<< Previous Case Study                                                                                                                               Next Case Study >>

AVALON Alpharetta, Georgia

Bringing a complete community to a suburban center

Developer

North American Properties

Designers

Wakefield Beasley & Associates, Site Solutions, Dwell Design Studio

Land Use Program

• 86-acre site
• 350+ residential units
• 570,000 square feet of retail including restaurants, a movie theater and a grocery store
• 2,500 new trees planted
• New satellite campus of Gwinnett Technical College will serve 10,000 students
• 7.29 dwelling units per acre
• Total acreage of parks and open space: 8.6 acres (10% of public space)
• 1.5 mile loop of walking trails with additional miles of sidewalks within the site
• 5,600 parking stalls at full build out

Brief

Avalon combines retail, residential, office space, walking trails and more in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburban city near Atlanta. Before Avalon, Alpharetta consisted of sprawling shopping centers and enclosed malls throughout the car-oriented city. In a typical day, residents would drive from the gym to the grocery store to the mall and to dinner. Avalon brings a walkable community that allows guests and residents to run errands, socialize, exercise and more in one pedestrian-friendly place. Avalon is connected to the Big Creek Greenway with biking paths and walking trails that encourage connections to the city

Lessons for Walkability.

• Densely circulated pedestrian walkways throughout the property foster walkability and shorten distance perception
• Multiple entrance points to the community via biking paths, walking trails and vehicular roads
• Majority of storefronts are accessible via pedestrian-only sidewalks
• Wide sidewalks allow for a heavily trafficked pedestrian area
• The plaza is strategically located along all pedestrian routes to engage the public from every angle

Images courtesy of The Wilbert Group