Key Piece of Reynoldstown Scooped Up; Now What?

This sad little acre on Moreland Avenue, kitty-corner from the Edgewood Retail District, has sat on the market for ages and festered with zero usage for a lot longer. But now, with Reynoldstown in full-blown reinvention mode and the Beltline's future Eastside Trail mere blocks away, things are looking up for this vacant lot. The asking price is $975,000, and it's under contract, but exactly who's buying — and what they plan to do with it — is not yet known, except to Reynoldstown officials, perhaps. In any case, it's fun to brainstorm. So we researched the zoning classification — C3, which is lenient and basically a mixed-use project's best friend — and listed the uses that the city allows. Everything from greenhouses to mortuaries to porn shops is permissible here, but what would be the best use?

C3 - Permitted principal uses and structures

City-approved list of potential uses — and a highly subjective ranking system, on a scale of 1 to 10:

- Banks, savings and loan associations, and similar financial institutions (5; but only with easily accessible ATMs)

- Business or commercial schools (6)

- Child care centers, kindergartens and special schools (6; three more bonus points if cheap)

- Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and other religious worship facilities on lots of one acre or more (2)

- Clubs and lodges (8)

- Commercial greenhouses (7)

- Commercial recreation establishments, including bowling alleys, theaters, convention halls, places of assembly, and similar uses, with primary activities conducted within fully enclosed buildings. Pool halls, billiard parlors and amusement arcades allowed only by special use permits (9)

- Eating and drinking establishments, including those licensed for the on-premises consumption of malt beverages, wine and/or distilled spirits (10)

- Laundry and dry cleaning, collection stations or plants; laundry and dry cleaning establishments where equipment is operated by customers (2)

- Mortuary and funeral homes (1; eew)

- Multi-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and single-family dwellings (9)

- Museums, galleries, auditoriums, libraries and similar cultural facilities (7; not gonna happen)

- New and used car sales, including other motorized vehicles such as mopeds and motorcycles (1.5)

- Secured-storage facility (1)

- Offices, clinics (including veterinary), laboratories, studios, and similar uses, but not blood donor stations except at hospitals (6)

- Parking structures and lots (-6)

- Plumbing, air conditioning service and repair (1)

- Printing shops (2)

- Professional or personal service establishments, but not hiring halls (2)

- Repair establishments for home appliances, bicycles, lawn mowers, shoes, clocks and similar devices (3)

- Repair garages, paint and body shops (1)

- Retail establishments, including catering establishments, delicatessens and bakeries with wholesale operations (9)

- Vault-storage facility not exceeding 7,500 square feet of floor area (0)

- Service stations, battery exchange stations and car washes (1; car wash right down the street, y'all)

- Structures and uses required for operation of MARTA or a public utility but not including uses involving storage, train yards, warehousing, switching or maintenance shop as the primary purpose (2; in this context)

- Tailoring, custom dressmaking, millinery and similar establishments (1; sorry, just fell asleep)

- Supportive housing (7)

- Urban gardens (9)

- Market gardens (6)

- Adult businesses (19)

And sorry to burst some bubbles out there, but these restrictions do apply:

"No use or manner of operation shall be permitted which is obnoxious or offensive by reason of odor, smoke, noise, glare, fumes, Fuqua involvement, gas, vibration, unusual danger of fire or explosion, emission of particulate matter, or interference with radio or television communication."

....
UPDATE: Plans for 66 Moreland look like this:

· 66 Moreland Ave. NE [Estately]
· The Rapidly Changing Face of Reynoldstown in 38 Photos [Curbed]