Could the quest to redevelop a paid parking lot in the middle of Virginia-Highland’s retail strip finally be coming to fruition after a decade and a half?

According to updated marketing materials, the answer is yes.

Commercial real estate brokerage Colliers lists a mixed-use project at 841 North Highland Avenue as being under construction on a paved, .9-acre corner lot where redevelopment ideas have sputtered in the past.

The project is now set to deliver in the first quarter of 2024, per Colliers officials.

Full scope of the North Highland Avenue frontage. Colliers

The mixed-use concept would rise two and three stories one lot south of CVS Pharmacy, on the North Highland Avenue retail strip that includes Dark Horse Tavern and Neighbor’s Pub, according to marketers. It would replace a parking lot that’s long been a canker sore, relatively speaking, on the neighborhood’s otherwise charming corridor of shops, salons, bars, and eateries in old buildings.  

Renderings indicate the building will be called The Highland. We’re reached out to a project rep for information on a construction timeline and other details, and we’ll update this story should that come.

Way back in 2006, a different mixed-use proposal coined “The Mix” was also floated for the site. That blend of condos and retail had also gained building permits from the city by early 2008, just as the financial crisis was bearing down on Atlanta. It never took off.

Now, plans call for 7,300 square feet of retail at street level (with floor-to-ceiling windows and floorplans as small as 3,650 square feet) topped with an unspecified number of residences, according to Colliers.

Building permit paperwork indicates the homes would be for-sale condominiums.

The property in question, at right, in May last year. Google Maps

The mixed-use building's section that would face south, toward Ponce de Leon Avenue. Colliers

A parking deck with 48 spaces would serve the commercial component, alongside five street-parking spaces. A separate deck would be built for the residential section.

An application for land development permits was issued in April last year, according to city records. Permitting records indicate parking garage structures would be built first.

With stiff competition for retail tenants from the likes of Ponce City Market, Va-Hi’s strip has struggled at times in recent years to maintain a full roster of occupied storefronts. Per marketing materials, the 841 North Highland building’s ideal tenants would be in medical, tech, creative, or professional services fields—all potential customers for current businesses, that is. 

• Virginia-Highland news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)