Sandy Springs is one of the cities powering metro Atlanta's latest population surge, with a wave of apartment construction helping the 11-county region add 53,690 residents in the past year.
The Atlanta Regional Commission released population estimates Wednesday, Aug. 12, showing the metro area grew to 5,339,164 people between April 2025 and April 2026. Fulton County led all 11 counties, expanding 1.9%, and ARC specifically named Sandy Springs as one of the cities driving a dramatic jump in multifamily housing permits.
The numbers tell the story: Fulton County (excluding the City of Atlanta) issued 2,255 multifamily permits in 2025, up from 1,322 the year before. That's a 70% increase in one year. Johns Creek, Union City and College Park also contributed to the surge.
What's going up
The most visible example is Hillcrest, a $131 million mixed-use project at 6150 Sandy Springs Circle that broke ground in October 2025. Developed by High Street Residential, a subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, and partner Third & Urban, the 8.1-acre site will deliver 362 apartment units, 30 for-rent townhomes and more than 19,000 square feet of retail space surrounding a central plaza. The project sits adjacent to the $230 million City Springs complex and replaces the former Sandy Springs United Methodist Church Activities Center.
Scott Kirchhoff, a principal at High Street Residential, said at the October 2025 groundbreaking that the project "has come together as the result of strong collaboration between the City, Sandy Springs UMC, and our partners at Third & Urban." Delivery is expected by the third quarter of 2028.
The tension
More apartments could help reverse a troubling trend. City Councilman Andrew Chinsky noted at a June 16 council meeting that Sandy Springs' population of roughly 105,000 has actually declined over the past five years because it is too expensive for people to live here. Regional forecasts project the city growing to 118,000 by 2050, but only if housing keeps pace.
"Traffic planning and transportation planning has to go hand-in-hand with that, or else traffic is going to be very bad," Chinsky said in June, while discussing the city's draft 10-year Transportation Master Plan. "But when done right, it can reduce traffic and create a nice walkable downtown area where people are living here."
The city is weighing more than $250 million in transportation investments over the next decade, including widening Hammond Drive and intersection improvements on Roswell Road. Nearly 8% of Sandy Springs households lack access to a personal vehicle.
The bigger picture
Regionally, growth is slowing. The metro area's 1.0% growth rate is down from 1.2% the prior year, when 64,400 residents were added. ARC links the slowdown to tight housing supply and elevated prices. Only 24,015 residential building permits were issued across the 11-county region in 2025, an 18.5% decrease from the prior year and well below the 1980–2025 annual average of 33,150.
Sandy Springs' median home sale price sits around $745,000, with renovated single-family homes inside the Perimeter commanding $1 million to $1.4 million, according to local real estate listings. Condos and townhomes offer entry points between $380,000 and $450,000.
ARC did not break out how many of those 2,255 multifamily permits belong to Sandy Springs alone.
The city hosts roughly 132,000 jobs, but only about 6% are held by Sandy Springs residents. Whether the apartment surge changes that ratio depends on what gets built, where and at what price point.
