Atlantic Station is no Vehicle for Validation
Silly Atlantic Station….
They have one the Second Largest Parking Deck in the United States (only the Mall of America is Bigger), and yet they won’t let their vendors validate parking…
This is just silly. Yes. You get two hours free. How nice. Yes. It’s free after 7:00 ish. How nice. Go for a late lunch and the deck is empty. It’s a wasteland. Spend too long at lunch however, and you’ll have to pay for it. If you’re already spending $40 for lunch at Strip, the fact that they can’t validate your parking for however long you’re going to be there is adding insult to injury.
Having the shuttle is a good thing, however, until there is a train stop there, let the vendors validate.
July 11th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
I don’t find it silly at all. As they say in economics classes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Decks typically cost in excess of $20,000 per space.
If the dining costs partially subsidized the parking deck, then patrons who used MARTA or the shuttles to get to Atlantic Station — not to mention, patrons on bikes or within walking distance — would be subsidizing the patrons who drove to get to Atlantic Station.
Considering that TAD bonds already helped subsidize the parking deck, I don’t believe it’s right to then get those who don’t use the deck to turn around and subsidize the deck any further.
July 11th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
The movie theater validated my ticket this weekend. I got a total of four hours free.
July 13th, 2006 at 8:01 am
It doesn’t make any sense to me either. A new development that is trying to draw people to a location that is generally devoid of people on the weekend, and they want to charge for parking? Midtown is not a happening location for shopping. With the number of malls located in and around Atlanta, Atlanta Station has an abundance of competiton. The only true draw at Atlanta Station is Ikea, and they have their own deck and it’s free parking. What else at Atlantic Station can not be found at an area mall that may be easier to get to, easier to park?
July 13th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
The area is definitely not “generally devoid of people on the weekend.” (I live near there.) It’s actually gotten crowded in recent months.
As for parking, there is no such thing as free automobile storage. It’s built into the prices at Lenox & Phipps. One way or another, you pay. And there are alternatives: the free Atlantic Station shuttle leaves frequently from the Arts Center MARTA station.
July 15th, 2006 at 10:24 am
>>As for parking, there is no such thing as free automobile storage. It’s built into the prices at Lenox & Phipps.
Cool. I didn’t know that the national chain stores located at Atlantic Station had lower prices than the national chain stores at Lenox & Phipps. Good to know.
July 17th, 2006 at 11:20 am
I miss Atlanta so much and this post made me miss it even more. I used to live on Atlantic Drive, before my no good ex boyfriend got another girl pregnant and stole my house there. When I lived there the area that was Atlantic Station was an old steel mill. How I would have loved to live so close to an IKEA! Wow. I would love to see how it looks now. I can’t even imagine it. But goodness, how nice can it be if they won’t even validate your parking?
July 23rd, 2006 at 10:24 am
I agree with Alex there are plenty of places to shop that offer the same stores as Atlantic Station and free parking. I’d rather drive a few extra miles than pay for parking. Also, deck parking is a pain. There are plenty of stores only a few miles further than Atlantic Station with plenty of convenient surface lots.
July 31st, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Atlantic Station sucks!!!! Midtown- east of 75/85 is where it’s at.
August 4th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Just make sure that you catch a movie and you should be fine on parking.
August 9th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Atlantic Station actually lets any retail store or restaurant validate…they’re just too cheap to do it and would rather tell you that AS doesn’t “allow” it…complete BS.
The first 2 hours are free, the second and third are $1 and you would have to stay there a long time to cause any real pain…and as Rashid & Chintan posted, the movie theater gives you an extra 2 hours free.
Parking isn’t free in Midtown, it isn’t free in VA-Highland and it isn’t free in the B’Head Village…Lenox/Phipps are looking into charging for all of their parking right now so stay tuned.