Elected officials in this suburban city, 10 miles northwest ofDowntown Atlanta, voted 4 to 2 against the Esplanade, a projectthat would have brought 86 attached townhomes, 118 loft-stylecondominiums, 73,000 sf of retail, 24,000 sf of office, a 29,250-sfgrocery story and 717 parking spaces to the site of the 65-year-oldJohnny Walker Homes complex.

Among the factors that shot down the project was Madison'sinability to find a grocer anchor for the project and Madison'srequest to the city for $10 million in tax district funding tobuild a parking deck, area consultants and brokers who attended thepublic meeting tell GlobeSt.com.

Madison wanted the parking to support the retail and officecomponents of the project. What bothered Marietta officials,however, was that the garage, funded by public tax dollars,eventually would fall into the ownership of private hands. Electedofficials felt the $10 million would be better spent on sidewalks,roads and sewers, observers who attended the meeting tellGlobeSt.com.