What's Up Dunwoody

08/22/2026

7 days away from college football kickoff and saving children’s lives. It’s going to be a fun day watching football, playing games and raising money for underprivileged children in third world countries with congenital heart disease. It costs $15k to save one life and the goal each year is to save 3 lives! Come watch football and help make a difference. Sign up now!

About the Event Join Save a Child's Heart on August 29, 2026, from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM for a Tailgate Party celebrating football season and 10 years of impact in Atlanta. Wear your favorite jersey, e...

08/18/2026

Two of Atlanta's biggest institutions are pouring more than two and a half billion dollars into one corner of Brookhaven, and almost none of it is walkable from across the highway.

Emory University is in the middle of a $1 billion redevelopment of Executive Park, adding apartments, a hotel, and thousands of jobs to what's been a car-only office park for decades. Right next door, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta already spent roughly $1.5 billion building its new hospital campus, which opened in 2024. All of that money sits on one side of I-85. On the other side is the Peachtree Creek Greenway and Buford Highway, one of Atlanta's most vibrant immigrant communities, with essentially no safe way to walk across the highway between the two.

That's about to change. The City of Brookhaven has committed more than $16 million toward the Peachtree Creek Greenway Connector Bridge, funded through Emory and a grant from Decide DeKalb, the county's economic development authority, with construction expected to start in 2028. It's a strategy Brookhaven has watched work before: connect two areas with the right piece of infrastructure, and growth tends to follow, the same bet that turned the Atlanta Beltline from an idea people doubted into one of the city's most crowded trails.

08/17/2026

The whole Village is in on this!

08/17/2026

Many people who've lived in Atlanta for years still don't fully understand what the Peach Pass lane actually is. Here's the short version: on I-85 north of 285, the far left lane is an optional express lane running from Spaghetti Junction up past Highway 316. The toll price is dynamic, shown on overhead signs before you commit, and it moves with traffic. I make the Gwinnett drive from Dunwoody a few times a week, and once you're past two or three exits, the time savings are usually worth it. I've added my wife, my mom, and my dad to my account too. They barely use it, but the option is there when they need it. Georgia DOT also has Peach Pass Express Lanes planned for the top end of I-285 and along GA-400, that's actually why crews have been clearing trees along both corridors for the past few years. It's been a long time coming, but it's real. If you're new to metro Atlanta, or willing to pay a dollar or two for a shorter commute, it's worth setting up.

08/17/2026

Why does Perimeter Mall keep losing parking spots to restaurants and offices? Since 2015, Dunwoody's Perimeter Mall property has been quietly converting surface parking into new development, one outparcel at a time. Chick-fil-A opened in 2015 on the former Macy's auto care site at Ashford-Dunwoody Road and Hammond Drive. Twelve24, a 16-story, 345,000-square-foot office tower, broke ground in 2018 next to the Dunwoody MARTA station, with the adjoining Hyatt Place hotel opening alongside it in spring 2020. By 2019, plans were approved for Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar and Buffalo Wild Wings on additional parking acreage near Ashford-Dunwoody Road; Lazy Dog opened in February 2022, and Buffalo Wild Wings followed in April 2023. Now Saints and Council, the Midtown Atlanta restaurant known for its patio and lounge seating, is preparing to break ground on an 8,000-square-foot Dunwoody location next to Lazy Dog. It's all part of the city's Edge City 2.0 vision and long-range Comprehensive Plan, which call for a more walkable Perimeter Center — wider sidewalks, more green space, and an expanding multi-use trail network along the Ashford-Dunwoody Path, with Phase 1 completed in April 2025 and Phase 2 now underway.

08/13/2026

Podcast 336 - Saints + Council Plans Second Location at Perimeter - William Pitts and Ian Winslade

Saints + Council is coming to Perimeter Mall. If you've had brunch at the original in Midtown, you already know why that's a big deal. Saints + Council founder William Pitts and Culinary Director Ian Winslade just held their groundbreaking ceremony on the mall's parking lot outparcel next to Lazy Dog, and they walked me through everything that's coming.

The building will run about 8,000 square feet with fireplaces, water features, and a covered patio with a telescoping roof. We got into the origin story behind the Dutch Baby, the dish that almost became the whole concept before Saints + Council grew into a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner restaurant. We got into their menu favorites like braised short rib and a lemon miso salmon. William also got real about company culture, real paid vacation, 50 percent covered medical, and paid maternity leave for restaurant staff, which isn't something you hear about often in this industry.

There's a personal layer to this one too. The new spot sits right across the street from Café Intermezzo, where William shared his last meal with his father years ago, and it's just down the street from where he lives now. His first two restaurants have already shown real success, Saints + Council in Midtown and his Oaxacan-inspired Cuevacía, both under his restaurant group Spur Hospitality, are thriving. Permits are still in progress, and they're targeting a 2027 opening.

08/09/2026

What does "days on market" actually mean, and why does it matter right now?

It's the number of days a home sits active before it goes under contract. According to Realtor.com, homes in DeKalb County are now taking a little over 50 days to sell. A few years ago a well-priced listing was gone in a weekend. More inventory, higher interest rates, and buyers who take their time have stretched that out. It doesn't mean the market is bad. It means pricing has to be right, and the sellers who adjust are the ones getting showings.

I have two listings where we've done exactly that.

4052 West Johnson Circle in Chamblee is now $469,000 after more than $30,000 in price improvements. A three bedroom ranch on a third of an acre in the Huntley Hills Elementary district, about a mile from Assembly Atlanta, a mile and a half from Downtown Chamblee, and minutes from Doraville MARTA.
whatsupdunwoody.com/johnson

2563 Dering Court is now $399,000 after another $10,000 drop. Four bedrooms, four sided brick, tucked on a cul de sac in Wakefield Forest with a big fenced backyard. I 85 is minutes away, and Emory, the CDC, CHOA, and Oglethorpe are all within a few miles.
whatsupdunwoody.com/dering

Open houses at both this Sunday, August 9th, and again the following Sunday, August 16th.

08/07/2026

Second Saturday returns tomorrow at Ashford Lane. Stop by The Lawn around 6:20-6:40 to throw at me in the dunk tank!