Photos: Touring Spoke, MARTA’s first foray into transit-connected development

MARTA’s quest to swap ghost-town parking lots with mixed-use hives is roaring ahead, and the first example of such transit-oriented development to break ground is now welcoming residents.

Positioned next to MARTA’s Blue and Green Lines, at the doorstep of the Edgewood-Candler Park station, the 200 apartments at phase-one Spoke represent a partnership with Invest Atlanta and Columbia Ventures.

From the facade to the rooftop living wall, the project isn’t exactly cookie-cutter

MARTA’s Lindbergh Station, next to the agency’s headquarters, is another example of mixed-use melding with Atlanta transit from an earlier era.

But Spoke marks MARTA’s first TOD with a stated mission of erasing underutilized parking while providing needed housing. Of 25,000 parking spaces at all MARTA stations, less than half are actually used, officials have said.

The current project will feature 10 percent affordable housing, while the next phase will reserve 20 percent, per MARTA.

Otherwise, 488-square-foot studios begin at $1,185 per month. Larger two-bedrooms can be had for $1,800 monthly. Current offers include a month’s free rent.

Following the apartments, phase one plans call for a neighborhood park, local restaurant, and a Perkins + Will-designed headquarters and performing arts center for a local youth development organization. Future phases next door could include additional housing and commercial uses.

Have a look at what’s taken the place of a prominent but usually empty parking lot:

Photos: Jonathan Phillips, Curbed Atlanta

Columbia Ventures

• Recent Visual Journeys photo essays from around Atlanta [Curbed]
• Throughout Atlanta, an array of transit-connected MARTA development is rolling [Curbed]