Top East Cobb stories for 2019: Sprayberry Crossing plans proposed

Revised Sprayberry Crossing proposal

After years of being an eyesore, the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center in 2019 became the target of a redevelopment proposal that energized citizens frustrated by inaction regarding the rundown retail center.

In June, those leading the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group said they had been meeting with Atlantic Residential, an Atlanta-based multi-family developer interested in building a mixed-use complex.

It would have some retail but would be largely residential, with apartments and senior-living units taking up most of the property at the southeast corner of East Piedmont Road and Sandy Plains Road.

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In August, some of those community representatives met with Atlantic Residential to get more details, and shared them with the public. They also were hopeful of holding a town hall meeting to go over the plans.

But that’s when some opposition began to arise, mostly due to the apartments and the density of the proposal.

By September, the Atlantic Residential revised its plans, calling for nearly 400 residential units (nearly half of them apartments, along with senior living and townhomes), 30,000 square feet of commercial space and other amenities.

Some of those critical of the apartment units started their own Facebook group and contend that kind of development isn’t suitable in an area with single-family homes.

Other opposition arose from those with family members buried in a cemetery at Sprayberry Crossing that was slated to be relocated in the Atlantic Residential proposal.

The developer said in late September the plan would be undergoing “substantial changes” that have not been detailed since then.