MARTA is again pushing forward in its efforts to maximize the potential of its intown parking lots. Columbia Ventures, a developer with roots in the Edgewood neighborhood, will build a mixed-use node on a five-acre parcel surrounding the Edgewood-Candler Park MARTA Station, Invest Atlanta announced today. The economic development authority issued a request for proposals in March, after identifying the Edgewood-Candler Park Station as one of 10 MARTA transit hubs ripe for redevelopment. Columbia Ventures' experience of building in Edgewood apparently went a long way; the company has built more than 400 housing units across Edgewood — including senior housing, market-rate housing, affordable housing and townhomes — over the last decade. "Redevelopment of Edgewood has been quietly happening over the last decade and this project is the capstone to many of these efforts," Garry Long, president of Organized Neighbors of Edgewood, said in a press release. Redevelopment efforts could begin as soon as next year.
Columbia Ventures plans to tackle the revitalization as part of two phases. The first phase — expected to break ground in 2015 — will include about 200 units of market-rate housing. Officials promise the project will be built "with minimal disruption to existing MARTA operations." The second phase is expected to bring an additional 235 units. One phase "will include neighborhood commercial opportunities" and the full project should wrap by 2019, officials said.
Invest Atlanta will serve as the lease guarantor on the MARTA project.
MARTA's proactive CEO/GM Keith Parker said the development will be a sign of the times. "Transit oriented development is the wave of now, and we are excited to launch another project that will help simplify many people's lives," Parker said in the release. "We're listening to what metro Atlantans want when it comes to transportation and quality of life. Fewer and fewer people are willing to spend hours in traffic, and they want the convenience of leaving work and getting home without the aggravation of sitting on the interstate."
Just down the MARTA tracks, another sizable residential project will soon break ground near the Edgewood Retail District. A five-story apartment project under the Elan brand is slated to consume about four acres across Moreland Avenue from the Edgewood shops. The development would include 285 apartments and 16,000 square feet of ground-level retail, fronting Moreland.
[ABOVE: Early Edgewood-Candler Park MARTA Station rendering, via Urban Residential Finance Authority.]
· Next Up For Mixed-Use Redo: Edgewood-Candler Park Station [Curbed]
· Recent Edgewood coverage, discussion [Curbed Atlanta]
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