News, Events & Press Releases
3/6/2008
Woodstock Downtown Wins Prestigious International Award
Woodstock Downtown Wins Prestigious International Award
Innovative Mixed-Use Community Honored By the Congress for New Urbanism
WOODSTOCK, GA. – Woodstock Downtown, Hedgewood Properties’ new 64-acre mixed-use community under construction in the heart of historic Woodstock, Ga., has been honored with a Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). The international organization recognized Woodstock Downtown for its excellence in architectural, landscape and urban design as well as for being built in harmony with its physical and social context.
Woodstock Downtown was the only Georgia development to win this annual prize honoring the best of the New Urbanism. The other 14 honorees are located throughout the U.S. and in Saudi Arabia, Scotland and India. A panel of internationally-recognized architects and planners chaired by Andrés Duany selected the winners. The award recipients were chosen because they “reveal the power of well-executed urbanism to strengthen communities, achieve broader sustainability and create places worthy of respect and admiration,” according to the CNU. A complete list of winners can be found at www.cnu.org under “news”.
“We are thrilled that Woodstock Downtown has been recognized on an international level for its innovative planning and design,” said Pam Sessions, president of Hedgewood Properties. “Woodstock Downtown provides a model for other historic town centers that have lost their commercial core to suburban sprawl. Here we have built a new, vibrant community of single family homes, townhomes, stacked flats, shops, restaurants, parks, pedestrian pathways and amenities.”
Cheri Morris, CEO of Hedgewood Commercial Properties which develops, leases manages and owns Hedgewood’s commercial villages, said “Woodstock Downtown has transformed Woodstock’s central business district into a high energy downtown with an exciting day and night life. We have restored some older buildings for adaptive re-use and blended in new buildings and infrastructure to celebrate the historic personality of downtown Woodstock and bring modern day function to the shopping and dining. We have assembled a mix of destination restaurants and unique boutiques that are drawing patrons from all over north Georgia. It’s extremely gratifying for our work to be honored by the world’s preeminent organization that promotes walkable, neighborhood-based development,” she said.
Among the first businesses to call Woodstock Downtown home are Moops, a clothing boutique; One Queen’s Folly, which offers furniture, gifts and decorative accessories; Cookies by Design; Canyons Burger Company and The Right Wing Tavern. They will soon be joined by J Christopher’s, Mambo Italiano and Cinco Mexican Cantina, along with some 25 new shops and services.
Working with Master Planner Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates of Atlanta, Hedgewood Properties successfully integrated higher density mixed-use development into a historically lower density town center. New parks and open spaces total over 11 acres and range from common greens to a neighborhood amphitheater space. Woodstock Downtown features pedestrian paths to connect the homes to the shops and green spaces.
“It was crucial that the new development strengthen Woodstock’s core without compromising its historical character,” said Thomas H. Walsh of Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates. “As Master Planner, our firm combined critical densities, quality open spaces, connectivity, compatible design and seamless integration of uses to ensure that the community is alive with residents and visitors.”
All Woodstock Downtown homes are EarthCraft House Certified. Hedgewood Properties was one of metro Atlanta’s first builders to embrace the EarthCraft House residential green building program. EarthCraft House serves as a blueprint for healthy, comfortable homes that reduce utility bills and protect the environment.
In addition to the CNU Charter Award, Woodstock Downtown has also been named A 2006 Development of Excellence by the Atlanta Regional Commission. When completed, the imaginative re-development of this Atlanta suburb will consist of 976 new homes and 110,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. Several historic structures have been preserved and converted to new use, like the old train depot (now The Right Wing Tavern) and Hubbard House, both renovated to become restaurants.
About Hedgewood Properties
Hedgewood Properties was founded in 1985 by husband and wife Don Donnelly and Pam Sessions. Hedgewood Commercial Properties, a merger of Hedgewood and Morris & Fellows, one of the country’s leading retail consulting and leasing firms, was formed in 2006 to create downtowns in selected Hedgewood Properties’ communities.
The Hedgewood family of companies is focused on creating a mix of sustainable communities for both in-town and suburban homebuyers. These new communities create stronger neighborhoods by facilitating greater resident interaction, and by making shopping, jobs and services more convenient and accessible. Hedgewood also has set the standard for utilizing construction practices that conserve natural resources, reduce materials waste and result in buildings that are more cost-efficient to maintain and healthier for the environment. www.hedgewoodhomes.com
About the Congress for New Urbanism
Based in Chicago, the CNU is the leading organization promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl. CNU takes a proactive, multi-disciplinary approach to restoring communities. Members are the life of the organization – they are the planners, developers, architects, engineers, public officials, investors and community activists who create and influence built environments, transforming growth patterns from the inside out. Whether it’s bringing restorative plans to hurricane-battered communities in the Gulf Coast, turning dying malls into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods or reconnecting isolated public housing projects to the surrounding fabric, new urbanists are providing leadership in community building.
www.cnu.org