How an upscale condo rezoning unraveled in East Point

A developer’s insults cause pushback as the Flats seeks high-density project

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It was a straight-forward question. The kind you’d expect a seasoned developer to nail. Instead, it led to the unraveling of a rezoning request for a 48-unit condo development near Tri-Cities High School.

City Councilmember Thomas Calloway wanted to know why James Nolan wouldn’t build on the land under its current zoning.

Nolan’s answer was cringe-inducing. So were three other responses from the longtime developer during an hour-long discussion on Monday during an East Point City Council work session.

Nolan wants to rezone four parcels of land (second photo) on Martin Street near its intersection with Norman Berry Drive and receive zoning variances so he can build two, five-story buildings with more density and higher and closer to the street and neighbors than currently allowed. 

The development, called the Flats (top image), would include 48 units – 16 one-bedroom and 32 two-bedrooms units – and a pocket park snuggled onto a one-acre piece of land. Sales prices would range from $225,000 to $285,000.

It’s an upscale development across the street from the BuggyWorks office complex and within walking distance of the high school and the East Point MARTA Station. Nolan wasn’t shy in discussing the amenities he wants to offer and the buyers he’s marketing to.

And that’s where his sales pitch to the City Council – which has final say on the rezoning request – went sideways.

The question from Calloway, whose Ward B includes the proposed development, was simple enough. The parcels are zoned for residential townhomes – which would allow 10 units per acre – not the multifamily designation Nolan seeks to build 48 units per acre. So why not go with a project that fits the current zoning?

Nolan said he didn’t want to “build a low-income housing project.”

“The development plan that works, that makes any economic sense, is a multi-family and especially a multi-family project that would appeal to a diverse group of young professional and first-time home buyers. That was my marketing,” Nolan said. 

“With all frankness, I was not appealing to low-income people at this project. There are some home mortgage programs that perhaps a lesser income person could fit into. At this price point, which is going to be between $225,000 and $285,000, that is really above low-income housing. I didn’t want to build a low-income housing project,” he continued.

Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham – who already had questioned the density of the project and its lack of affordable housing – took exception to Nolan’s mention of “housing projects.”

“I have to say something because of his frankness,” Ingraham said. “You just indicated it doesn’t make economic sense and we have zoning in place as a city because of how we want to grow and sometimes economic sense is not what we’re driven by. You mentioned that it is not low income, it is not projects. You know, we have a very diverse community where we value everyone.”

‘It is a little bit upscale for the area’

Calloway asked Nolan if he would consider adding a mixed-income component to the Flats. Ingraham had earlier suggested the project needs an affordable housing component to appeal to buyers across multiple income levels.

Nolan responded by questioning whether Calloway understood the makeup of the neighborhood he represented. Cringe-worthy response number two.

“If you understand this neighborhood, this neighborhood is not single-family. It is multi-family,” Nolan said.

“Obviously, it is a little bit upscale for the area. But I want to get a different kind of diversity in terms of younger professionals and first-time home buyers where the product really isn’t there,” Nolan added.

Nolan added that without the increased density, the development won’t make financial sense.

“If you think the buildings are beautiful, they are. It is going to be difficult for me to create that product with any kind of profit, to be frank with you. But I’m pushing hard for that. That’s my goal. I don’t have any one goal besides that. I want to create a beautiful project,” he said.

Ingraham again called attention to Nolan’s tone-deaf responses. 

“Mr. Nolan, your interest is noted in our city. But when you say stuff like, ‘too upscale for the area,’ ‘it’s a little upscale for the area,’ let me remind you again about the community of East Point and the diversity that we value. As we move forward in this discussion, I hope you would consider that in your statements,” Ingraham said.

City Council member Sharon Shropshire also criticized Nolan’s approach and said she worried the condos wouldn’t sell and the buildings would sit empty.

“It is not affordable and trust me, you are going to end up with an empty building in that area,” Shropshire said.

“To build this in the middle of that, at this price, and say that you’re not building it for pretty much to make it affordable for everybody. Right there to me when that comment was made, that was an insult. But it is what it is. It’ll be a disadvantage not only for the community but for the whole city because you’ll be stuck with a vacant building,” she added.

That induced cringe-worthy moment number three. Nolan again questioned whether City Council members were familiar with the area. He also estimated the monthly mortgage and tax payment of $1,800 for a unit in the building is comparable to nearby rental rates. (The median monthly rent in East Point is $1,250, according to the Partnership for Southern Equity.)

“I don’t know if you’ve checked rental rates throughout your community, but the rents for projects and homes and residences substantially less than this are at that level. So here’s a chance for home ownership at a price of almost a rental,” Nolan said.

‘I don’t mean to insult anybody’

Nolan also resisted calls to include anything but market-rate condos in the development. He wasn’t interested in building a “not for profit” project, he said.

“I don’t mean to insult anybody or anything like that but when you have a for sale project that’s a not for profit, that’s what it is. There are not a lot of alternatives,” he said.

Nolan again said council members were unaware – this time of the amenities packages the Flats would offer to buyers. Cringe-worthy moment number four.

“One of the things that you’re not aware of is that the amenity package and the consideration that is going into this project, especially consideration for handicapped people,” he said.

Councilmember Joshua Butler said he liked the look of the project and wasn’t concerned with its density. But he took issue with Nolan’s approach and his repeated accusations that council members weren’t familiar with the city they represent.

“What I do have a problem with is that you may not understand the culture of East Point where we work with our partners and we work with our developers and we don’t have people tell the council people you don’t know that neighborhood, you don’t know how much the people are making, you may not know what is happening in your own community,” Butler said. 

He said Nolan’s own words were the biggest problem with the proposed development.

“It’s all in your presentation. It’s all in your syntax. It’s all in how you sell it. The reason you’re getting pushback today is because your syntax is off,” Butler said.

“You have to make a profit. You said it. It’s about how much money can I make. We want you to make money too. But we don’t want you to put profits over people, especially the people of East Point,” he added.

Ingraham (photo) said the project is symbolic of the gentrification she wants to avoid in future developments to protect the city’s longtime residents and businesses from being pushed out by rising property values and housing expenses. 

“The key is with any development of housing, there must be mixed income in it,” Ingraham said. 

“Gentrification doesn’t happen overnight. It is a project like this that if we don’t make sure that we’re getting the right conditions in before rezoning – not after rezoning with a promise of a study and then at that point we’re going to be chasing you to do something because you already have the zoning,” she added.

The city’s Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project and city staffers signed off on the rezoning and variances. But they put in place seven conditions, including mandating that Nolan complete a social impact study to explore the economic impact of the project on surrounding neighborhoods. The conditions also include the city maintaining architectural design oversight of the development. 

On June 15, the council will hold a public hearing on the project before voting on the rezoning request. 

Ingraham said that despite Nolan’s “somewhat insulting and offensive” responses during Monday’s work session, there is “a way forward” for the project.

“I think there is a way forward but it requires flexibility and so hopefully, again, if this is going to be on the agenda on Monday, we’ll be hearing more about the flexibility between now and then,” the mayor said.

“While it might not meet your economic goals – it might not make economic sense for you – as we think about how we want to grow as a city and the value that we have as a city to infuse equity and inclusion, it is important to us. Hopefully, between now and then, there may come some flexibility. But this position of this is what you guys have to take, this is all that I’m willing to do, if that is not aligned with where we want to grow and how we want to develop, not all development is good development for East Point,” Ingraham said.

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