish Whitlock and I were visiting Yassine Sbiti and Selah Omer at Frogtoon Music. Yassine is founder and CEO, Selah was making it all work. Both were terrific hosts.

Atlanta Tech Village was JUMPING I tell you. The shiny orange wall and Octane Coffee were the CALMING influences. Have you been there?


That's the awesome Trish Whitlock, editor at Hypepotamus on the left, the awesome Octane Coffee barista on the right.

After coffee I didn't know what was going to happen. I was expecting to have my head blown clean off.

Instead we had the warmest little meeting. Yassine and Selah showed us Frogtune Music in their tiny yet totally adequate office.

As we said goodbye, Trish took pictures while I took 101 seconds of video and added a dash of Mozart.


A pleasant dose of warmth and good cheer, you don't meet companies and offices, you meet people. Bravo!

20150219_12151120150219_111216 2014-02-19 Hypepotamus tour Octane Atlanta Tech Village for Frogtoon meeting Yassine Sbiti Trich Whitlock
We got a little rowdy, enough that the shush-up-lady-in-yellow-stripes asked us to quiet down. We did.

Thanks Yassine, Selah, and Trish.

What about the first stop, the third, fourth and the rest? More later.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Help Us Find Atlanta's Flatiron Buildings and Use #FlatIronATL

If you use Instragram or Twitter or Facebook, use #FlatIronATL. If you are interested in places, preservation, and contributing, get Instagram and pitch in. OK?

I'm testing the hashtag waters for Atlanta Preservation Center's Phoenix Flies which starts in a couple of weeks. (Note: #PhoenixFlies #PreserveATL and maybe more.)

Let's find Atlanta's "Flatiron" Buildings. Let's find every single one in Greater Atlanta and tag every single one with #FlatIronATL.

What is a "Flatiron" building? I'm going to allow a lot of slack. Here are some ideas: One end narrower than the other, some non-parallel sides, some non-90 angles, sometimes at a non-90 degree intersection.

There might be some close calls. Maybe the Georgia Pacific Building isn't flatiron but it's certainly flatiron friendly.


Kind of like these. Our very best developers and architects really liked them. Me too.

20150208_181718 2015-02-08 weloveatl Instameet Atlanta flatiron flat iron buildings from Sundail Westin Peachtree Plaza
Atlanta's historic clashing street grids gave us many pointy intersections just right for flatirons.

20150116_110636 2014-01-16 Atlanta Olympic Building rehab at five points renovation
They don't have to have a point or be tall. (Olympia Building at Five Points). Marble never hurts.

20150210_135928 2015-02-10 flatiron 214 FLAT SHOALS AVE  Reynoldstown
They don't need to be tall, downtown, or occupied. The elegance is in the shape. (one of at least 3 on Flat Shoals in Reynoldstown.

20150211_154357 2015-02-11 Flatiron OUTREACH DELIVERANCE  MINISTRY  597 AUBURN AVE Atlanta  at Wheat Street and Randolph Street Old Fourth Ward 4th
A little church in the Old Fourth Ward will do fine. (Mental note: Why Auburn Avenue takes a diagonal here?

P1050048-2012-02-25--Airport-Drive-West-End-Citadel-Of-Hope-Evangelistic-COGIC-detail-full west end church
The pointy end needn't face the street and curves are perfectly fine in West End's Westview's Citadel of Home Evangelistic COGIC.

IMG_5339-2013-09-26-Tabernacle-Missionary-Holiness-Church-102-5th-Ave-Decatur-detail oakview flatiron flat iron
Vernacular "cracker" is a landmark in Oakhurst though few love it as much as I do. Is Kavarna a flatiron?

20150209_123121 2015-02-09 flatiron THE POINT 420 Moreland Avenue Little Five Points
To have been "The Point" in "Little Five" is an honor few flatirons can boast.


20150209_123118 2015-02-09 flatiron 417 Moreland Avenue Little Five Points
It's more than twice as good if your sister flatiron is across the street especially if you do tile with arts and crafts style. You can enjoy these right from your car.

20150211_154648 2015-02-11 Flatiron 775 LAKE AVE Inman Park Julianna's Crepes
I'll have crepes in my Inman Park flatiron.

20150214_123518 2015-02-14 flatiron in Castleberry Hill 101 CENTENNIAL PARK DR and Castleberry Point
Castleberry Hill has at least five flatirons and two are new.

20150214_123930 2015-02-14 flatiron in Castleberry Hill 159 WALKER ST
Sam Parker and Mollie Rose Freeman (legally) decorated this little one in Castleberry Hill.

20150214_165002 2015-02-14 flatiron east Atlanta East Atlanta Banking Company 520 FLAT SHOALS AVENUE ATLANTA 30316
There are at least three in East Atlanta including the stupendous East Atlanta Banking Company building.

That's not all

So go forth and #FlatIronATL.

Find those diagonal snaking streets: try Flat Shoals, Cascasde, Ralph David Abernathy. There's one on Forest Street on the West Side.

There should be some in Buckhead, Hapeville, College Park but I haven't had time to explore.

How about Mariettea, Roswell, Jonesboro, Chamblee Doraville?

How about Jim Ellis Chevrolet on Peachtree Industrial at Shallowford?

How about...

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Five Atlanta Schools for Sale: Challenges for Property Managers and Optimists.

Is allowing our abandoned schools to rot in place efficient for taxpayers? I hope not.

Can schools be world class in teaching AND in managing real estate? Unlikely and neither is easy.

Can we do better? I hope so.

I urge you to take a field trip and see these places in person. You can visit all five in a couple of hours and getting there is a big part of the fun because you've probably never been to these neighborhoods.

If you are interested, join the Facebook group: SAVE Atlanta's Historic Schools. Get on the Atlanta Preservation Center's mailing list (bottom of the page). Join if you can.

The maps are in this blog post. The Channel 46 video is at the very bottom.



This is George W. Adair School (1912), abandoned for about 40 years, diamonds in brick with deteriorating plywood, a block from the SW BeltLine.

Here are the five starting with the "class photo." Price and dimensions from  CNL Commercial Real Estate's website on 2015-02-07.
20150203_110728  2015-02-03 Preston Arkwright School 1261 Lockwood Drive Atlanta
Preston Arkwright School (1955)
1261 Lockwood Drive 30311
$485,000 30,829 SF acres: 4.06
Venetian Hills
IMG_5993 2015-02-05 George W Adair School 10th Ward 711 Catherine St Atlanta Adiar Park
George W Adair School (1912)
711 Catherine St Atlanta 30310
Adair $350,000 37,610 SF acres: 1.2
Adair Park
20150203_121738 2015-02-03 West Atlanta Elementary School Kimberly Road
West Atlanta Elementary School (1978 & 94)
1335 Kimberly Road Atlanta 30331
$2,900,000 51,588 SF acres: 14.32
20150203_112606 2015-02-03 Rosalie H Wright Elementary School 350 Autumn Lane
Rosalie H Wright Elementary School (1958 & 69)
350 Autumn Lane Atlanta 3031
$510,000 24,192 SF acres: 1.9
Florida Heights 
20150127_123013 2015-01-27 Milton Elementary School 1915 Chosewood Park 202 Milton AVE 30315 Atlanta
Milton Elementary School (1915)
202 Milton AVE 30315 Atlanta
$415,000 20,452 SF acres: 2.446
Chosewood Park


George W Adair School (1912) in Adair Park  My 126 photos of Adair in Flickr.
711 Catherine St Atlanta 30310

A corner landmark overlooking a park, a charming setting.

IMG_5970 2015-02-05 George W Adair School 10th Ward 711 Catherine St Atlanta Adiar Park
Even the backside of Adair is amazing..

2015-02-05 George W Adair School 10th Ward 711 Catherine St Atlanta Adiar Park site plan
The site.





Milton Elementary School (1915) in Chosewood Park My 60 Flicker Pictures of Milton Elementary.
202 Milton AVE 30315 Atlanta

 On the neighborhood's edge.

 
20150127_123059 2015-01-27 Milton Elementary School 1915 Chosewood Park 202 Milton AVE 30315 Atlanta

Milton Elementary Choosewood Park Milton Avenue 202 Milton Ave 30315 Choosewood Park site plan




Preston Arkwright School (1955) My 54 pictures of Arkwright on Flickr.
1261 Lockwood Drive 30311

On a hillside among houses in Venetian Hills.

20150203_110714

2015-02-03 Preston Arkwright School 1261 Lockwood Drive Atlanta





Rosalie H Wright Elementary School (1958 & 69) My 40 pictures of Wright on Flickr.
350 Autumn Lane Atlanta 30310

Smallish school among smallish houses on the northwestern edge of Westview Cemetery.

IMG_5849 2015-02-03 Rosalie H Wright Elementary School 350 Autumn Lane
From the parking lot.

2015-02-03 Preston Arkwright School 1261 Lockwood Drive Atlanta site plan






West Atlanta Elementary School (1978 & 94) My 58 photos of West Atlanta in Flickr.
1335 Kimberly Road Atlanta 30331

On a hilltop anticipating development of Kimberly road which apparently didn't develop beyond Ashley Courts.

20150203_120142 2015-02-03 West Atlanta Elementary School Kimberly Road

West Atlanta Elementary School 1335 Kimberly Road 30331 site plan





The Channel 46 Video thanks to Steve the producer and Trevar Bacome.