Gold Line Draws Rapid Urban Growth into Northeast ITP

While not all that glitters is gold, Atlanta is poised to cash in on a long-overlooked stash of treasure. Urban growth in the northeastern ITP area is taking off, following the path of the aptly named MARTA Gold Line. While just three stations serve the corridor between Brookhaven and Doraville, and reliance on cars has been key to much of the growth over the last half-century, a new wave of development in the corridor is being driven by proximity to transit, as the AJC observed in a Sunday story. What once was considered a run-down industrial zone is quickly being peppered with hip new apartments and retailers. The area even has plans for a bougie Whole Foods!

At the southern end of the area in question, Brookhaven has experienced tremendous growth since becoming a city back in 2012. The opening of Town Brookhaven near Oglethorpe University brought the city's first real taste of mixed-use, leaving it wanting so much more. It has spurred growth around the university, with Gables Oglethorpe nearing completion in the fall. And planning is under way to bring a new mixed-use city center to the Brookhaven-Oglethorpe MARTA station under the MARTA transit-oriented-development initiative.

Further up Peachtree Boulevard, work is barreling ahead at multiple sites, including The Olmsted, Parkview on Peachtree and Peachtree Crossing.

But by far, the largest development to come to the line is the repurposing of the long-abandoned GM Assembly Plant near Doraville Station into Third Rail Studios and, eventually, much more. Construction is well under way on the first phase of the 165-acre project, dubbed "Assembly," which will eventually bring a bustling mixed-use community to the northern end of the Gold Line — if all goes according to plan.

The growth along the MARTA line should reinforce the idea that proximity to transit will continue to be a more powerful driving force in Atlanta's future developments. So maybe we're learning something after all.

· MARTA's Gold Line attracting growth [AJC; subscriber]
· Parkview on Peachtree gets approval from Chamblee City Council [Chamblee Post]
· Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and the New Chamblee [Curbed Atlanta]