Alpharetta

ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA 12,000-square-foot Verizon Wireless Amphi- theater connects to Big Creek Greenway, an 8-mile linear park and recreational trail along the Chattahoochee River at the heart of the Alpharetta experience. Bringing walkable urban concepts into a true suburban market reflects changes that companies and their employees are looking for: another type of lifestyle to round out the Alpharetta community without having to get in a car. In metro Atlanta, known for having some of the worst traffic in the country, that’s huge. Cook notes, “The section that goes through the existing large office market is very subur- ban, and the buildings are set back with large parking lots.We’ve found that office users are looking for commutes with mixed-use and recreational opportunities, so the ‘Loop’ will connect them to retail and restaurants. There is a lot of interest here; Jackson Healthcare has a permit for 250,000 square feet, resulting in 1500 jobs.” The current focus of the Alpha Loop is the inner loop. The next phase – the outer loop– is the frosting on the cake. Drinkard adds, “Once the inner loop is done, you’re looking at 15,000 jobs, three million sq. ft. of office space, and over 700,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurants – plus, residential on top of that. It’s a key com- ponent for Alpharetta’s future.” Several sections of the inner loop are pres- ently under construction. Funding is accessed from the city’s capital budget; impact fees which developers pay; sidewalks and parks accounts; and private contributions. One developer with a million square feet of of- fice space along the trail donated $100,000 towards project construction. And the city is always looking for new partners to come on board. Alpharetta has more infrastructure proj- ects going on, now, than at any single point in the city’s history. In 2016, two funding mechanisms were passed– a local, General Obligation Bond that’s funding $26 million in infrastructure projects, and a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that’s funding very large projects, some being done in partnership with adjoining municipalities and counties. Currently, the city has about $40 million in infrastructure projects on the books, to be completed within the next three to seven years. “Residents tell us their three biggest con- cerns are traffic, traffic, and traffic,” says Drinkard, “so we’re expanding our key east- west arterial collectors that flow through the city, and tightening our neighborhood col- lectors to keep traffic going where it needs to go. Because Alpharetta is an employment