Image above: existing plan that is being reworked

By Rebecca Gaunt

The plans for a 13-acre mixed-use development at Old 41 Highway and North Roberts Road are undergoing more changes that will be presented to the Kennesaw City Council in January.

The city’s zoning department recommended denial of the requested changes submitted by developer Fabric Housing Acquisition, LLC in September. The Kennesaw Planning Commission was more amenable to the proposed site plan, but currently the developer and staff are working on a compromise.

The 250-unit multi-family portion of the project and 10,000 square feet of retail space were completed in 2021.

The city first approved the former site of the Electric Cowboy nightclub for development in 2018. The original plans included multi-family residential units, office space, retail and a hotel. 

The hotel was of particular significance because city staff called the location a key entrypoint to the city, which lacked any hotels inside city limits after the Budgetel Hotel burned down in 2018. In 2019, the Council approved $385,000 in incentives to ensure completion of the project.

The hotel was the first thing to be scrapped from the project in 2022 when Varner Developers returned to City Council, saying the market didn’t support a hotel in that area. They requested to substitute a storage facility, a suggestion that was met coldly by city staff and council members.

“Looks to me like we got laid over the barrel again so to speak. $385,000 for abatements and we’re still not going to get our hotel,” former council member James “Doc” Eaton said at the time.

Ultimately, the city approved a maximum of 208 luxury apartments and 12,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial to replace the hotel component.

Read more here: Plans for Kennesaw hotel on Old 41 Highway dropped for mixed-use development – Cobb Courier

Council member Pat Ferris expressed frustration in 2022 that the offices had still not been built in the four years since approval. Varner’s attorney Garvis Sams cited the pandemic and rise of working from home. He assured Ferris it would be built when they had interested parties.

The current developer, Fabric Housing Acquisitions, submitted a request to amend the master plan in September 2024 by eliminating the ground floor commercial space and all the office space, and moving the remaining 12,000 square feet of retail space not yet built to face North Roberts Road. The developers also asked to construct a multifamily building of 120 units, less than the previously approved 208.

In November, Kevin Moore, attorney for the applicant, told the Kennesaw Planning Commission that due to changes in the market following the COVID-19 pandemic, building additional office space is not economically feasible.

“Prior to that time this office market had about a 7% vacancy. Now this office market carries a 50% vacancy rate,” he said.

Moore also said attempts to market retail space along Old 41 have been poorly received, and that North Roberts Road is a better fit.

The mixed-use areas, multi-use trails, and plazas required as part of the 2022 plan would remain.

Zoning administrator Darryl Simmons recommended denial of the amendment due to previous concessions, such as removing the hotel.

The Planning Commission recommended approval of the submitted plans with added conditions requiring sidewalks fronting the development, however the developer has since requested a postponement until January to revise the plans and “incorporate City Staff comments.”

The revised plan will return to the City Council for the Jan. 13 work session for discussion and Jan. 21 for a vote.

“If time allows we would also recommend to the applicant to take it back to the Planning Commission since this may be a drastically different master plan than was presented in November,” Simmons said.