• Skip to main navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to footer

Adams Commercial Real EstateAdams Commercial Real Estate

Adams Commercial Real Estate

  • Home
  • Adams Listings
  • Special Use Properties
  • Investment Property Transactions
  • Small Business Owners
  • Adaptive Reuse Projects
  • Nonprofit and Governmental Organizations
  • Land Acquisition for Developers
  • Our Agents
  • Our Philosophy
  • Contact
  • Blog

The Challenges of Rezoning and Zoning Entitlements: Part 2

By Bill Adams, MBA, CCIM, ALC, CRB, Founder, Adams Realtors

In Part One of the Zoning Entitlements blog, I reviewed how a developer should typically perform their due diligence by examining the existing zoning regulations and having discussions with neighbors and local community associations. A visit to the planning office is also in order. If the planning staff has an unfavorable opinion concerning the proposed rezoning, that usually does not bode well for the application’s success.

The formal process of rezoning begins with filing an application with the municipal or county government. In the City of Atlanta, a developer’s first rezoning presentation will be at the local neighborhood association. Although the neighborhood associations have no formal role in the rezoning process, their recommendations carry a lot of weight with both elected officials and the boards involved in the approval process.

The next stop for a rezoning application in the City of Atlanta will be with the local Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU). The local NPU is comprised of multiple neighborhoods and is the official public input body in the City of Atlanta. The NPU will consider comments from the community that will be directly affected by a rezoning and will make a recommendation to the City’s planning staff. A developer will typically meet with the Land Use and Zoning Committee of the NPU, and that committee will then make a report and recommendation to the full NPU. Having neighborhood and NPU approvals will increase the chance of a successful rezoning.

The next step in the approval process for rezoning in the City of Atlanta is the Zoning Review Board (ZRB). The developer’s application will be part of a public hearing. Citizens both in favor and against the rezoning application will have a chance to speak before the Board. The ZRB will also weigh the recommendations from the local NPU and the Office of Zoning and Development staff. The ZRB will vote to approve or deny the application. The application could also be deferred to a later date for the developer to amend the plan for the project. Once a decision has been made, the application will go before the City Council’s Zoning Committee.

The Zoning Committee will weigh the ZRB recommendation and vote to either approve or deny the application. The full City Council then votes on the Zoning Committee decision and, if approved, the application is forwarded to the mayor for his or her signature.

As you can see, rezoning a property is a long and arduous process, and the application can be deferred or turned down at any step along the way. When we are representing the purchaser of a property that will need to be rezoned, we usually recommend that a Purchase and Sale Agreement include a contingency allowing for at least 180 days for a rezoning to occur.

If you have any questions regarding zoning entitlements, I can be contacted at (404) 688-1222 or wtadams@adamscre.com.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Post navigation

« The Challenges of Rezoning and Zoning Entitlements: Part 1
Atlanta Commercial Real Estate Market Mid-Year 2022 Review »

About Us

• As a native Atlantan who grew up in a house built by my grandparents in 1902 across the street from Grant Park, I have always loved the City’s downtown and historic intown neighborhoods. I went to school from the first grade through graduate school in downtown Atlanta.

As a child growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I witnessed and mourned the decline of those wonderful old “close-in” neighborhoods and their business districts. By the time I was in my early 20s in the late ’60s, I had gotten involved in early intown revitalization efforts in Grant Park under the auspices of a program known as “Model Cities.” After a tour of duty in the Army and Graduate Business School at Georgia State University, I joined the forerunner of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association in late 1974. In the early 1970s most intown neighborhoods were “redlined” by banks and neglected by the local government. The neighborhood revitalization movement in Atlanta was in its infancy. Banks refused to make real estate loans in these “high-risk” neighborhoods. The level of city services was poor and to make matters worse, the city had rezoned many of these neighborhoods from single-family to multifamily residential in the 1950s.

I became a neighborhood activist in Grant Park and, along with others, helped to bring about one of the largest “down zonings” in City history, converting the area back to single-family/duplex zoning from apartment zoning. I was also a community representative and later President of the local Neighborhood Housing Services program, which helped local lenders understand the housing market in the City’s neighborhoods and helped end their practice of not making loans in these communities. I later served as a neighborhood association and Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) Chair as well as a board member of the civic groups working to restore the Cyclorama in Grant Park and historic Oakland Cemetery.

All these experiences have had a profound effect on me and the company that I founded in 1979. I had a commercial real estate background but came to realize that strong neighborhoods are vital to a city’s quality of life and its commercial core. Adams Commercial’s approach to real estate has always reflected the values of neighborhood activism. Our transactions involve people, not just numbers. We are in the problem solving and information business. After more than 40 years of service, our goal is to complete our client’s purchase or investment while at the same time adding value to the community through that transaction.

I hope that you find our website to be a helpful tool whether you are planning to buy, sell or are trying to get a good feel for the state of the commercial real estate market in Atlanta. If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me at wtadams@adamscre.com. If you have an interest in commercial real estate, please visit our Adams Commercial Real Estate Website at adamscre.com.

Thanks,

Bill Adams, MBA, CCIM, ALC, CRB
President
ADAMS COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Atlanta, GA

Our Core Values: Success, Integrity, Wisdom, Dependability, Community

At Adams Commercial we define SUCCESS when our clients get up from their closing with a smile. To accomplish this,  we start by putting the needs of our clients first, which to us is the essence of INTEGRITY. We bring the collective WISDOM of our agents to every real estate deal … wisdom that comes only from the company’s years of business experience and expertise in intown markets. Whether it is showing up at the appointed time or making sure all details are noted and deadlines met, we believe DEPENDABILITY is also an essential ingredient of a successful real estate transaction. We believe that your successful purchase or sale adds value to COMMUNITY. And we are proud to play a role in building and sustaining a thriving community.

Account Login

Contact Us

458 Cherokee Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312

404-688-1222
lauren@adamscre.com
© 2023 · Equity Framework
Privacy Policy · Listings Sitemap · Sitemap