Charlotte-based developer is doubling down on Grant Park, citing Memorial Drive, Beltline

A Charlotte-based developer that’s grown more active in metro Atlanta since branching out of North Carolina a few years ago is bullish enough on Grant Park to continue investing tens of millions across the eastside neighborhood.

The announcement today by Grubb Properties officials that they’ve bought two Memorial Drive apartment hubs for $48 million—The George and The Leonard, both in Grant Park—is another sign of investment in a corridor with $1.5 billion in the development pipeline, as tabulated by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

With a total of 217 units, those buildings stand about a mile from an under-construction rental community by Grubb Properties that neighbors the Atlanta Stockade, next door to Fuqua Development’s Glenwood Place.

On Memorial Drive, Grubb Properties officials said another tenant has been signed—but won't be announced until later—to join the likes of Farmburger, Blue Donkey Craft Coffee, Your Pie Pizza, and a dentist’s office.

Officials cited Memorial Drive’s propulsive redevelopment and proximity to the Beltline’s Eastside Trial and MARTA rail as reasons for pushing both investments forward.

Grubb Properties

On the southside of Interstate 20, Grubb Properties has tagged the rising rentals with its Link Apartments brand, with leasing expected to start in fall 2020, officials said.

The four-acre development site at 750 Kalb Street SE was previously home to the Grant Park School, a Spanish Colonial Revival-style structure built in 1930 that most recently served as home base for the Atlanta Arts Exchange. It was razed by developers about a year ago.

In place of the school, expect 246 apartments, ranging from studios to two-bedrooms, and community amenities “focused on smart technology and healthy lifestyles.”

That includes a “state-of-the-art cycle center” by urban design firm Copenhagenize—a secure, locked bike storage area with a center for repair and tuning. “It also has stationary bike trainers, so you can ride your bike inside,” a rep tells Curbed Atlanta. “And it has easy street-level access for riders to get in and out.”

If Copenhagenize’s name rings a bell, it’s the same firm employed by Grubb Properties to bring a feel of bikeable Denmark to the company’s massive, planned condo venture in Dunwoody, Park at Perimeter Center East.

The new apartments will be perched on a hill overlooking bike-laned Glenwood Avenue. A communal green plaza will connect that project with GlenCastle, an adaptive-reuse of the former Atlanta Stockade next door.

Curbed Atlanta; 2017