In Avondale Estates, mixed-use ‘gateway’ project is officially happening

Avondale Estates officials are applauding a real estate deal this week they say could create a new front door for the eastern ITP city — and another large-scale residential project on the East College Avenue corridor.

South City Partners, the developers best known in Atlanta for Inman Quarter, have closed on a 3-acre corner parcel in Avondale Estates where East College Avenue meets Sams Crossing, next door to across the street from the world-famous Waffle House Museum.

Expected to break ground soon, like MARTA’s mixed-use venture down the street, the development would bring 197 residential units in four stories, all atop about 8,000 square feet of retail space. A “gateway park” at the corner will preserve existing, mature trees, officials said.

In a statement, Avondale Estates Mayor Jonathan Elmore sounded exceedingly pumped: “[The] mixed-use project will be [a] handsome and welcoming edifice at our western gateway and an inspiring catalyst for our entire central business district,” Elmore said.

City leaders pointed out that South City Partners bagged honors in 2015 from the Atlanta Regional Commission for commendable developments. They were: Revival on Main in Kennesaw (the Livable Centers Initiative Achievement Award) and Inman Quarter (Exceptional Merit for Content-Sensitive Urban Infill Development).

Avondale Estates/South City Partners

Just east of here, in Decatur, MARTA recently broke ground on its second transit-oriented development, which will rise from former parking lots at Avondale Station:

Dwell Design Studio via CoUrbanize

• Project news link [SCP]