The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Apartments, townhomes to replace mobile home park
City annexes land for plan; residents must relocate.
An Atlanta developer plans to replace a mobile home park on the southern outskirts of Kennesaw with a mixed-use development including 395 apartments and townhomes.
Kennesaw’s City Council on Monday annexed 32 acres of county property into the city and unanimously approved rezoning to allow for the residential develop- ment.
The annexed property at 1650 N. Cobb Parkway is currently the Castle Lake Mobile Home Park.
Related Development is planning the so-called “Old 41 Apartments,” a $120 million development meant to complement the Kennesaw Marketplace mall. The Atlanta developer plans to build a 332-unit apartment com- plex and construct 63 town- houses on the site of the mobile home park across the street from the shopping center.
“By adding rooftops, (it will) help with the sustainability of the commercial development that’s already up and prospering,” said Garvis Sams Jr., a Marietta attorney who represented the developer during Monday’s meeting.
City Council first heard the proposal during an Aug. 16 meeting but postponed its vote to give the developer
more time to finalize a plan to relocate the residents who still live in the mobile home park. Related Development executives said they planned to offer each of the owners and renters between $3,500 and $5,000 to relocate.
“We provided assistance with respect to the relocations and other monetary costs and expenses,” Sams said.
Related Development hired a translator who interpreted the discussion for Span- ish-speaking mobile home residents. However, no residents attended the meeting or spoke out during the public hearings for the rezoning requests.
Daniel Harari, Related Development’s acquisition manager, and Kennesaw’s assistant zoning adminis- trator, Albert Trevino, met individually with the 61 fam
ilies in August. According to a chart submitted to city offi- cials, little more than half of those residents have either sold their trailer, had an offer to sell or made plans to move out. Twenty-nine still hadn’t solidified their relocation plans.
Related Development intends to clear the mobile home park out by year’s end.
Old 41 Apartments represents the second phase of a master planned develop- ment that includes the Kennesaw Marketplace. City offi- cials originally approved the 52-acre shopping mall in 2015.
Developers plan to build pedestrian walkways for residents leading to Kennesaw Marketplace as well as the Noonday Creek trail system.
“It embodies a strate- gic expansion of the city’s boundaries,” Sams said of the project.