Condominiums
{ Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 }
Bill Peace, High Style High Rise Home Tour
Bill Peace of Atlanta-based Peace Design is one of six top designers participating in the month-long High Style High Rise Home Tour at The Residences at W Atlanta – Downtown. His decorated model, created in conjunction with Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, is on display through April 1st, with ticket sales benefitting the High Museum. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you choose to “supersize” your time at the W Downtown by swinging by BLT-Steak and/or Bliss Spa….
Q. Atlanta hidden gems?
A. It may not be hidden to some, but my neighborhood is a true gem. I have walked, cycled and sometimes swayed my way through Virginia Highlands since the 1980′s. The intown community has a southern pace with a progressive energy– young and old who could live most anywhere choose this charming village. From the many established shops, to the hot eastside outpost for Jimmy Stanton’s stylish Stanton Home, to the modern classic fashions of 310 Rosemont to the restaurants I have designed over the years like Fontaine’s, El Taco and recently Genki– I continue to love working, shopping and eating my way through the best neighborhood in the city.
Q. You’re hosting a delegation of top designers from around the world, and you’ve got 24 hours to show off Atlanta to them. What’s on the agenda?
A. The Peace Design Tour of Atlanta would be centered around a few of my favorite things….architecture, art and food!
We would start the day at the original Highland Bakery for a hip take on a southern breakfast before a quick walk through the Sol LeWitt’s 54 Columns urban sculpture on N. Highland at Glen Iris. From there we’d go to the High Museum to catch the Picasso to Warhol exhibition and show off the elegant Richard Meier and Renzo Piano building. Stepping across Peachtree Street to MODA, we’d explore the current show on chair design…Stories in Form.
Enough culture already– for food we must first head downtown to the amazing new Alma Cocina for Chef Chad Clevenger’s inspired Latin and modern Mexican fare along with a few exotic Margaritas designed by the cocktail rock star, Vajra Stratigos. I am also proud to show off the restaurant’s interior– designed by Peace Design in collaboration with ai3.
Strolling through downtown we will of course check out the modern masterworks of modernist John Portman. Then back to the eastside of town to the Carlos Museum of Art and Archeology designed by Michael Graves. A quick stop for a bottle of something special from my friend Nick at Highland Fine Wine, light bites and a “Gigi Says” cocktail at Ecco in Midtown before an amazing feast with the food super star Kevin Rathbun at Kevin Rathbun Steak…another amazing interior!! If anyone is still standing we will finish it off with a late night martini at the Highland Tap.
Q. Big design trend on the horizon?
A. I have always avoided getting caught up in the trend of the moment. I believe quality and craftsmanship survive and trends fade. We will continue to see classic design, comfort and luxury thrive.
Q. Design trend that you can’t wait to see disappear?
A. Outrageous color and pattern with the attempt to imitate quality and good design! There is a trend to mix any and all color with pattern and call it good design and I believe color can be dangerous in the wrong hands!
In the space I designed for the High Style High Rise Home Tour there is a complete absence of color to demonstrate that the classic design ideals of form, scale, contrast, harmony, symmetry…or asymmetry are the essence of good design. It is important that the audience have an opportunity to contemplate design without it being camouflaged by random color and pattern.
Q. What’s so special about the High Rise High Style Home Tour at The Residences at W Atlanta- Downtown?
A. I believe the High Museum is a real treasure in our city. The opportunity for designers to invite the public through designed spaces for the benefit of the High is very special. The Residences at W Atlanta – Downtown offer an interesting range of living options that is captured in the variety of styles reflected in this tour with all the amenities of intown high rise living.
Photo Credit: Peter Block
{ Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 }
Kerry Howard, High Style High Rise Home Tour
When designer Kerry Howard isn’t popping up all over the television (Bravo’s Top Design and HGTV’s Design Wars, to be precise), he’s conceiving brilliant interiors all over Atlanta. Beginning March 9th, Kerry will take part in the High Style High Rise Home Tour at The Residences at W Atlanta – Downtown. Six of Atlanta’s top designers will be designing model units there, where they’ll be on display and open to the public for a month-long home tour. Check out what Kerry has to say, go take a look at the condos, and then give me a call when you’re ready to write an offer on one of them…
Q. What are your favorite Atlanta hidden gems?
A. One of my favorite hidden gems in Atlanta is Bjork Antikt, owned by Amy Wikman. It is a warehouse packed full of any type of furnishing you could possibly want and that would provide inspiration to any designer. You would never know what is in the building based on its outside appearance. I could literally spend hours in this space if I had the time and money to spend there.
Q. You’re hosting a delegation of top designers from around the world, and you’ve got 24 hours to show off Atlanta to them. What’s on the agenda?
A. Being the southern gentleman that I am, I would show them a little hospitality by starting with a visit to White Provision, located on the west side of Atlanta. I would take everyone to get a hot breakfast at West Egg and spend the remainder of the morning perusing through some of the furniture and accessory showrooms in that area. After lunch, I would take them on a pre-arranged tour of the southeast’s premier design center, ADAC, where some of the world’s finest showrooms are represented.
Q. What’s a big design trend on the horizon?
A. Well as those in the industry know, interior design usually follows fashion trends. I am excited to see a lot of color blocking happening with some major fashion designers. Within the next few years we will begin to see this color blocking trend happen with interior design. I could not be more excited for this trend to start! I do not think that most people fully grasp how much color can effect and change our surroundings.
Q. Design trend that you can’t wait to see disappear?
A. I feel like the economy has played a major role in influencing design over the past four years. I have seen so many interiors with a monochromatic scheme due to an economic influence. All of the reclaimed, recycled and reused furniture is starting to look really watered down to me. I think it is time for a resurgence of color in our lives.
Q. What’s so special about the High Style High Rise home tour at The Residences at W Atlanta- Downtown?
A. We all know the phrase “Location, Location, Location!” Well this magnificent piece of architecture is located on prime real estate, with views that are bar none for potential home owners looking for a less-is-more lifestyle. From a designer’s standpoint, even the interior selections were easy to work with. The Residences offer a blank slate from which to build a beautiful space that complements the panoramic views in Atlanta.
{ Monday, February 20th, 2012 }
Advice On Buying A Foreclosure
I receive dozens of email newsletters each day. Many don’t seem to deliver anything of actual value- they’re essentially thinly veiled sales pitches. Others, like the one that I receive from Atlanta closing attorneys Neel & Robinson, are chuck full of good real estate information.
Here’s some advice that they just sent out regarding the purchase of a foreclosures (or as banks often times refer to them as, REO properties). For those of you thinking about buying a foreclosure in a community with a homeowners assocation (townhomes, condominiums, etc.), this is a pretty important read:
When an REO (“Real Estate Owned”) property is being sold, there are several additional steps, considerations, and possible delays if the property is a condo or in any kind of HOA (Homeowners Association). Each of these steps can add days to the pre-closing period, due to the difficulty in getting information and getting the seller’s approval.
Here are the steps involved with every REO property that has mandatory dues:
- The closing attorney must have a copy of the recorded DUP (Deed Under Power = foreclosure deed) to order the HOA letter. The HOA dues prior to the foreclosure date are wiped out, but the HOA must see the actual recorded DUP before providing a status letter.
- Need contact name, phone, email for the HOA – the foreclosing bank has never had any contact with the HOA, so the listing agent needs to investigate and then provide this info to the closing attorney.
- Many HOA management companies now require prepayment (by credit card) from the seller or listing agent to release the HOA status letter. These fees can run as high as $175. The closing attorney can order the letter, but the HOA will not release the letter without the payment prior to closing.
- The seller’s attorneys usually require a longer review time if there is an HOA, sometimes up to a week, once the HOA letter is prepaid, prepared, and received. This is in addition to the standard 72 hours the seller’s attorneys require to review the final HUD-1.
Edit Credit: Neel & Robinson (note that all hyperlinks were added by A is for Atlanta)
{ Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 }
$1500 Down, And You Can Buy An Inman Park Condo
No, that was not a joke. A tad bit dramatic? Perhaps. But it’s true folks, it’s all true.
I learned recently from my friends at The BeltLine Team that The Brickworks in Inman Park has been added to their list of developments eligible for the BeltLine Tax Allocation District. Read all about the nuts and bolts- it’s a very real program that’s enabled a bunch of lucky Atlanta home buyers to score sweet deals all along the BeltLine.
Brickworks, of course, is no stranger to these here pages. You can probably recall when I professed my love for my one-bedroom listing there, and certainly you’ll recall all the good things that I had to say about the Home Owners Association. Now, with the BeltLine program in place, the deal just got a whole lot sweeter.
Whether you’re thinking about living in Inman Park, on the BeltLine, or, in a pristine condo… you should get on this. Stat. Contact me directly for more details…
{ Sunday, January 15th, 2012 }
Atlanta’s Outlook For 2012: Less New Condominiums, More Garbage Cans
The best part of hitting the midway point of January is that we can finally stop making gigantic resolutions, and opt instead for small, yet concrete victories. Last week, I read of two such small wins:
1) – There are less newly constructed condominium units on the market. According to the AJC there are a bunch of Atlanta developments on the verge of finally selling out. The market hasn’t been terribly forgiving for the overbuilding binge, so any news about increasing sales – even at dramatic discounts – is a positive sign.
2) – Our city is receiving more strategically placed garbage cans. The additional garbage cans are part of City Councilman Kwanza Hall’s seven point plan to help resusitate the stretch of Boulevard that runs from Freedom Parkway to Ponce de Leon Avenue. Known around many homes simply as “that stretch of Boulevard where you never want to run out of gas,” this area is in dire need of… something. Only time will tell if Hall’s plan is a solution or just a temporary salve, but I give him credit for stepping up to the plate.
Atlanta, I have a feeling that it’s going to be a great year!
Edit Credit: Atlanta Journal Constitution, East Atlanta Patch
