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Building Blocks
Charles Brewer lays the foundation for a new design in urban living
by Lynn Lamousin
Atlanta Magazine, February 2003

Charles Brewer arrives late to his Midtown office. His walk to work took longer than usual since he allowed his three-legged dog, Louie, to accompany him. It’s not the first time his hopping companion has made the trek. In fact, Louie's water bowl, bearing the logo of Brewer’s previous venture, MindSpring, sits in a corner.

The stroll is more than symbolic of Brewer's latest brainchild, Green Street Properties, a real estate development firm aiming to “create beautiful, walkable, exciting urban environments.”

Ironically, while many,more experiened Atlanta developers' dreams of intown, mixed-use projects have stalled, unable to obtain financing or stuck in zoning battles with the locals (try putting a Target in Little Five Points), Brewer's inaugural project, Glenwood Park, is getting ready to break ground.

For Brewer, the transition from homepages to homesteads began with a conversation about New Urbanism - communities where homes, work and retail coexist. Intrigued, he read Suburban Nation by Andres Duany. As Brewer recounts it, “I read the book in one night—I was immediately hooked.”

Glenwood Park—a 28-acre privately funded development at the Glenwood-Memorial connector—focuses on lower-height buildings, small tenants, and environmentally friendly structures. The development’s first phase intermingles apartments, offices and retail. Future plans include a bed and breakfast, homes with attached income-producing apartments, and even a private elementary school.

The school would ensure the area is more than a "bedroom community." Green Street hopes to build neighborhood camaraderie—with students playing in the park at recess and residents using school buildings for evening meetings.

Grant Park activist Shelley Dieter, observes, “Instead of designing the development and then asking us to look at the plans, which is what most developers do, they came to us and said, 'What would you like to see?'”

When the development's proposed street layout didn't fit municipal regulations, Green Street lobbied a new ordinance through city council.

This was no small effort, as Sally Flocks, an Atlanta pedestrian advocate notes, “Green Street researched traditional street design standards adopted by other cities, photographed pedestrian-friendly streets… and met with Atlanta's Public Works and Fire Department officials for weeks to arrive at an ordinance that would be acceptable to all.”

Glenwood Park has narrow avenues that turn tightly and intersect existing roads—encouraging slower, pedestrian-friendly traffic. After all, a three-legged dog can't cross the street quickly.

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