Following an extensive restoration of our creek and wildlife sanctuary as part of the construction of the new Turner Lynch Campus Center, environmental sustainability is once again at the center of our growth strategy.

In September 2014, Oglethorpe announced a partnership and long-term land lease agreement with real-estate development company Gables Residential to construct, operate and maintain Gables Brookhaven, a mixed-use luxury apartment community on campus. With Oglethorpe’s residence halls near capacity, the development will offer an additional living choice for students.

Preparation for the site construction later that month. As part of the development, Gables Residential has engaged Southface, a green building consultant, to pursue a LEED-comparable EarthCraft Multifamily Certification for the Gables Brookhaven project at the corner of Peachtree and Hermance.

This project will be Gables’ sixth EarthCraft certified project to date in Atlanta. In recent years, Southface has partnered with Oglethorpe’s unique Urban Ecology program and has provided hands-on learning opportunities in sustainable building practices for students on Oglethorpe’s historic Brookhaven campus.

Together with Gables Residential and the City of Brookhaven’s staff arborist, Kay Evanovich, we are taking steps to implement best management practices to preserve native trees and plants while making plans for the re-vegetation of the site when construction is completed.

Several initiatives have already been completed:

• Gables commissioned Arbor Guard in May 2014 to perform a complete survey and analysis of all the specimen trees on the property. Only 11 of the 24 specimen trees on the property were found to be in good condition. Gables will re-landscape the property with 150% of the total caliper inches of healthy specimen trees removed. View the report
• Gables and Oglethorpe collaborated with the Georgia Native Plant Society to relocate a variety of plant specimens from the property, including native azalea, trillium, Solomon’s Seal and hypericum.  Read the letter
• Oglethorpe also worked with the Friends of Brookhaven Park Association to spade and relocate 22 trees (totaling 101 caliper inches) to Brookhaven Park. Read about the relocation in this story from the Brookhaven Post and view the video below.