Leah Steinberg

Last week, Hawks fans were able to see the preliminary results of Philips Arena’s ongoing renovation. Included in the progress: the NBA’s first courtside bar, Hawks Bar. Bar areas are not new to courtside season ticket holders, but this is the first with a view of the action.

Last week, I wrote about HALCYON’s huge announcement: Cherry Street opening a brewpub in its restaurant village. This week, the $370 million mixed-use village has more news.

This week, HALCYON announced its latest tenant – Cherry Street Brewing Cooperative. The brewing cooperative is opening a nearly 8,000-square-foot brewpub and beer garden in the center of the mixed-use community’s restaurant village.

Two of Atlanta’s new office projects have been put on the market. Tishman Speyer’s Buckhead office tower Three Alliance is currently being marketed by CBRE. The 30-story tower was 80 percent leased as of this summer, with tenants such as CBRE and Global Payments.

Two of Downtown’s well-known buildings are getting a facelift. The Grant Building and the retail portion of Peachtree Center will soon look a little more modern with both of the owners of the buildings recently announcing renovation plans.

Recently, Columbia Residential marked the completion of its third and final phase of Columbia Brookside in Athens. Columbia Brookside, a master-planned, mixed-income community, was built on the site of the former Jack R. Wells community and is one of Georgia’s first LEED-ND communities – a LEED system that integrates principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into neighborhood design.

Though 2017 numbers haven’t reached the record high sales volume that 2016 saw, Atlanta-based The Integral Group is coming out of the summer with an impressive series of transactions.

Six months after completing a high-profile project, Astra Group President Andrew Lindsay was sent a bill for approximately $25,000 in hauling costs. The problem? There was no way to verify if the trucks had actually been on-site at the times listed.

Last week, I wrote about Amazon’s search for HQ2. This week, let’s look at possible sites for Amazon, should Georgia be on its mind.

Last week, ULI Atlanta held its 23rd Annual Awards for Excellence program, which aims to recognize an outstanding real estate development or initiative that exemplifies ULI’s mission.

The Atlanta District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) announced its Center for Leadership Class.

Last week, e-commerce giant Amazon surprised us when it announced it’s in the market for “HQ2,” a second North American headquarters. In its request for proposals, Amazon said it wanted its second headquarters to be the “equal” of its Seattle base of operations.

Today, an autonomous car will drive from Georgia Tech to Ponce City Market, as part of a joint pilot project, and guided by a network of sensors, Wi-Fi hotspots, GPS receivers and other technology installed along the route.

Legislation allowing breweries and distilleries to sell directly to consumers recently went into effect, loosening regulations requiring them to distribute products through wholesalers.

The city of Atlanta has partnered with Georgia Tech to design, implement and study Smart City initiative: the North Avenue Smart Corridor Project, approved by the Atlanta City Council in a recent meeting.

Me last night: “Alexa, order me more Scrub Daddy sponges.” Also me: “Where does all my money go?”

For the latest real estate trends, insights and forecasts, look no further than the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) 2017 Fall Meeting. Set for Oct. 23-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the meeting will explore a wide range of issues such as: housing affordability, gentrification and social equity, technology advancements, and retail challenges.

Earlier this year, Urban Realty Partners and RAF Capital announced plans for an extensive overhaul of the former Atlanta Stockade – a 121-year-old prison complex in Glenwood Park. GlenCastle, as it’s now known, consists of three historic loft buildings and is being leased by Colliers and Cross-Town Realty.

In unsurprising news, a new survey from Village Green found renters are becoming more amenity-driven, especially if those amenities make residences feel like true homes. Other findings include 58 percent of renters read reviews of communities and 65 percent use renting websites to research properties before visiting communities.

As an avid online shopper, I was immediately interested in learning about ASOS’ search for warehouse space on the East Coast. The UK-based company recently announced that it chose Georgia for its $40 million fulfillment center.

This week, The Daily – Alpharetta’s newest dining concept – announced its first two tenants for the development. Biscuit Love and King of Pops Bar will open in the development in May of next year.

Last weekend, Columbia Residential and partners provided more than 1,200 students with backpacks and school supplies at its third annual Back to School Bash, Lei’d Back Luau. The event took place at Carver High School and featured food and prize giveaways, free haircuts and surprise guests such as Georgia Aquarium characters, Carver’s drumline and Atlanta Drum Academy.

Forsyth County’s most anticipated mixed-use village, HALCYON, recently announced several new restaurant and Market Hall tenants. Two restaurateurs are going a step further and creating new Market Hall concepts in addition to traditional free-standing restaurant space.

When visiting my husband’s family in New Orleans, we take for granted how nice it is to walk down Magazine Street – wine in hand – while patronizing local shops. Sure, we could just be in a restaurant or bar, but we love to take in the neighborhood and have those chance encounters with friends that we get from walking down the street.

Ponce City Market has played a major role in the revitalization of Old Fourth Ward. Its tenants – ranging from Candlefish and Karoo to Hop’s Chicken and Minero – offer visitors and employees varying options in shopping, dining and entertainment.

For the fifth consecutive year, Georgia’s expected to outperform the nation in population growth, job creation and the rate of real estate expansion, according to a recent Urban Land article. The article goes on to cite the Fortune 500 companies locating innovation centers in the Atlanta region to be near the Georgia Tech talent pool.

ULI Atlanta recently announced Bob Voyles, principal at Seven Oaks Company, as its new Chairperson. Bob has worked in Atlanta commercial real estate for 37 years and served on the boards of the Perimeter CID, Cumberland CID and many more.

“Good bones” is something you hear on an episode of “Fixer Upper,” but it’s also how Kellen Minor, principal at ai3, describes his latest project: Stockyards Atlanta. With the five buildings, which used to be reserved for livestock, but will soon be reserved for diners, office tenants and bowlers, Kellen said they wanted to be as authentic as possible.

The AJC reports a German development firm has acquired several buildings Downtown. What’s the impact?

Cushman & Wakefield recently released a report on the “Craft Brewing Revolution.” As the craft brewing trend is exploding across the country, the report looked at topics such as beer tourism and the keys to success.