The Top Weight Loss Clinic in Kennesaw Acres, GA

Photo courtesy of the City of Kennesaw

The City of Kennesaw distributed the following press release about the popular Art Blooms schedule for 2024:

Smith-Gilbert Gardens invites the community to experience selected pieces from the permanent sculpture collection as they’ve never been seen before surrounded by thousands of blooms!

“The annual Art Blooms exhibit at Smith-Gilbert Gardens allows the community to enjoy spring and local art in a beautiful and unique setting,” says Dave Simpson, Executive Director of the Gardens. “Alongside a variety of spring blooms, you can find 12 specially painted wooden eggs, by Cobb County high school seniors, that make up this year’s exhibit. We are thankful to our sponsors and artists who bring extra individuality and beauty to the Gardens during this time of year.”

Art Blooms is an exhibit that spans over two months and includes a series of weekend artist demonstrations and workshops. There will be live demonstrations, performances and behind-the-scenes stories of the artist and sculptures.

Smith-Gilbert Gardens’ permanent sculpture collection features 29 outdoor pieces representing international, national and regional artists. For the duration of the exhibit, the permanent collection will be joined by a temporary outdoor exhibit featuring 12 specially painted wooden eggs, painted by seniors from four Cobb County High Schools. An additional 12 eggs are available to view in the Town Center Community along Noonday Creek Trail.

Art Blooms is supported in part by Town Center Community, Cobb County School Visual Arts Department and Cobb EMC Community Foundation. Additional support is provided by the City of Kennesaw, Smith-Gilbert Gardens Foundation, North Cobb Library, City of Kennesaw Art and Culture Commission and Kennesaw State University.

Art Blooms is included with regular Garden admission. Weekly Timed Tickets for Art Blooms are now available at www.smithgilbertgardens.com. Select workshops and classes include an additional fee.

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Smith-Gilbert Gardens, 2382 Pine Mountain Rd, Kennesaw, GA 30152, houses more than 4,000 species of plants on 17 acres in Kennesaw, GA. United by woodland paths, the gardens consist of separate groupings with individual elements of fascination. These include the Bonsai Exhibit, Paladino Camellia Garden, largest crevice garden in Georgia, and American Conifer Society Reference Garden. The gardens are open Tuesdays through Saturdays 9 AM to 4 PM. For more information, please visit www.smithgilbertgardens.com.

A residential developer with a long track record in Atlanta is moving forward with a unique housing venture in Cobb County that wouldn’t look out of place on a college campus.

Atlanta-based Novare Group and partners BCDC and PointOne Holdings recently broke ground on an Acworth luxury apartment community that’s expected to span more than 20 acres along Ga. Highway 92.

The site is located between Interstates 75 and I-575, due north of Kennesaw State University and just east of downtown Acworth, a Cobb city with a population of roughly 23,000 on the banks of an eponymous lake.

As with other projects that’ve blipped the radar recently in places like Cartersville, the Acworth development is geared toward filling a void of apartments in the I-75 north corridor. The area has logged “remarkable” job and population growth in recent years, but apartment construction has failed to keep pace, according to Novare and company.

Plans call for 330 residences total, including 20 carriage homes with private garages.

Perks will include a range of greenspaces for active and passive outdoor uses—including a centralized green, pictured below—in addition to amenities described as “state-of-the-art.”

Novare Group; designs, Dynamik Design

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Located at 5950 Highway 92, the unnamed project’s first units are scheduled to come online in October next year.

It marks the 38th joint-venture between Novare and BCDC, formerly Batson-Cook Development Company. Dynamik Design is the architect, Status Construction is general contractor, and City National Bank provided debt financing.

The location’s access to I-75 and I-575 will offer what the development team describes as “a convenient commute to major employers in metro Atlanta.”

“This luxury apartment community in Acworth represents a significant opportunity to contribute to the city’s growth,” said Litt Glover, BCDC president and CEO, in a prepared statement, “while providing residents with a sophisticated and modern living experience.”

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A struggling mall near Kennesaw was recently added to the portfolio of an investment group that specializes in outdated and distressed shopping malls.

Kohan Retail Investment Group recently acquired the majority of Town Center at Cobb for $71 million in late January, according to Cobb County property records. First reported Tuesday by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Town Center joins more than 50 American shopping malls owned by New York-based Kohan Retail.

Regional malls nationwide have struggled in the wake of the e-commerce boom and COVID-19 pandemic. Several Atlanta area malls are being reimagined or redesigned to incorporate apartments, office space, entertainment attractions and other uses.

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Town Center features 1.3 million square feet of retail space across a 92-acre property, located between I-75 and I-575. Kohan Retail bought the core of the mall, while other segments and big box stores have different owners including Macy’s and JCPenney.

The core of Town Center was owned by Simon Property Group until 2021. The luxury mall owner, best known locally for Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza in Buckhead, defaulted on payments on the Town Center loan, and the mall returned to its lender, Deutsche Bank.

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According to the Chronicle, Town Center reported a 92% occupancy rate last September but declining sales. In 2021, the mall reported about $14 million in net operating income, the newspaper reported, down 33% from its peak in 2014.

Kohan Retail did not immediately respond to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s inquiries about the future of Town Center at Cobb.

Town Center is the only Georgia mall the company currently owns, according to its website.

The Town Center Community Improvement District released a master plan last year, featuring suggestions for ways to revitalize the mall. Those ideas include turning the mall into a mixed-use district and linking it to the county’s trail network.

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Regional malls nationwide have struggled in the wake of the e-commerce boom and COVID-19 pandemic. Several Atlanta area malls are being reimagined or redesigned to incorporate apartments, office space, entertainment attractions and other uses.

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / [email protected]

Just a few minutes northwest of Kennesaw State University sits a 23-acre plot of land along Hickory Grove Road near Interstate 75 in Kennesaw, Ga.

Eight years ago, the land was a concrete mixing plant owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).

The KSU Field Station operates under the auspices of the Office of Research, led by Vice President for Research Phaedra Corso, who admitted being duly impressed with the facility upon first glance.

“When I first visited the Field Station, I thought it had so much potential for Kennesaw State,” she said. “It had the greenhouse, a functional hydroponics lab, and all that land. I just thought it was the perfect place for the Office of Research to turn into a living laboratory.”

Michael Blackwell, KSU's Field Station manager, led the efforts to remediate the land, which has allowed KSU to expand its faculty and student research, and provide hands-on, real-world experiences in a unique setting. In addition to giving faculty a chance to engage in interdisciplinary research projects, the Field Station also offers the community multiple activities to learn about sustainability.

The projects happening at the Field Station span multiple colleges, from an ongoing study of European starlings by assistant professor of biology Sarah Guindre-Parker to a small farm with edible vegetables supervised by geography professors Jason Rhodes and Vanessa Slinger-Friedman. Rhodes and Slinger-Friedman’s Food Forest hews closely to the original Field Station project — culinary sustainability. It sits on a third of an acre near the entrance to the Field Station and serves as a model for urban cultivation. By growing vegetables, the project seeks to lead the way to a sustainable mode of urban agriculture.

“I knew there needed to be a hands-on model for the class, so in 2019, I visited the Field Station and realized it was a perfect spot for the Food Forest,” said Rhodes, who teaches a class in sustainable agriculture each spring. “The best thing about it is it’s replicable in any urban setting, and we do invite people from all over the Atlanta metro area to see what we’re teaching and learning at KSU.”

Assistant professor of biology Mario Bretfeld also works with growing food, only in a different way. In one of the clear-glass, Quonset-hut greenhouses, Bretfeld hydroponically grows tomatoes for an ongoing, externally funded project in his PlantEcoPhysiology laboratory. Before Bretfeld arrived at KSU in 2019, his research focused primarily on the interaction between trees and their environments, particularly regarding water uptake. Over time, he realized his research had an application to agriculture and collaborated with associate professor of mechanical engineering Sathish Gurupatham (an expert in thermodynamics) for the hydroponic tomato project.

“One of the big reasons why I came to KSU was the Field Station,” Bretfeld said. “I did most of my research in the Rocky Mountains, and I needed a local research spot. I realized I had access to the hydroponic greenhouse at the Field Station and could lean on the expertise of the Field Station staff; from there, the project just grew and grew.”

Guindre-Parker also joined Kennesaw State in 2019. Like Bretfeld, she says the Field Station was a major drawing point. Guindre-Parker studies European starlings and how they’ve adapted successfully to different environments. She has around 50 nest boxes at the Field Station, which sits at the intersection of city and country for migratory birds — a valuable spot for research.

“The Field Station is an important peri-urban site, granting us access to a unique intermediate between urban and rural spaces where we can work safely in a space dedicated for research,” Guindre-Parker said. “It is a great place for students new to field work to get the hang of things in a space that is secure and well equipped. It also supports large groups — including field trips for my courses.”

Blackwell lists the various projects going on at the farm with a sense of pride, considering it had just one ongoing project when he arrived. The partnership with the Office of Research further solidified the Field Station as an integral part of KSU’s sustained R2 status, and Corso said the Field Station perfectly illustrates the University’s potential for growth.

“We have three priorities for the Field Station: research, students, and the community,” she said. “Our office is dedicated to making the Field Station a hub of not only research but also teaching, and we do host classes there frequently. And for the community, we provide workshops to see what we’re doing out there. The Field Station is really a jewel for KSU.”

Furthering this commitment, the Field Station offers community partners educational programming, activities, and special events related to sustainability. These activities have included a Beginner Beekeeping Workshop, Small Farms Tool demonstration, and the very popular workshop on Growing Culinary Mushrooms at home.

In addition, the facility welcomes volunteers to participate in weekly community service opportunities assisting with field and ground maintenance, planting, harvesting, and helping with seasonal necessities.

For his part, Blackwell said he welcomes inquiries from every corner of the university. He said professors from engineering and architecture have been in contact, though the most interesting collaboration came from the department of dance, where students performed an interpretive piece among the rows of trees.

“My answer is always ‘yes’,” Blackwell said. “Let’s find a space that works for the project that you want and we’ll make it happen.”

– Story by Dave ShellesPhotos by Judith Pishnery, Jason Getz

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A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 45,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.

By Rebecca Gaunt

With some wrangling of the details, Kennesaw City Council approved a 19-acre mixed use development at 2652 South Main St.

Council approved the property for rezoning Monday, from light industrial (LI) to central business district (CBD), 3-1 with Nimesh Patel absent and Pat Ferris in opposition. Ferris was also the sole vote against the project application from Bulldog Acquisitions, LLC, citing concerns about traffic and the commercial component.

The project includes 318 multi-family apartments, a minimum of 44 for-sale townhomes, 5,000 – 10,000 square feet of commercial space wrapped around a parking deck, a detached retail building with 10,000 – 25,000 square feet of commercial space, and a southern extension of the existing Gateway Park along Main Street with interconnected pedestrian trails.

Ferris said he was concerned about the lack of specificity in commercial square footage.

“I would like to have seen the commercial be better defined…I think somewhere in one of the hearings they admitted they didn’t have any current people lined up to lease any of the commercial,” he said.

The Kennesaw Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions to limit the number of townhomes to 65 and to prohibit the businesses with fryers and grills in the vertical shared commercial/residential building. Zoning administrator Darryl Simmons recommended approval with the stipulations attached but Council voted to remove both.

Council member Tracey Viars suggested removing the restaurant exclusion at last week’s work session.

“It works in Revival and Revival wasn’t really set up for that. I talked to the leasing agents and they don’t have any problems with leasing those spaces above it. They don’t have any problems with extra complaints from those residents,” Viars said.

Simmons also recommended denial of the developer’s variance requests to reduce the average residential floor area from 1,000 square feet to 935 square feet, and to reduce one-bedroom apartment minimum square footage from 850 square feet to 705 square feet. Council approved both variance requests, with opposition from Ferris.

Viars also spoke in support of allowing the developer to reduce apartment size at the work session.

“I don’t know how many people realize that a 638-square-foot apartment at Revival right now starts at $1,900 a month. When they go to the 850, I’m not sure those rents are going to be available to some of the people we’d like to be able to live there,” Viars said.

When the development reaches 80% occupancy, a traffic signal warrant study is required. If the study indicates a signal is needed, the developer must pay for installation.

Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.

Cobb GIS, which has created many useful apps and interactive maps, has created one that will enhance your holiday fun.

Cobb County posted the following announcement on the county government Facebook page:

Share the holiday joy. Use this map created by Cobb’s Geographic Information System to find and share new, fun local light displays. To add a new location, complete the ‘survey’ at the bottom of the app to add a picture and address of your favorites (or your own). You can also view those that were submitted in 2020… however we can’t guarantee they are participating this year.Click here to holiday lights locations in Cobb: https://geo-cobbcountyga.hub.arcgis.com/apps/holiday-lights-in-cobb/explore?fbclid=IwAR1KDowpFfhAmowsEGoauSDPyZw6Mod76KUKYE8-DSvOX799Cl7QT85e-Ek