“Apartments are persona non grata in Sandy Springs until we get a better balance.”
Mayor Rusty Paul said that to developers in June 2022. Four years later, a former UPS office beside the company’s headquarters is being demolished for 382 luxury apartments.
The project is moving. The housing balance Paul wanted is not.
What is replacing the UPS office
The project is called Caldwell, a five-story, $139 million development at 35 Glenlake Parkway NE. Kennedy Wilson is developing it with Japan-based Shimizu Corporation.
The 382 apartments will average 937 square feet and share more than 17,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities. New South Construction is the general contractor, Dynamik Design is the architect and PEC+ is the civil engineer.
Demolition began this summer on the 6.9-acre site, which previously held a five-story office building and a large surface parking lot. The first residents are expected in 2028.
Kennedy Wilson describes Caldwell as a luxury community. No rents have been announced, and the company’s announcement does not identify any income-restricted apartments.
That means the project adds supply, but it does not promise lower rents for anyone already living nearby. Whether 382 new units eventually relieve pressure elsewhere is something the market will decide, not something this project guarantees.
The mayor’s statement was not a moratorium
Paul’s 2022 position came with a number: more than 60 percent of Sandy Springs’ housing stock was rental. He told the Bisnow Central Perimeter audience not to bring the city more apartment proposals for roughly three years, while acknowledging that the position was not an official moratorium.
By 2025, his explanation had shifted toward financing. In a Georgia Municipal Association interview, Paul said capital markets favor rental housing because it produces continuing returns, while condos and townhomes are harder to finance.
That distinction matters here. Kennedy Wilson says Sandy Springs has experienced less multifamily supply growth than metro Atlanta overall, creating sustained rental demand. The developer sees the limited apartment pipeline as an opportunity.
The Caldwell announcement does not identify a new City Council rezoning or public incentive. Without evidence that the council voted to reverse a previous decision on this property, this should not be framed as the city saying no and then voting yes.
It is better understood as a nonbinding political position meeting a project that could secure land and financing.
What Sandy Springs is willing to incentivize
The city’s North River Shopping Center deal provides a clearer picture of its current housing policy.
In August, Sandy Springs approved incentives valued at just over $4.3 million for a redevelopment containing 336 apartments, 85 for-sale townhomes, retail, restaurants and a public park.
That package is not a $4.3 million check. It includes waived recreation and permit fees plus a recommended 10-year property-tax abatement. The incentives are contingent on Woodfield Development acquiring the property, demolishing the shopping center and building the approved redevelopment and park.
The city is still accepting apartments. It is using public incentives when those apartments arrive with for-sale housing and public amenities.
How the Glenlake property became available
UPS closed its 133,000-square-foot office at 35 Glenlake in July 2025 and moved approximately 500 employees to its headquarters and an Alpharetta office.
Kennedy Wilson bought the property for $16.46 million that December. Fulton County had assessed it at approximately $12.2 million in 2025.
Caldwell is the company’s first ground-up multifamily development in Georgia, not its first residential holding here. Kennedy Wilson also acquired an interest in Kinetic, the student-housing tower at 1025 Spring Street in Midtown, through its purchase of Toll Brothers’ apartment platform.
This is not a simple hypocrisy story. Sandy Springs can ask for more homeownership, but a mayor’s preference does not finance townhomes or override property rights. The more revealing question is where the city uses its actual leverage. Caldwell appears to be moving without a publicly announced incentive package. North River received incentives because it combines apartments with homes for sale, retail and a city park. Watch the approvals, conditions and tax abatements. Those show the housing balance Sandy Springs can shape, not just the one its leaders say they want.
