Cover Story: The Metropolis

Towering, glittery and new, Metropolis’ tinted glass exterior reflects the afternoon sun, coloring the massive condo complex a tranquil sea-green. The 20-story building dwarfs its smaller, mostly brick and stucco Midtown counterparts. Unlike most of those places, Metropolis, on Peachtree between Eighth Street and Peachtree Place, is a world unto itself. Indeed, a Metropolis resident could live a full life without ever getting in his or her car.

Tonja Adair is one of the many single professionals who call Metropolis home. A decade ago, Adair - then a graduate student at Georgia Tech - moved to Midtown so she could walk to campus. She stayed in the neighborhood when she landed a job as a commercial architect. And she jumped at the chance to buy a condo in Metropolis, finding one in the $180,000 range that suited her needs. She lives on the 10th floor and typically walks to work. “I do have a car,” Adair says, “but I don’t use it often. I put about 6,000 miles a year on my car. For Atlanta, that’s amazing.”

In most of America’s big cities, a large part of the attraction is the ability to walk everywhere. In Atlanta, that’s usually not an option. Public transportation is limited. Sidewalks are narrow. Buildings are spread out.

The high-rises of Midtown - and its centerpiece, Metropolis - serve the needs of city dwellers looking for something a bit more like the urban cores of the American Northeast. Transplants from Philadelphia, Boston, and New York - and Atlanta longtimers in search of a newer New South - seek refuge in Midtown’s lofts and condos, wide sidewalks and trendy storefronts.

Metropolis comprises two towers that stand on the sides of a central lobby, adjacent to an 820-space parking deck. In addition to the 498 condos, the property has 40,000 square feet of street-level retail, including a dry cleaner, UPS Store, restaurant, salon, and day spa. Venture within three blocks and you’ll find a dentist, two Starbucks, an ice cream shop, a Barnes & Noble, a gym, and dozens of bars and restaurants. Piedmont Park, the High Museum, and the bustling nightclubs of Crescent Avenue are all within walking distance.

For those who wish to live in the sky and strive to shun the confines of the car, the virtual cloudland that is Metropolis is a block of heaven in Atlanta.

On a typical day, Adair will walk eight blocks to her office at Peachtree and 16th streets. Her employer, the award-winning international architectural firm TVSA, has designed several local landmarks, including the Woodruff Arts Center and Atlantic Station. Adair is currently working on the TVSA Atlanta office’s most exciting project: the new Georgia Aquarium.

It is in part Adair’s work as an architect that drew her to the clean, elegant lines of the Metropolis building. But she’s not the only one enamored of the glass towers.

Architecture firm the Novare Group, which renovated both the neighboring Peachtree Lofts and the landmark Biltmore Hotel, designed Metropolis, which was completed in 2002. At the time, prices ranged from $180,000 for a studio to upwards of $700,000 for the 1,900-square-foot penthouses. All 498 units sold in less than a year.

Every Metropolis unit features floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony. Depending on the condo’s location, residents will look out onto downtown Atlanta, Stone Mountain or Piedmont Park. Metropolis’ two towers also look in upon a seventh-floor pool and courtyard, with an attached fitness center and lounge complete with computers and flat-screen TVs. The entire building offers wireless Internet, so everyone is connected, whether they are sitting in bed or mingling outside on the terrace.

“I like the energy and the amount of people that you see on any given day,” Adair says. “It brings a lot of impromptu meetings, and you end up doing things that you didn’t necessarily plan to do.”

As for nightlife, there are countless bars and clubs within walking distance of Metropolis, including Adair’s favorite, the swanky bar at the Four Seasons. She also frequents jazz club Churchill Grounds, next to the Fox Theatre, and salsa nights at Loca Luna, on Juniper and Sixth streets.

“Some of my friends aren’t as into it as I am,” she says of Loca Luna’s thriving Latin dance scene. “But they’ll usually tag along.”

Is high-rise living and all its amenities the future of Atlanta’s real estate market? Could the popularity of Metropolis represent a new trend, one in which the city’s young college set sticks around after graduation - moving up instead of out?

The Novare Group is banking on it. The firm is currently at work on another glass high-rise on Peachtree Street, a few blocks south of Metropolis. The Spire, which is under construction and due for completion later this year, will offer a similar mix of retail and residential spaces.

The 393 condos in the Spire have already sold out.

Fact Box?
HOME PRICES
? ???Averaging $265,583 in 2004 resales, up from $245,424 in original sales from late 2002 to mid-2003; a 7.6 percent increase.
? ???Average rental: $1,400 for a one-bedroom with downtown view.

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SCHOOLS
? ???Morningside Elementary
? ???Inman Middle School
? ???Grady High School
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DIVERSITY
? ???White: 88 percent
? ???African-American: 8 percent
? ???Asian: 3 percent

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CULTURAL AMENITIES
? ???Fox Theatre: Upcoming shows at the grandiose, 1930s theater include Widespread Panic and the Billy Joel-inspired musical Moving Out. Check out the summer movie series. 660 Peachtree St.
? ???High Museum of Art: Home to the premier visual arts exhibits traveling to the Southeast. 1280 Peachtree St.
? ???Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia: Rotating exhibits and collection of more than 250 works by contemporary Georgia artists. 1447 Peachtree St.

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ORAL PLEASURES
? ???Silk Asian Steak & Seafood: Located in the Metropolis building, featuring pan-Asian-style tapas such as lamb lollypops and tempura oysters. 919 Peachtree St. Vortex Bar & Grill: Great burgers, lots of beer. 878 Peachtree St.
? ???Loca Luna: Latin tapas, live music, and killer caipirhinias. 836 Juniper St.