Fresh renderings show clearer vision for Westside’s ‘Nonprofit Center for Change’

Nonprofit Quest Communities has been keeping a watchful eye on Atlanta’s Westside, noting that the underserved area is witnessing a revival that, without mindful development, could be detrimentally gentrified like many neighborhoods before it.

So the organization, known for its affordable housing initiatives and needs-based community services, is developing Quest 2020, a mixed-use community at the corner of Joseph E. Boone and Joseph E. Lowery boulevards, to help ensure Vine City residents aren’t overwhelmed by the forces of gentrification—or pushed out entirely.

The first phase of what will ultimately be a $30 million live-work-play project produced affordable housing units for veterans.

Phase 2 saw the construction of the Westside Works workforce training facility, which helps connect neighbors to job opportunities.

And now, new renderings provide clearer glimpses of what the third and final phase of the community-centric development will look like.

It’s called the Nonprofit Center for Change, and with nearly $6 million worth of help from SunTrust Banks, the complex is expected to yield what Arthur Blank Foundation Vice President of Development Frank Fernandez recently likened to “a community WeWork.”

The 26,000-square-foot center is slated to break ground in coming weeks and could deliver at the end of the year or in early 2020, officials say.

“There is an increased threat of displacement for current residents with rising housing prices in the area, and the Nonprofit Center for Change will allow Quest Communities to further serve members of the Westside, as well as provide improved access to critical goods and services,” said Chris Leutzinger, vice president for SunTrust Community Capital, per a Quest Communities press release.

The primary mission of the Center for Change is to link nonprofits in an effort “to increase access to healthy foods and critical complementary services to local residents,” according to the release.

The project is expected to include a new Family Dollar, coworking facilities, a fresh produce market, and a financial resources center, among other amenities.

It will also create 100 temporary full-time construction jobs, 23 permanent full-time jobs, and house Quest Communities’s new administrative offices, officials say.

Financial help for the development also came by way of Invest Atlanta, the Westside Future Fund, and the Arthur Blank Foundation.

This story has been updated to note that the Arthur Blank Foundation is also providing financial help for the project.