Elected officials in this suburban city, 10 miles northwest of Downtown Atlanta, voted 4 to 2 against the Esplanade, a project that would have brought 86 attached townhomes, 118 loft-style condominiums, 73,000 sf of retail, 24,000 sf of office, a 29,250-sf grocery story and 717 parking spaces to the site of the 65-year-old Johnny Walker Homes complex.

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

Madison wanted the parking to support the retail and office components 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. Elected officials felt the $10 million would be better spent on sidewalks, roads and sewers, observers who attended the meeting tell GlobeSt.com.