Oakland Park Wins Atlanta Downtown Design Excellence Award
Award honors downtown Atlanta businesses for their design innovations 
(L-R) A.J. Robinson, Central Atlanta Progress; Simon Tuohy, Urban Realty Partners; Scott Doksansky, Melaver, Inc.; Dennis Hertlein, Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein Architects, P.C.; Chris Hauck, Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein Architects, P.C.; and Sean McGinnis, Atlanta Magazine
ATLANTA – Oakland Park was announced the winner in the 2008 Atlanta Downtown Design Excellence Award in the Residential category. The Atlanta Downtown Design Excellence Award, sponsored by Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and Atlanta Magazine, honors downtown Atlanta businesses for their design innovations during the past year. Awards were presented in five categories: Hotel, Institution, Office, Residential and Restaurant/Bar on Nov. 6, 2008, Downtown Development Day.
Winners were decided through a combination of professional judging and online public voting. Atlanta Downtown Design Excellence Award judges conducted onsite evaluations of each entry and then during the fall, the public was able to vote for their favorites online at CAP’s website. This year’s judges included Richard Laub of Georgia State University, Laura Moody of Savannah College of Art & Design, Scot Reilly of Retromodern and Eric Capossela of Atlanta Magazine.
Oakland Park, a 65-home mixed-use residential condominium and commercial project located in the Historic Grant Park neighborhood on Memorial Drive, is Atlanta's first LEED Silver certified multi-family building. Achieving LEED certification means that a third party has examined Oakland Park and its design, construction and potential for energy efficiency, and verified the developers made sound decisions that resulted in a more efficient construction site, with very little waste going to the landfill, and in a high performance building that will use less energy over time. In fact, 1,500 tons (or 80 percent) of the waste generated during construction was diverted from landfills and recycled.
Oakland Park's one and two bedroom residences feature bamboo floors, oversized, operable, low-emittance windows, eco-friendly tile and paint, high-performance plumbing fixtures and energy efficient appliances.
Oakland Park has become a catalyst for change within the neighborhood, providing opportunities for new businesses and a place for residential and retail to come together in a convenient, self-contained urban setting close to the amenities that downtown Atlanta and the surrounding neighborhood offer.
Oakland Park includes Foxgloves and Ivy floral design studio, Stella Neighborhood Trattoria restaurant, and will include additional retail fronting Memorial Drive and Park Avenue. For more information, call 404-688-0300 or visit www.oaklandparkatlanta.com.
About Melaver, Inc.
Melaver, Inc., is a third generation, sustainably-focused real estate firm with holdings throughout the Southeast. Notable projects include one of the first Silver LEED designations from the U.S. Green Building Council for an historic preservation project in Savannah (The Whitaker Building), as well as the nation’s first all retail LEED Core & Shell project (Abercorn Common Shopping Center) in Savannah that includes the first and only LEED McDonald’s. Eighty-five percent of Melaver’s staff is LEED accredited professionals, and the company is committed to examining the environmental, financial and social aspects of every project in which it is involved.
About Urban Realty Partners
Urban Realty Partners is an Atlanta-based real estate development organization that is focused on well planned, mixed-use urban developments that enhance their neighborhoods while providing exceptional places to live, work and shop. Their developments are often in revitalized neighborhoods with pedestrian orientation and convenience to city transit, amenities and educational, retail and cultural centers. Projects include Capitol Gateway and The Reynolds in midtown Atlanta, The Brookwood in Buckhead and Puritan Mill on Atlanta’s west side.
