Rendering courtesy of Perkins Eastman
Illustration by Alex Fine
Neighboring Interstate 285 near Spaghetti Junction, the shuttered GM Plant in Doraville moldered for six years before a team led by Egbert Perry’s Integral Group bought the MARTA-connected property to create a new development called Assembly. Integral launched a long demolition process that wiped the slate clean—leaving just enough of the abandoned rail platforms, loading docks, roads, elevated factory bridges, railroad crossing infrastructure, and old buildings to infuse the grounds with industrial character. More than 110,000 tons of materials were recycled during demo and site preparation.
Perry, a veteran of mixed-income and senior housing complexes spanning the metro area, has ventured into adaptive reuse in a big way. The under-construction hub of housing, corporate headquarters, retail, parks, and movie and television studios could encompass a massive 10 million square feet across 140 acres when completed over the next several years.
The project moved Third Rail Studios into a former General Foods plant in 2016 (recent productions there include movies starring Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg). Serta Simmons Bedding’s headquarters (and 500 jobs) came on board this year. And the site has even been mentioned as a lead contender for Amazon’s HQ2.
Rendering courtesy of Perkins Eastman
Meanwhile, in Midtown, Integral plans to launch construction soon on Eviva Peachtree, a 32-story apartment tower with a striking design by Perkins + Will. The name Eviva—the center of the word “revival”—was chosen to reflect Perry’s desire to uplift urban environments.
This article originally appeared in our November 2017 issue.
