Real Estate, Community Revitalization, and Development News for West End, Castleberry Hill, Adair Park, Atlanta University Center, Ashview Heights, Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville, Vine City, and English Avenue
390 Sunset Ave NW, will soon become a new, modern, eco-friendly multi-family mid-rise building. Permits were issued last month for construction of a new 16,200 SF 4-story multi-family building with 26 residential units. Because the lot is slopes, there will be 3 stories above the grade plane and one story below grade.
Atlanta-based design and development firm, eightvillage is responsible for the design which combined ecological preservation with an intergenerational housing strategy to create an aging-in-place community that grows within the natural ecology.
Because the project is located on a part of English Avenue that has been prone to flooding, the design team let the storm water drive the orientation of the project, providing views to nature from the units, flood mitigation for the neighborhood, and educational opportunities.
The project will also include a childcare space provides an intergenerational resource, and doubles as a gathering space for ecological education.
Sovereign/Cooper Joint Venture Inc. will head the construction of the project, 390 Sunset Apartments, which is estimated to cost $7 million. The unique design includes a diagonal slant to avoid a preexisting sewer easement, which opens u. a large swath of side yard and preserves existing trees.
The project is funded by the Westside Future Fund, an Atlanta nonprofit organization comprised of public, private, and philanthropic partners that serves five Westside neighborhoods: Vine City, English Avenue, Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center, and Just Us.
For decades, “The Bluff” was the defining term for two historic downtown west neighborhoods that once stood tall amongst giants, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Maynard Jackson, and Julian Bond. English Avenue is historically significant, but her story includes decades disinvestment. It is now the focus of revitalization efforts.
English Avenue, originally known as Western Heights, was established in 1891 as a white working-class neighborhood. Its name reflects its origins tied to the English family, and Simpson Road (now Joseph E. Boone Blvd) served as a racial dividing redline—white to the north, Black to the south.
Just south of that, Vine City emerged in the late 1800s as a predominantly African American neighborhood. It was home to a mix of social classes, including prominent figures like Alonzo F. Herndon, Atlanta’s first Black millionaire. Herndon built his residence there in 1910—a symbol of Black prosperity and aspiration.
Redlining, Segregation & Early Transitions
Following the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917, thousands of Black Atlantans were displaced, pushing many into Vine City and, increasingly, into English Avenue despite resistance and even violence targeting Black families moving north of Simpson Road.
In 1941, public housing projects—Eagan Homes and Herndon Homes—further altered Vine City’s demographic and land use. Simultaneously, English Avenue began its demographic shift: the formerly white-only English Avenue School, built in 1910, was re-designated as a Black school in 1951.
Mid-Century Heyday & Civil Rights Legacy
In the 1950s–60s, both neighborhoods thrived as middle-class African American communities. English Avenue boasted active commercial corridors; Paschal’s restaurant (est. 1947) became a well-known soul food landmark and civil rights hub. Martin Luther King Jr. moved to Vine City in 1967, and Coretta Scott King stayed there until 2004.
Decline: Blight, Disinvestment, and Crisis
From the 1970s onward, the neighborhoods suffered steep declines. White flight, suburbanization, and weak public investment hollowed out the community fabric. Vine City’s public housing deteriorated; English Avenue became known as “The Bluff,” infamous for crime and drug trade.
By the 1990s, foreclosures, abandoned homes, and environmental threats (such as flooding and lead-contaminated soil from slag) compounded the distress. In 2006, a tragic no‑knock raid killed Kathryn Johnston, an elderly Black woman, sparking outrage and scrutiny of police tactics.
Revitalization Efforts & Preservation
Since the late 1990s, public funding—like Atlanta’s Westside Tax Allocation District—has injected millions into redevelopment, though results have been uneven. Grassroots and faith-based organizations play leading roles today. Community-led CDCs, like those tied to churches, push affordable housing and local services, often up against speculation and embattled land ownership.
Notable infrastructure examples: Lindsay Street Park (opened 2015) brought greenspace to English Avenue. Kathryn Johnston Memorial Park (opened 2019) addressed flooding while serving as a tribute to her memory.
Historic preservation is gaining momentum. The English Avenue School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, with plans to convert it into a community center. Likewise, St. Mark AME Church—a landmark in English Avenue—is receiving protection to stave off demolition and possibly become a restored civic hub.
Stadium development pressures, fragile revitalization
Community-led parks, preservation over demolition
Legacy, Resistance, and Hope
Vine City and English Avenue illustrate the tragic arc of segregation-era prosperity, mid-century civic power, and subsequent decline under systemic racism, redlining, and neglect. Yet their story is far from static. Grassroots activism, environmental justice, historic preservation, and community-driven development all offer pathways toward equitable revitalization.
These neighborhoods embody both the scars of past policies and the enduring strength of community. Recognizing that progress can be a delicate balance between preserving identity and enabling growth is key to honoring what Vine City and English Avenue have always represented—resilience, history, and hope.
Institutional Timeline: Vine City & English Avenue
To further enrich our comparison, here is a historical timeline of key institutions and developments shaping the two neighborhoods. It highlights how institutions rose, faltered, and, in some cases, found renewed purpose.
Year / Period
Vine City
English Avenue
Late 1800s–1910s
Residential development and early Black prosperity, including Alonzo Herndon building his home (1910) Wikipedia
Western Heights (renamed English Avenue)—school built in 1910 for white students Wikipedia+1
1920s–1940s
Growth due to displacement from 1917 fire; racial jump across Simpson Road despite violence Wikipedia
Continued overcrowding in school due to demographic shift Wikipedia+1
1941–1951
Opening of Eagan Homes and Herndon Homes public housing, increasing Black population Wikipedia
English Avenue Elementary School re-designated as a Black school (1951) Wikipedia+1
1950s–1960s
Martin Luther King Jr. moves to Vine City (1967); vibrant Black middle class community Wikipedia
Paschal’s Restaurant opens (1947), serving as a civil rights hub Wikipedia
1960
—
School bombed (most severe racial incident in area) Wikipedia+1
1970s–1980s
Decline of public housing and community cohesion
Neighborhood becomes “The Bluff,” marked by abandonment and crime Wikipedia
“Historic Westside Village” mixed-use development announced (1999), ultimately faltering; replaced by Walmart in 2013 Wikipedia
—
2006
—
Kathryn Johnston killed in police raid, sparking outrage and reforms Wikipedia+1
2015
—
Lindsay Street Park opens—the first public park in the neighborhood Wikipedia
2019
—
Kathryn Johnston Memorial Park opens to mitigate flooding and honor her memory Wikipedia
2020
—
English Avenue School listed on National Register of Historic Places Wikipedia
2020s
Ongoing redevelopment efforts guided by Vine City Redevelopment Plan (2004), supported via tax allocation and community groups YUMPU
Major affordable housing and mixed-use projects (e.g., Herndon Square, Proctor development) launching near BeltLine; developer interest growing Urbanize Atlanta
English Avenue is evolving as a real estate hotspot in 2025. The historically undervalued in-town neighborhood experienced a mix of traditional single-family homes and upscale condos closing in 2025. Among them, 416 Griffin St. NW and 788 W Marietta St. NW emerged as two of the most compelling listings—each reflecting different facets of the area’s evolving real estate narrative.
Here’s a visual look at two standout properties in Atlanta’s English Avenue (Vine City/West Midtown area), featured among the top home sales of 2025:
Above: 416 Griffin St NW—a fully renovated single-family home.
Below: 788 W Marietta St NW—a modern condo in the luxury high‑rise building known as Seven88 West Midtown.
Top 10 Home Sales in English Avenue – 2025
Here’s a roundup of the most notable recent home sales in English Avenue, based on publicly available data aggregated from Trulia, Homes.com, Redfin, and Realtor.com:
Top Sales: The standout sale at 788 W Marietta St NW reached $556,900—the most expensive in 2025 so far—highlighting demand for modern, high-end condos in the area.
Strong Single-Family Performance: Many top-performing sales were 3- to 4-bedroom homes, priced between $320K and $410K, reflecting renewed investor and homeowner interest.
Atlanta’s English Avenue neighborhood has a diverse array of homes—capturing its architectural charm, from craftsman-style cottages to revitalized modern builds.
Market Snapshot:
According to Redfin, the median sale price in April 2025 was approximately $253,750, marking a 35.9% year-over-year drop; average days on the market surged to 110 days, signaling a cooling market Redfin.
Homes.com reported a median sale price just slightly higher at $253,750, with single-family homes typically fetching $327,000Homes.com.
As of December 2024, Realtor.com listed the median listing home price around $385,000, pointing to a gap between listing ambitions and sale outcomes Realtor.
While home sales offer one lens, English Avenue’s narrative is broader:
The area includes cool cultural, entertainment, and architectural landmarks such as Westside Paper, a 1950s redo re-imagined into an open-air campus bringing modern, creative office and retail space that now includes the super posh and cool paddle ball club, Padel Haus Atlanta, the King Plow Arts Center, and newer developments including the Westside Beltline Connector Trail, and Science Square, Georgia Tech’s new 18-acre biomedical research and technology community is under just off North Avenue near Northside Drive.
Despite revitalization efforts, the community continues to face challenges related to poverty and safety, historically referenced in media as parts of “The Bluff.” However, organizations likeOaksATL are making inroads –renovating dozens of home and developing a healthy stock of new build single and multifamily housing units. The neighborhood is also marked by positive investments like Lindsay Street Park, an urban greenspace established in 2015 that transformed abandoned lots into a communal gathering spot, the adaptive reuse of historic buildings like the St. Mark A.M.E. Church which has been transformed from a vacant facade into a flexible outdoor community and event space. There’s been talks for years of re-imagining other neighborhood landmark properties like the English Avenue Elementary School which would make a dope food hall/ brewery concept similar to the new Echo Street West, a mixed-use development with office, residential, retail, and creative spaces, on Echo Street and Hollowell Pkwy.
English Avenue is ideal for both homeowners and investors—with proximity to Georgia Tech, Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Centennial Park, MARTA, and the BeltLine. Developers are scooping up vacant lots for large scale projects like The Proctor and Modern Westside Trail. This neighborhood is quietly transforming.
Seven years ago, while living in the West End, I started this blog. Excited by the number of new residents moving in, businesses opening, and the surging homes prices for homes being renovated in the area, I wanted a way of documenting the progress. Then I moved to New Orleans, and then Miami, and then Baltimore. And finally, in 2022, I returned to Atlanta, and last August, I began renovated a 1920s bungalow in English Avenue. I am amazed at the progress of the historic neighborhoods west of Downtown Atlanta.
So here’s a rundown of where I see things in 2025:
English Ave & Vine City
Vince City is benefitting from the development projects in the Gulch, the revitalization of MLK Drive, and major development projects along Boone Blvd including new a slew of new housing under construction. Rodney Cook Park, the entrance to the Beltline Westside Connector, and the new Insignia Hilton Hotel will help to soften the transition from Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd to Joseph E. Boone Blvd at Northside Drive.
Two of the most exciting projects I see are The Simpson, a 139 unit mid-rise apartment building which is being erected at 810 & 840 Boone Blvd, and a mixed-use development across the street at 839 Joseph E. Boone, which will include 33 units of multifamily and 1200 square feet of retail space.
English Avenue is BOOMING! One of the most exciting projects is the Modern Westside Trail which is coming alive on North Avenue and Northside Drive. This midrise apartment building is almost done, and will feature 373 studio, one, two and three-bedroom homes, and feature “expedient access to the Westside Trail of the Atlanta BeltLine and the various eclectic attractions within West Midtown.” Just next door to the Modera will be Avenue, a new restaurant/bar/lounge concept, Sibi Chalil Cherian, who also owns Vision Lounge.
English Avenue is also benefiting from developments along the Beltline like Echo Street West and Westside Motor Lounge, and the westward expansion of Georgia Tech called Science Square, and the redevelopment of the former Herndon Homes public housing project with new mixed income and senior housing called Herndon Square. As part of this redevelopment, a new supermarket is slated to be built at the corner of Cameroon Alexander Blvd and Northside Drive.
AUC, Ashview Heights & Washington Park
I’ve always been fond of Washington Park. When I was a student at Morehouse College, I tutored at Washington High School and lived in a boarding house next the white store on Ashby Street. I would walk past street walkers and grim reapers to get two filet-o-fish from Mcdonald’s on MLK and Lowery Blvd. I remember going to a Black Greek picnic in Washington Park. I remember when the Walmart was a Publix and the original Pascal’s Motor Hotel was still open. Before it closed completely, Clark Atlanta University used it as an overflow dorm for its students. So, I’ve seen the FULL progression of the area.
When I last lived in Atlanta, the Beltline’s Westside trail stopped at Lena Street, right in front of Washington Park, but there’s new a section between Lena Street and Mayson Turner that just opened, and construction is underway to connect the trail to existing segments and bring this section of the Westside into the fold. This northern segment runs for about 1.3 miles, starting from the existing Westside Trail terminus at Lena Street and extending north to Law Street, where it will tie into Westside Trail—Segment 3 and the Westside Beltline Connector.
The Walmart has reopened; I’m still not a fan. This stretch of MLK, with all its storefronts has so much potential. In the near future, I expect it to have the feel of an Edgewood Ave where AUC students, neigborhood residents, and visitors can eat, stroll, and shop. This corridor is within walking distance to the Mercedes Benz Stadium, and could be an asset during the World Cup in 2026.
West End & Westview
Sadly, the West End Mall has finally closed. I remember shopping at Maxway and going to the RadioShack all the way at the end. The American Deli in the West End Mall was not to be played with! But the redevelopment of this parcel has been a plan for a looooooooong time. So, what’s to come is new live, work, play development called “One West End.”
According to the developers, One West End will be a mixed-income, mixed-use development. Commercial space will include: 125,000 square feet of retail, with a grocery store, fitness center, food & beverage experiences, and local boutiques. Residential space will include: 800+ rental and student-targeted housing units; mixed-income rental housing, with 70% workforce and 30% affordable; and a hotel. Community amenities will include a public green space, fitness center, resident lounge, and bike parking. The multi-year redevelopment process is expected to begin in 2025, with Phase One completion slated for 2028.
In my next post, I’ll break down what I see happening in Mechanicsville, Pittsburgh, Castleberry Hill and South Downtown.
On Friday, the Westside Future Fund announced their plans for a dilapidated, vacant 35 unit apartment complex in English Avenue.
395 James P. Brawley Dr. NW was acquired by the Westside Future Fund and will undergo a $2 million renovation. It will provide affordable housing to legacy residents in the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods. “We want to make sure that Atlanta continues to be a place that’s affordable to all, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced at a press conference in front of the complex.
Atlanta City Councilman at Large, Michael Julian Bond said, “there’s no better location, no better space to live here right now on the Westside.”
James P. Brawley Dr. is ground zero of revitalization; Last year, 6 new homes were constructed on Brawley and made available to police officers. Last month, Chick-fil-A opened a new restaurant just a stone’s throw from the new Walmart on MLK and Brawley Dr.
It was just a few years ago that Bill Torpy published an article in the AJC wherein he opined, that “If I belonged to the family of Dr. James P. Brawley, I’d ask the city of Atlanta to remove his name from the stretch of urban rot that bears it.”
Now it appears that the stretch is an example of how The Bluff is bouncing back one parcel at a time.
Rev. Howard Beckham, president of the English Avenue Neighborhood Association and a long-time resident, said he is seeing improvements in the community.
In addition to the 35 units of affordable housing underway, the Westside Future Fund has acquired another 15 single-family homes, which it intends to make available to community residents.
Councilmember Bond said this has been a longtime coming. “It is really great to see the positive transformation taking place in this community … one family at a time, one household at a time, and one community at a time.”
Tis the season to be jolly if you’re on the Westside. English Avenue, a neighborhood located just northwest of downtown Atlanta, has seen decades of neglect. However, two projects, within paces of each other along James P. Brawley Dr. NW, may be signals of a community on the come-up.
At 484 and 469 James P. Brawley Dr. NW, Quest Community Development Organization is building affordable new construction single family homes. The move brings more homeowner occupied dwellings to a community with nearly 90% renters.
At the southern edge of this block, at the intersection of Jett St NW, is another planned project, a community organic farm. Your Community Organic Garden is looking for volunteers and sponsors to help get garden hoes on deck.
Just across the street, bulldozers are clearing a previously blighted parcel for construction of new affordable housing.
2018 looks promising for the area. Quest Development has been actively improving and adding to the quality housing stock in Vine City English Avenue. Blocks away, over on Cameron Alexander Boulevard, QCDO rehabbed an old 8-plex and created Quest Enclave, eight garden style apartments for previously homeless veterans.
QCDO’s $30 million plan, Quest West 2020, is to transform the intersection of Lowery and Boone into an intersection opportunity to “live-work-play-serve.”
Quest Nonprofit Center for Change & Quest West Commons
The City of Atlanta has made yet another landmark move in support of mixed-income growth and community retention on Atlanta’s Historic Westside.
Last week, the Atlanta City Council unanimously approved the Westside Land Use Framework Plan – a design and implementation strategy for the equitable revitalization of the historic Westside neighborhoods of English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center, Booker T. Washington and Just Us. It was sponsored by the Westside Future Fund, City of Atlanta and Chick-fil-A Foundation.
Recently built Historic Westside Village townhomes sit just behind the new Vine City Chick-fil-a and MLK Walmart.
The plan, which will help guide future developments, was introduced by District 3 and 4 Councilmembers Ivory Young and Cleta Winslow and championed by fellow councilmember and Westside native Michael Julian Bond (Post 1 At-Large).
“As a longtime Westside resident and steward of the community, I am encouraged by the support we received from our City’s leadership to adopt this very important plan, which will serve a catalyst for the revitalization of my entire City Council district,” said Councilmember Young whose district-wide Westside Revive plan includes the Land Use Framework Plan.
“The history, culture and people that exist in these neighborhoods cannot afford to be lost or compromised. This plan will allow us to oversee positive change and guide these neighborhoods to become ‘whole’ and vibrant again.”
Westside Future Fund commissioned the plan in 2015 – less than a year after its founding – as one of its first orders of business. Plan principles include:
• Grounding in best practice and existing community knowledge: Renowned urbanist Dhiru Thadani and Atlanta-based firm APD Urban Planning and Management were hired to lead the project, which coupled best-practice research of other successful and similar community revitalization projects with extensive consideration of how to link past planning efforts.
The recommendations built upon the 18 previous plans and studies that were completed in the past 15 years, including the City’s most recent Atlanta City Design Project, created by City of Atlanta Planning Commissioner Tim Keane and Atlanta BeltLine visionary Ryan Gravel.
Robust Community Engagement Process: Community engagement meetings with all neighborhoods were conducted over the course of a year and a half, beginning spring 2016, with each neighborhood providing input on a unique vision statement and goals.More than 1,000 stakeholders participated in the process, including all six neighborhood associations and the Atlanta University Center institutions (Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown and Morehouse School of Medicine).
Focused Vision for Resident Retention, Neighborhood Character, Infrastructure and Parks and Open Space.
The adoption of the Framework Plan comes just weeks after Council’s unanimous approval of the Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning Legislation, which supports the creation of quality, affordable mixed-income housing – a key component of the plan.
The new zoning law requires new rental housing developments in BeltLine communities, such as the Historic Westside District, to set aside at least ten percent of units for affordable “workforce housing” which is being defined as 60 percent Area Median Income (AMI)* or below OR 15 percent of its total units for households at 80 percent AMI or below.
“We are extremely grateful for the leadership of Mayor Kasim Reed, Commissioner Tim Keane and his team and Atlanta City Council to ensure that all residents — no matter their background or socioeconomic status — have an opportunity to be part of the tremendous growth and revitalization that’s happening in our city,” said John Ahmann, executive director of the Westside Future Fund.
“These two actions are critical and important first steps, but only the beginning. We must continue to be intentional about creating opportunities for individuals who still find themselves below the current threshold,” Ahmann added. “As the birthplace of Civil Rights leaders and the adult home of Dr. King, we have great responsibility to carry on their legacy. Westside Future Fund is dedicated to fostering a community they would still be proud to call home. One that is compassionate, inclusive and economically just.”
Of the 6,300 current historic Westside households, 90% are renters. Of that number, more than 70% fall below the qualifying AMI, earning on average less than $15,000 annually and often occupying notoriously sub-standard housing.
Since the establishment of the Westside Future Fund in Dec. 2014 by Mayor Reed and the Atlanta Committee for Progress, the organization has focused on ensuring the historic Westside develops as a mixed-income community, not displacing current residents, while also creating housing options for future residents of all income levels, especially as planned growth and development across the city foreshadow a higher demand for intown real estate.
According to Atlanta City Design Project, the City’s population is expected to grow to 1.2 million people by 2050, nearly triple the city’s current size.
In 2016, Westside Future Fund led the development of a community retention plan, created to specifically address Westside residents’ (homeowners and renters) concerns about displacement and gentrification.The plan is a complement to the Land Use Framework Plan, outlining recommendations and strategies to address the concerns expressed during the community engagement period. Partners in the collaboration were City of Atlanta’s Department of Planning and Community Development, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Atlanta Housing Authority, Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Beltline and Atlanta Habitat for Humanity.
This collaborative of public-private entities, along with organizations within the nonprofit sector, are considered potential implementation partners of the strategy as well.
Back in April, Westside Future Fund, in partnership with Mayor Reed and the City of Atlanta, announced one of the first initiatives of the strategy – the Anti-Displacement Tax Fund, which will pay property tax increases for the next 20 years for current, qualifying homeowners.For renters, however, the solution has been more complex.
As part of its strategy for providing better quality of life for renters, Westside Future Fund lobbied for the Westside’s four historic neighborhoods to be included in the new legislation, but acknowledges the long road ahead toward guaranteeing high quality, affordable options for all.
“To be successful at ensuring legacy residents are not displaced and can benefit from the current and future development, it will take collaboration across the public, private and nonprofit sectors,” said Ahmann. “Leveraging philanthropy to bridge this disparity is our greatest opportunity, and we’ll be calling upon the Atlanta community to help us address this need.”
The inclusionary zoning policy will go into effect on all developments seeking a permit 60 days from the Nov. 7 City Council meeting date.
The Land Use Framework Plan will now be incorporated into the City’s Comprehensive Development Plan, ensuring its recommendations are factored into future planning decisions.
For years, AUC students have made the long desolate walk down Westview Drive/Lee Street between the AUC and the West End Commercial Corridor to get hangers and the new Jordans in Mall West End or hop on the Marta at West End station and head to Lenox. They used to tell students not to walk alone. Well, that walk is about to become a lot more scenic.
Morehouse School of Medicine just announced a more than $50 million expansion adjacent to its southwest Atlanta campus in the Atlanta University Center (AUC.)
The new development on Lee Street will be built on land that was formerly occupied by the long gone, Harris Homes housing projects. It will include a 5-story building with 200 market rate housing units, an ambulatory health-care center, a parking garage, and retail space. It will be completed by 2020.
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of MSM, said the Lee Street Campus will solidify the school’s role in revitalizing Atlanta’s Westside. “We’re becoming a part of what we like to describe as ‘the Westside story,’” Rice said. “Our ideas have been independent of what is happening with the [Mercedes-Benz Stadium], but this is what we feel we can contribute to the development of the Westside.”
Real estate developer Carter USA won the bidding process to develop the first phase of the project, which MSM is calling the Lee Street Campus. The first phase includes the construction of a three-story commercial building that will house a student health and wellness clinic as well as an ambulatory care center that will be open to the public. Morehouse School of Medicine will partner with a national fitness center chain to develop a 24-hour center on the building’s top floor.
The new housing will make life easier for Morehouse’s medical students, who spend the majority of their first two years on campus. “We looked at this parcel of land we owned and thought the most important thing we could do for our students was allow them to have more affordable housing close to the school,” Rice said.
Carter Developments will also build a five-story building with approximately 200 market-rate units, most of which will be one or two bedrooms. “We’ve looked at what our students are typically paying, but we also want it to be apartments anyone would want to live in — high quality with smart technology,” Rice said.
The units are needed to accommodate MSM’s growing student population, which surpassed 520 this year, including 100 incoming medical students. When Rice began her presidency in 2011, the school had only 56 incoming medical students.
Plans also call for a 347-space parking deck and retail space for restaurants and other amenities.
The development will rise on vacant land MSM acquired during a 2006 land swap between the Atlanta Housing Authority and College Partners Inc., a collaboration between MSM, Spelman College and Morehouse College. The land swap included about 11 acres of the former Harris Homes public housing community, as well as various parcels of private land that added up to about 20 acres.
MSM acquired 7.3 acres during the swap, and 2.9 acres of the parcel will be developed during the first phase. The school is still weighing its options for the remainder of the property, though Rice predicts it will need to add more market-rate housing to keep pace with the growing student body size.
The school won’t own the mixed-use development. Instead, it will enter into a 99-year ground lease with Carter for the first phase, though the school potentially could become an equity partner in the project.
Carter Developments President & CEO Scott Taylor and Morehouse School of Medicine President Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice sign $50 million MSM expansion deal. Photo Credit: Byron E. Small/ Morehouse School of Medicine
Development of the Proctor Creek Greenway has been an on-going discussion for nearly a decade, but it has taken a major step forward with the recent announcement of a new 28 acre mixed-use development project, located on the industrial land right next to the Bankhead MARTA Station.
The Emerald Corridor Foundation, founded in 2014 by a group of landscape architects and landowners, inspired by the beauty of the area surrounding Proctor Creek, the neighborhoods’ remarkable transit connectivity, and the opportunity for revitalization, is one of the organizations behind a the multi-million dollar project.
The land has been vacant for about 20 years, according to a member of the ECF’s board.
The site, along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, would have a hotel, residences and commercial space, but the core of the development will be the Proctor Creek Greenway that runs through it. The greenway will be a seven mile system of trails totaling 400 acres of public green space that will cover a site near Proctor Creek and connect the Atlanta Beltline to the Chattahoochee River.
Mark Teixeira, a former Atlanta Braves player and major backer of this project, told the Atlanta Business Chronicle that “We are very high on density and affordable housing.
The project will require rezoning; Atlanta City Council final approval is expected before Christmas.
Demolition is underway in the northwestern most section of the historic Morris Brown College campus. The former Jordan Hall, which sits at the corner of MLK Drive and Maple St and was once home to the College’s gymnasium, is being transformed into the new $20 million home of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta.
Last year, the YMCA purchased the property from the City of Atlanta. Morris Brown sold off much of its assets to satisfy a multi-million dollar debt and Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Once completed, the building will also house the Leadership and Learning Center which will offer early learning opportunities to about 70 Vine City youth.
The building is being only partially demolished after residents, community leaders, and curators of black culture pushed for the preservation of the historic structure. It began as the Edmund Asa Ware Elementary School, one of the first schools in the city to educate African-American students.
The YMCA hopes to move into its new building by the summer of 2018.
ATL Downtown West 