The Windward Week – August 24th 2026

Welcome to the Windward Week, your go-to source for local news, community updates, and market insights right here in Windward, Alpharetta. Here’s what’s making headlines in our neighborhood this week.

Tonight Is the Vote on North Point
After months of hearings, renderings and neighborhood argument, the Alpharetta City Council takes its final vote on the North Point Mall redevelopment tonight at 6:30 at City Hall, 2 Park Plaza. City Administrator Chris Lagerbloom put it plainly ahead of the meeting: “It would be a final outcome if they do take action.” On the table is a rezoning of roughly 100 acres for a 20,000-seat arena built to land an NHL franchise, a community ice rink, a music hall, two hotels, a conference center, 750,000 square feet of office and about 1,385 rental homes. The Planning Commission sent it forward on a narrow 4-3 recommendation, the apartments cannot be occupied unless a franchise is actually awarded, and no team has committed to the region yet. Developer Jamestown has called it possibly the greatest economic impact vote in the history of Alpharetta. Whichever way it lands, it sets the tone for the 400 corridor north of us for the next thirty years. The meeting is open if you want to be in the room.

Fulton County Schools Moves Toward a One Mill Tax Increase
The Fulton County Board of Education gave tentative approval on August 20 to raising the school millage rate from 17.08 to 18.08, an increase of about 5.85 percent and the district’s first rate increase in seven years. Superintendent Mike Looney pointed to rising health care and Teachers Retirement System costs, inflation, and revenue lost to senior homestead exemptions, with a projected deficit north of $50 million for the coming fiscal year. One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, and taxable value is 40 percent of assessed value, so the change works out to roughly $100 a year for every $250,000 of assessed value before exemptions. Three public hearings are scheduled before the board takes its final vote, and the district has posted an online calculator so you can run your own numbers.

Ten New Sculptures Are Going Up Around Alpharetta
The City Council approved a contract with Arts Alpharetta on August 3 to install ten new outdoor sculptures in an exhibition called Dazzle and Discord, with the work running through September. The lineup includes Nouveau Crane near City Hall, A Crack in the Past in Wills Park, Red-Green Construction in Union Hill Park, the solar powered rotating Vortex Vortex, and Just One Look in Brooke Street Park at Haynes Bridge and Academy. Arts Alpharetta handles the curation, installation, removal and marketing, and a few favorites from the last exhibition may stay put because residents got attached to them. Cultural services manager Kim Zane put it simply: “This is just an outdoor gallery, and it just provides interest as you’re walking.”

As always, if you have questions about the Windward real estate market or are thinking about buying or selling, I’m just a call or email away.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Robbins
Century 21 Connect Realty
404.491.0432
jon.r@c21connectrealty.com