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First look: Pint-sized build set to break ground near Westside BeltLine Josh Green Fri, 05/17/2024 - 14:46 A unique Westside infill project that blends uses in the middle of a historic neighborhood is set to move forward in coming weeks, according to development officials.

The project by OaksATL Community Development is planned for a relatively small corner site—just .13 acres—where Lindsay Street meets North Avenue in English Avenue.

Situated about five blocks east of the BeltLine’s under-construction, final Westside Trail section, the parcel has been used as a pocket greenspace since a dilapidated home was demolished there several years ago.  

The three-story project is set to break ground in June, with an expected construction timeline of 10 months, according to Invest Atlanta.

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

Location of the English Avenue corner site in relation to the Westside Trail corridor, Midtown, and Westside Park. Google Maps

Floorplans show a café, barbershop, leasing office, laundry, and other uses on the project’s ground floor.

Above that, plans call for six apartments with two bedrooms and one bathroom each, all of them capped at affordable housing rates, per project leaders. Square footages are expected to range between 791 and 866 square feet.

Initially, OaksATL Community Development intended to offer all apartments at rates for residents earning 50 to 60 percent of the area median income or less.

But following delays, the developer is grappling with enough increases in construction costs—including a change in requirements from the project’s lending partners—that two of the apartments will need to be raised to a max of 80 percent AMI, according to Invest Atlanta.

That means rents will range from $1,148 to $1,553 monthly, according to project leaders.

The corner site where Lindsay Street meets North Avenue today. Google Maps

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

The full development budget is just $2.67 million—but that’s a hike from the original cost estimate of $1.34 million. Westside TAD grants, City of Atlanta Home Program funding, and philanthropic donations are expected to cover more than $1.2 million of the cost.

Head up to the gallery for more 557 Lindsay St. context and images. Below is a breakdown of what each space in the building is scheduled to rent for. 

Planned breakdown for 557 Lindsay St. unit rents, both residential and commercial. Invest Atlanta

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• English Avenue news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

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557 Lindsay Street NW Westside TAD Resurgens Fund Westside Invest Atlanta affordable housing Affordability affordable apartments Atlanta apartments Mixed-Use Development Beltline Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail OaksATL Community Development

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Location of the English Avenue corner site in relation to the Westside Trail corridor, Midtown, and Westside Park. Google Maps

The corner site where Lindsay Street meets North Avenue today. Google Maps

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

Planned breakdown for 557 Lindsay St. unit rents, both residential and commercial. Invest Atlanta

OaksATL Community Development; via Invest Atlanta

Subtitle On empty, postage-stamp size site, mix of commercial, residential uses in pipeline

Neighborhood English Avenue

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Construction timeline released for $13M greenspace upgrades Josh Green Fri, 05/17/2024 - 13:42 For devoted patrons of Dresden Park, the growing-pains phase is about to begin.

According to the City of Chamblee, the popular greenspace is set to officially close May 28—or the day after Memorial Day Weekend—for at least 14 months of construction that aims to provide an upgraded greenspace with modernized facilities.

Construction is now expected to continue through the spring of next year, with a grand opening forecasted sometime in summer 2025.

Nearly $13 million in park upgrades are planned, starting with demolition of existing Dresden Park structures.

Entries and overall architecture for the planned Dresden Park Community Center. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Final masterplan for the 24-acre greenspace. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Dresden Park is tucked off Buford Highway, just south of DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, at 2301 Dresden Drive. At 24 acres, the greenspace is 2 acres larger than Centennial Olympic Park downtown. City officials finalized a contract in February with Integrated Construction and Nobility to remake the park.

Revitalization plans call for a new modern-style community center, a rectangular field with artificial turf and a multi-use field, a dog park, tennis courts, a large playground, a walking trail, a pavilion, and a new concessions building. Infrastructure upgrades such as new lighting, terraced seating, restrooms, and a new parking lot are also planned.  

The bulk of park upgrades is being paid for with COVID-19 relief funding—specifically, $10.8 million from American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds. The Chamblee City Council approved another $2 million to pay for the larger community building earlier this year, nudging the total renovation budget up to $12.8 million.

Chamblee Mayor Brian Mock has called the ARPA funding “likely a once in a lifetime opportunity” that will create “the crown jewel of the neighborhood” for an area that’s been underserved.

Example of a planned Dresden Park pavilion. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Interior layout for a Dresden Park community room. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Until summer 2025, programming usually held at Dresden Park will be moved to Keswick Park and other privately owned field locations. Chamblee officials are urging parkgoers to use other city greenspaces for picnics and family outings, too. 

In recent years, other parts of Chamblee have seen an award-winning municipal facility take shape and a multi-use trail system grow as developers pack in hundreds of new housing options near the ITP city’s historic core.

The park's 2301 Dresden Drive location (in red) near the City of Chamblee's southeastern border. Google Maps

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• Chamblee news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

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2301 Dresden Drive Chamblee Dresden Park Atlanta Parks Greenspaces Chamblee Parks Park Upgrades American Rescue Plan Act Chamblee City Council Atlanta Greenspaces ITP Parks Parks and Rec Parks and Recreation Dresden Park Community Center City of Chamblee Integrated Construction and Nobility Keswick Park DeKalb-Peachtree Airport

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Final masterplan for the 24-acre greenspace. Courtesy City of Chamblee

The park's 2301 Dresden Drive location (in red) near the City of Chamblee's southeastern border. Google Maps

Example of a planned Dresden Park pavilion. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Entries and overall architecture for the planned Dresden Park Community Center. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Interior layout for a Dresden Park community room. Courtesy City of Chamblee

Subtitle Overhaul will close Chamblee's popular Dresden Park for 14 months, at least

Neighborhood Chamblee

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'World-class' overhaul planned for CNN Center, a downtown landmark Josh Green Thu, 04/04/2024 - 16:32 Say so long to downtown Atlanta’s landmark CNN Center and hello to simply… “The Center.”

CP Group, a commercial restate and management firm with a huge Atlanta portfolio, announced today it’s planning to remake the 1.2-million-square-foot, 1970s high-rise property into a “world-class” hub of dining, retail, entertainment, and content creation called The Center. 

The announcement comes after CNN has departed the building and stripped off its branding as its offices are moved to Midtown, following nearly four decades of being headquartered downtown.  

With Atlanta’s full month of 2026 FIFA World Cup matches a little more than two years away, CP Group is focusing its energy on activating the ground-floor level of the complex, which includes Omni Atlanta Hotel. The goal is to land retailers and “innovative tenants” who want space at a recognizable, centrally located property where no office space has been available for lease for 40 years.

Plans for The Center's revised Marietta Street facade. CP Group; designs, ASD/SKY

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The Center’s retail leasing agent, Coleman Weatherholtz of Healey Weatherholtz Properties, said his company is “already engaged with several new-to-market retail concepts to join the repositioning of this legendary building,” in today’s media announcement. CBRE has been tapped to lease the office component.

Nicole Goldsmith, senior vice president of CBRE in Atlanta, called the building’s branding opportunities “unmatched.”

“Our vision includes curating an unparalleled selection of dynamic users, dining and retail experiences, entertainment offerings, and elevated lifestyle amenities,” added CP Group partner Chris Eachus, “all of which will be carefully crafted to draw the community into the heart of the city.”

Built in 1976 as the Omni Complex, the property was reshaped by mogul Ted Turner into CNN Center in 1986. Three years ago, CP Group bought the complex from CNN’s former parent company, AT&T, by way of a sale-leaseback that ran through this year.

Along with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, The Center’s neighbors include State Farm Arena, Centennial Olympic Park, and the country’s fourth-largest convention center—attractions that draw more than 12 million visitors per year, per CP Group.

CP Group; designs, ASD/SKY

CNN Center's vast interiors, as seen in 2018. Shutterstock

No timeline for The Center’s construction start and opening was provided in today’s announcement. We’ve asked CP reps for more details and will post any that come.

Elsewhere in Atlanta, the company is moving forward with additional changes to another landmark property it owns—Bank of America Plaza, the tallest building in the Southeast—where a new plaza, outdoor café, and top-floor amenity space are now planned.  

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• Downtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

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CNN Center The Center Downtown Atlanta CP Group World Cup 2026 Healey Weatherholtz Properties Adaptive-Reuse Adaptive-Reuse Development Omni Atlanta Hotel Atlanta Hotels Atlanta Landmarks ASD|SKY CBRE

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Plans for The Center's revised Marietta Street facade. CP Group; designs, ASD/SKY

CP Group; designs, ASD/SKY

CNN Center's vast interiors, as seen in 2018. Shutterstock

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Subtitle Meet... "The Center"

Neighborhood Downtown

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Affordable rental community debuts near Atlanta BeltLine section Josh Green Fri, 02/23/2024 - 14:26 The explosion of new housing options near the BeltLine due south of downtown now includes a complex with rents that might actually qualify as affordable for most Atlantans.

A grand opening is scheduled Tuesday for a 56-unit project called Stanton Park Apartments in Peoplestown, a joint venture between Woda Cooper Companies and Parallel Housing.

The complex stands roughly a block north of an access point (Milton Avenue) for the BeltLine’s Southside Trail corridor, where construction to pave the multi-use trail is expected to begin early this year.

Other landmarks in the area include Peoplestown’s DH Stanton Park and The Beacon food-and-beverage district, both located a few blocks east. Also within walking distance is the Terminal South food hall project, which officially broke ground a couple of weeks ago.

The project's proximity to the Southside Trail, DH Stanton Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps

The Stanton Park facade at 1056 Hank Aaron Drive in Peoplestown. Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Project leaders call Stanton Park unique in that it’s a combination of public, nonprofit, and private business efforts meant to provide housing for Atlantans who’ve faced homelessness, in addition to other renters who qualify.

Having risen four stories on a previously vacant corner lot, Stanton Park offers 36 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom apartments for residents earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income. (Ten units are reserved via the Project Based Voucher rental assistance program for formerly homeless residents, with support services included, officials say.)  

Rents for standard, single-bedroom apartments with 650 square feet start at $542 and climb up to $925.

Two-bedroom options with between 860 and 885 square feet are renting from between $670 and $1,080 per month. Some have a single bathroom, others a bathroom and ½.

Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Amenities at the complex include a fitness center, barbecue and picnic area, laundry facilities, on-site management, and a community room. No pets are allowed.

Other partners in the project include Atlanta BeltLine Inc., Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Housing, Partners for HOME, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Sugar Creek Capital, and Walker & Dunlop.

In the gallery above, find more Stanton Park context and photos.

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• Peoplestown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

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1056 Hank Aaron Drive Stanton Park Apartments Affordable Housing Southside Southside Trail Peoplestown Beltline Atlanta BeltLine senior housing Woda Cooper Companies Parallel Housing Invest Atlanta Atlanta BeltLine Inc. Atlanta Housing Partners for Home Georgia Department of Community Affairs Walker & Dunlop Sugar Creek Capital

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The Stanton Park facade at 1056 Hank Aaron Drive in Peoplestown. Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

The 1056 Hank Aaron Drive location in relation to downtown Atlanta on the southside. Google Maps

Model living room at Stanton Park Apartments. Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Example of a Stanton Park kitchen. Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

Stanton Park Apartments; Woda Cooper Companies/Parallel Housing Inc.

The project's proximity to the Southside Trail, DH Stanton Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps

Subtitle Rents start in $500s monthly at project called Stanton Park Apartments

Neighborhood Peoplestown

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In push for density, Habitat building first all-townhome project Josh Green Tue, 02/13/2024 - 08:05 As part of a push for higher-density affordable housing, a nonprofit organization is moving forward with its first all-townhome community on acreage north of Atlanta.

Roswell-based Habitat for Humanity–North Central Georgia recently received approval to move forward with a 50-unit community that’s been in the works for a year in Cherokee County’s Holly Springs.

The 6.3-acre site is located just east of Interstate 575 and north of Woodstock, about 30 miles from Midtown.

The Holly Springs City Council unanimously voted in January to approve the nonprofit builder’s request to annex and rezone the acreage on Edmondson Lane off Old Ga. Highway 5 to a designation more suitable for urban-style development. That followed a year of public hearings and community events that aimed to educate area residents on Habitat’s review and qualification process for its homeowners, according to project reps.

The target market for the townhomes will be qualified families who can't quite afford homeownership because of today's tough housing market, according to HFH–NCG.

North of Atlanta, the Habitat project's 6-acre site on Edmondson Lane off Old Ga. Highway 5. Google Maps

“This is a project that will have a generational impact on families living, working, and building better lives for themselves in our service area,” in an era of high mortgage rates and restricted housing supply, Mike Stafford, HFH–NCG’s president and board chair, said in a prepared statement.

“For several years now,” Stafford continued, “we have known that we need to have some higher-density settings in order to make homeownership affordable to the growing number of qualified Habitat for Humanity families.”

We’ve asked HFH–NCG representatives about the size and estimated pricing of the proposed townhomes—and the timeline for building them—but had not heard back as of press time. All units will qualify as affordable housing, according to the organization.

Amenities at the Edmondson Lane community will include pickleball courts, open greenspaces, and a nature trail. All townhomes will feature decks off the back and two-car garages, according to a project rendering provided to Urbanize Atlanta.

HFH–NCG was founded in 1994 and today serves North Fulton, Cherokee, Dawson, and Forsyth counties.

Find more information on volunteering and other services here. Have a look at the forthcoming Holly Springs project below. 

Courtesy of Habitat for Humanity – North Central Georgia

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Edmondson Ln & Old Hwy 5 Holly Springs Habitat for Humanity – North Central Georgia Cherokee County North Fulton North Georgia Community Housing Development Corporation Affordable Housing Atlanta Townhomes Holly Springs Homes Cherokee County Housing Edmonson Lane Community DGM Land Planning Consultants townhomes Atlanta Construction Edmonson Lane

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North of Atlanta, the Habitat project's 6-acre site on Edmondson Lane off Old Ga. Highway 5. Google Maps

Courtesy of Habitat for Humanity – North Central Georgia

Subtitle 50-unit community north of Atlanta aims to have “generational impact on families”

Neighborhood Cherokee County

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After 4 years, unique Midtown condo stack still gunning for sellout Josh Green Fri, 01/19/2024 - 12:59 For all the hype during construction about its eye-catching, stair-stepped design and enviable location half a dozen blocks from Piedmont Park, the J5 condo project in Midtown was beset by terrible timing: Developers declared it finished in March 2020, just as pandemic lockdowns were taking hold in Atlanta—and the thought of living stacked atop other people lost its luster.

Almost four years later, nearly 30 percent of J5’s new condos have yet to land buyers.

But the building’s sales team is optimistic that will change as another new year dawns, and they’re dangling relatively low (starting) interest rates as incentives to bring in more buyers, who’ve come from across the metro—and the country—so far.

The J5 building's uniquely stair-stepped design near amenities levels at 775 Juniper Street NE. Photos courtesy of J5/Engel & Völkers Atlanta

Designed by Smith Dalia, the six-story project by Dezhu US replaced a surface parking lot and several low-rise buildings, marking the largest condo venture to take shape in Midtown since the Great Recession. It delivered 149 condos total, each with outdoor space, and was billed as an alternative to so much high-rise living in the area.

J5 flaunted a “sunset lounge” near the roof, 24-hour security, greenspaces and a pool set like alcoves into the building, and floorplans ranging from 703-square-foot one-bedrooms to two-bedrooms with just shy of 1,400 square feet.

Later, in 2021, a $1-million renovation aimed to retrofit the new building to better suit post-pandemic buyers. That included a redo of lobbies and other shared spaces, more WiFi capacity across the property, and two model condos designed by Musso Design Group and Habachy Designs meant to showcase flexible floorplans.

As banners draped from J5 balconies have declared, price discounts of more than $100,000 per unit have come in the years since.

According to Jessica Dortch, Engel & Völkers Atlanta marketing coordinator, 43 condos remain unsold at J5, but just one of them is a one-bedroom unit, now priced at $529,900.

Two-bedroom offerings start at $549,900 and top out at $764,900 these days, according to Dortch.

In recent days the sales team has released what’s called a 3-2-1 rate buy-down incentive. That means interest rates on condo purchases start at 3.99 percent for the first year and gradually climb until year four, when rates would top out at an estimated 6.99 percent.

With the J5 condos that have sold, Dortch says there’s been “no definable trend” as to where buyers have been coming from.

“We have buyers from other major cities,” Dortch wrote via email, “[plus] regional buyers looking for a place in the city, homeowners trading in Cabbagetown or Reynoldstown for a condo in Midtown, parents buying for their children that are going to Emory [University] , Georgia State, or Georgia Tech, and parents buying a condo here to be close to children and grandchildren that live in Atlanta.” 

As intown condo sales go, it sounds like the definition of across the board.

Swing up to the gallery for the latest photography showing the J5 building today.

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• Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

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775 Juniper Street NE J5 GROUP KORA Deluxeton Karen Rodriguez DEZHU US Smith Dalia Architects Michael Habachy Musso Design Group Engel & Völkers Atlanta Atlanta Condos Atlanta Condos for Sale Midtown Condos For-Sale Condos Condos

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The J5 building's uniquely stair-stepped design near amenities levels at 775 Juniper Street NE. Photos courtesy of J5/Engel & Völkers Atlanta

Subtitle J5 sales push with lower interest rates aims to attract more buyers, who’ve run the gamut thus far

Neighborhood Midtown

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