Old Fourth Ward office concept scrapped; apartments to rise instead

Instead of office workers, Old Fourth Ward residents can expect a few hundred new apartment dwellers as neighbors soon.

Plans are officially dead for a $55-million venture called 525 North that would have brought a trendy stack of offices and street retail to North Avenue, a block west of Ponce City Market.

Instead, Charlotte-based real estate and development company Crescent Communities has taken control of the 2.23-acre site, with plans for more apartments in a section of Atlanta that’s seen thousands of new units in recent years.

The mixed-use development, coined “Crescent O4W,” will rise five stories. Expect 240 apartments over a parking deck and 9,000 square feet of commercial space at the street, developers said in a press release.

Crescent filed an application for permits this week. We’ve asked, but no renderings or other visuals for the project are available yet.

Two years ago, neighborhood leaders and local politicians cheered when plans emerged for 525 North on the former site of notorious drug houses and burned-out apartments.

The vacant and problematic properties were bulldozed in March, clearing the way for 525 North, but its developer, Seven Oaks Co., wasn’t able to secure construction financing.

The property (owned by RPG Holdings) went back on the market late last year.

Let’s have a last look at the 525 North concept that didn’t pan out. The images give an idea of the site’s location — and steepness:

• Old Fourth Ward office project is crippled by financing woes [Curbed Atlanta]