Renderings: Downtown apartment tower atop existing parking garage to launch next month

It might not qualify as one of downtown’s ugliest, but one of the subdistrict’s many parking garages is set for a makeover that could boost aesthetics and inject residential life.

As first discussed nearly two years ago, a development team with projects dotted around Atlanta is moving forward with a venture called Ascent Peachtree, which would rise from an existing 161 Peachtree Center Avenue parking structure, totaling 29 stories.

Officials with developers Banyan Street Capital and Greystar announced today that air rights and construction financing have been acquired. The 345-apartment project is expected to begin construction next month and cost $125 million.

Renderings released today illustrate how the tower would be situated on the block and top the existing structure with a lush amenities level.

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The project is receiving a $9 million Invest Atlanta loan, sourced from the city’s Eastside Tax Allocation District, to ensure that 20 percent of apartments will be reserved for “workforce housing.”

That means 70 units will be set aside for residents earning 80 percent of the area median income or less.

Dr. Eloisa Klementich, Invest Atlanta president and CEO, called the venture both innovative and transformative in a prepared statement, adding: “This project is so exciting because we’re able to create affordable housing out of thin air, literally.”

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Apartments at Ascent Peachtree—ranging from 680 to a rather large 2,380 square feet—won’t start until the 11th floor, which developers say will maximize views. Expect a mix of studios up to relatively rare three-bedroom units.

The downtown subdistrict counts more than 154,000 daytime workers but just 13,600 units of housing now, per developers.

John Roberson, Greystar’s managing director of developer, predicts Ascent Peachtree will be among the most transit-oriented residential projects in Atlanta, with access to MARTA, a streetcar stop, and bike lanes.

Next door is more than 50 food options at Banyan’s The Hub, which recently completed a $25 million first-phase revamp. Elsewhere nearby, the company owns 191 Peachtree and the Marquis office towers.

Ascent Peachtree isn’t the only vertical activity spotted in the neighborhood recently.

About a block away, another addition to the eastern flank of downtown’s skyline, South City Partners’s 26-story “The Mix,” has topped out. The amenity-laden housing venture for Georgia State University students is aiming to open in August.