The Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA station is about to get a whole new lease on life.
As part of an initiative that aims to make use of oceans of unused parking spaces at rail stops, the Blue Line station is the first of six to get an overhaul as a transit-oriented development.
Christened "Spoke," the TOD will erase underutilized parking spaces — of 25,000 at all MARTA stations, less than half are actually used — at Edgewood/Candler Park station and erect 224 "premium apartment homes" by early 2018, officials told Curbed Atlanta. No word yet on rent.
Specifically, the south parking lot on La France Street will undergo redevelopment as part of this first phase. Following the apartments, plans call for a neighborhood park, local restaurant, multifamily building and a Perkins + Will-designed headquarters and performing arts center for a local youth development organization are next up. Future phases could include additional housing and commercial uses.
For MARTA, the Edgewood plans are just the beginning.
Amanda Rhein, MARTA's senior director of transit oriented development and real estate, said another TOD initiative is planned next for Avondale Station, followed by future TODs at Chamblee, Brookhaven/Oglethorpe, King Memorial, and Arts Center.
But for right now, it’s full-speed-ahead at Edgewood/Candler Park.
"There’s been a lot of chatter, because folks have seen the construction machinery on site and the construction fencing go up," Rhein told Curbed Atlanta. "We are planning a formal groundbreaking in August … but we didn’t want progress on the project to be held up because of the groundbreaking. We allowed them to go ahead and get on site and make some progress in advance of that."
The project is a partnership with Columbia Ventures LLC, which according to Managing Partner Dillon Baynes is "the culmination of over 15 years of work in the Edgewood community …"
Baynes said the company is "creating a highly amenitized place to live at a MARTA rail and bus stop, within walking distance to the Edgewood Retail District and Little Five Points and woven into the fabric of a great historic neighborhood."
Rhein said Spoke will "achieve the authority’s goals to increase ridership, generate revenue for operations, and support local community development."
- Spoke ATL [website]
- Edgewood/Candler Park Station TOD [website]
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