Shipping containers to provide boutique retail, office space in MARTA parking lot

An empty parking lot adjacent to H.E. Holmes MARTA Station will soon be filled with stacked shipping containers. And while the use may not seem fitting for a transit-adjacent location, the shipping containers won’t be for cargo, but rather will house small offices and boutique retail spaces.

Invest Atlanta is lining up to provide funding of more than $500,000 for the project, pending a “yes” vote on the proposal at a meeting today. Bisnow reports the move comes as part of a larger investment along the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive corridor, stemming from a federal grant of $20 million.

Billed as MLK Innovation Village, the complex will include an outdoor gathering space, a food and beverage area, a retail space, and at least nine offices. The installation will be “semi-temporary.”

MARTA officials hope the project will ultimately spur developer interest in implementing a transit-oriented development on the site.

Construction should begin in August and wrap up by the end of the year.

Invest Atlanta

Invest Atlanta

• Invest Atlanta Planning Westside Innovation Center In Retrofitted Shipping Containers [Bisnow]
• MLK Innovation Village Funding Authorization Fact Sheet [Invest Atlanta]