In East Atlanta, there's been progress on a new high-end apartment project near the community's rollicking East Atlanta Village. The project, which will demolish the shuttered John B. Gordon Elementary School, was halted due to a moratorium on area construction. But the moratorium is no more, and developer Paces Properties will soon ready the bulldozers and dump trucks, a company official told Curbed Atlanta. The initial plan was to rehab the 41,000 square-foot building — a la Bass Lofts in Little Five Points — but further inspection revealed the circa 1909 structure was too far gone. Atlanta Public Schools shuttered the Gordon School in 1995.
According to Paces, the final building will be slightly smaller than originally devised. The unit count is now 97, down from last year's reported 125 to 145. The three-story structure will primarily include one- and two-bedroom apartments with an average size of 900 square feet. While rents haven't been set, Paces told Curbed Atlanta that rates will be in line with nearby competitors like Glenwood East.
The deal isn't inked yet, but Paces says it hopes to close on the defunct Gordon School in May and commence construction soon after. The only sticking point? A boarded-up building next door. Project leaders at Paces say they've repeatedly offered to buy the ex-fire station from the city, only to be turned away by red tape. Undeterred, Paces will go forward with the yet-unnamed apartment property regardless of whether the fire station changes hands — even if that means building around it.
Curbed Atlanta has requested project renderings and will post them when/if they are released.
— By Curbed Atlanta contributor Doug Demuro
· Gordon School To Be Redeveloped Into $15 Million Project [East Atlanta Patch]