A new development concept in Edgewood would swap two older, pricey houses with rental options that people earning less than $36,000 annually could afford, according to project leaders.

SLR Investments is proposing to rezone roughly 1 acre where Whitefoord Avenue meets Finley Street from single-family or duplex uses to a designation known as multi-unit “missing middle” housing, MRMU. 

Doing so would allow for a 48-unit project called The Parliament with common areas and Craftsman-style architecture inspired by 1930s and 1940s homes, featuring large front porches and front yards described as inviting. Behind the four proposed buildings would be a 32-space parking lot.

“[This] can become the most innovative, non-subsidized, affordable, and accessible housing development the City of Atlanta has seen in recent history,” the development team asserts on a promotional website: edgewoodforeveryone.com.  

The missing middle concept refers to housing that fills the gap between apartment complexes and single-family homes—the difference, in some cases, between subsidized housing and expensive, market-rate living options. 

The corner property in question, where Whitefoord Avenue meets Finley Street, as seen in 2021. This house and the one at left have since been razed in preparation for residential development. Google Maps

The site’s breakdown would be four buildings with 12 units each, with amenities that include a courtyard, picnic tables, and bike racks. It’s promoted as being the ideal location for an “imaginative and impactful project” that’d be one of Atlanta’s first to offer 25 percent of its units at rates affordable to people earning 60 percent of the area median income—without the help of subsidies.

“This inspiring commitment ensures up to 12 units of new housing will be made available for neighbors in Edgewood who make less than $36,000 per year,” per developers. “This is new housing for teachers, police and firefighters, the restaurant and retail workers of Edgewood, recent college graduates, seniors, and others.”

The initial missing-middle site plan along Whitefoord Avenue in Edgewood. SLR Investments/The Parliament

The project has yet to come before NPU-O or the Organized Neighbors of Edgewood, the local neighborhood organization, we're told.

The Parliament would be located about ½ mile east of Edgewood Retail District, and roughly the same distance south of Edgewood’s redeveloped MARTA station. SLR Investments heads say market-rate units at their project would be 10 to 20-percent cheaper than those at Spoke, the TOD apartments bordering the train station.

Site of the 90-98 Whitefoord Avenue NE project, just east of Edgewood Retail District. Google Maps

The missing-middle housing initiative would be a drastic change for the corner property.

The 1930s bungalow at 90 Whitefoord Avenue on a 1/2-acre lot sold in June for $770,000. The corner property with a similar amount of land sold the same month for $850,000, sales records show.

Another Parliament-branded project in Edgewood was recently completed less than ½ mile away on Mayson Avenue, offering 36 one and two-bedroom apartments.

• Recent Edgewood news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)