Politics & Government

Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs Poised for Growth

The Perimeter Community Improvement Districts includes Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs,. Yvonne Williams, PCIDs CEO, reviewed projects, fast facts and vision of the self-taxing districts to the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs on Monday.


The Perimeter Center area may be the largest Fortune 500 office market in the southeastern United States, but MARTA is a critical component, according to Yvonne Williams, President and CEO of the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts. 

"Most every employer says, ‘If I am going to look at an area of competition in Atlanta, I want to know that I have access to MARTA,’ " Williams explained. 

Williams was guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs luncheon, Monday, held most weeks at Hammond Glen senior community. She reviewed completed projects by the PCIDs, fast facts and vision of the self-taxing districts to Rotary members.

Find out what's happening in Brookhavenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Recent projects include the Hammond Drive Half Diamond Interchange exit and the Ashford Dunwoody Diverging Diamond Interchange. Click here to see PCIDs projects.

The PCIDs includes Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and most recently Brookhaven. Commercial property owners in the districts pay a voluntary tax towards infrastructure and property improvements. 

Find out what's happening in Brookhavenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Williams said the PCIDs Perimeter area –Sandy Springs and Dunwoody- has generated $300 million in tax revenues for the state of Georgia. 

Despite the failed TSPLOST measure last summer, the PCIDS is pursuing improvements to the Ga. 400/I-285 interchange. Traffic congestion grows with Perimeter development, Williams added, affecting traffic from Cumberland to Gwinnett to North Fulton to Buckhead.

“We’ve got to keep the needle on this project and see how we can start forwarding its agenda,” she said. “It’s been put on the Atlanta Regional Commission as a new project.”

Williams acknowledged the possibility that interchange infrastructure could go up, similar to spaghetti junction at I-85.

“I would think we’d have to go up. I also think there are some very creative ways to make the ramps and access points safer,” she said.

Current PCIDs projects include:

Lake Hearn/Perimeter Summit streetscapes, which includes 7,300 feet of sidewalk along Lake Hearn Drive and Parkside Place, benches, trees and lighting. 

Yvonne Williams' Fast Facts on the Perimeter area

  • 29 million square feet of office space
  • Over 5,000 companies 
  • Currently 80 percent recovery of backfilled office space from the recession
  • 123,000 employees commute to the Perimeter area
  • $3.36 billion in real estate value
  • The medical community’s impact has more than a $3 billion impact on the state


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Brookhaven