Project of the Month
Villa Sonoma Atlanta
Villa Sonoma, formerly known as Summer Villa, has the distinction of being situated right smack in the middle of an Atlanta corporate office park. The 321-unit urban, mixed-use development is the first project located within the office park to have a residential element.
Despite its corporate locale, the multifamily complex still gives its residents that home-sweet-home feeling. Much of that has to do with the creative minds at Dallas-based architecture firm James, Harwick + Partners. The firm designed Villa Sonoma/ Summer Villa as a pedestrian-friendly development, with the units facing different streetscapes.
The units located on the north side of the property have a more urban feel, as those units front the area’s retail businesses. On the west side, the units face the project’s courtyards and surrounding restaurants, while the east side fronts the street.
Ron Harwick, the architecture firm’s principal, notes the architectural design of the property’s neighboring five-star restaurant served as the palette for the project. The firm wanted the complex to emulate the Tuscan feel of the adjacent restaurant, so that the project would flow well within its environment.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of Villa Sonoma is its parking structure, which is hidden within the complex. The four-level parking structure is enveloped, or “wrapped,” by the residential units.
Lane Co. built the original Summer Villa, but the building is now owned and operated by the Lincoln Condominium Group, which changed the property’s name to Villa Sonoma and now is converting the apartments into for-sale condominiums. The conversion is expected to be complete by the end of 2007.
–Abby Garcia Telleria