Recent months have seen transit-oriented development plans set in motion around MARTA stations in Bankhead, the southern fringes of downtown, and at H.E. Holmes, the system’s westernmost transit hub.
Now one of MARTA’s easternmost stations appears to be following suit.
The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners has approved rezoning for MARTA’s Kensington rail station that will open the door for redeveloping parking lots and other underused land on MARTA property.
The project’s location just inside Interstate 285, east of Avondale Estates and downtown Decatur.Google Maps
Site conditions around the 3342 Kensington Road transit hub today. Google Maps
Kensington is the penultimate station on MARTA’s eastbound route before final stop Indian Creek station. It’s located just west of Memorial Drive, inside the Interstate 285 loop, east of Avondale Estates and downtown Decatur. The mixed-use Phoenix Station project recently topped out across the street.
The rezoning, which covers 35 acres total, will allow for mixed uses around Kensington station with “very high density,” a designation known as MU-5, according to MARTA.
Following zoning approval, MARTA intends to advance a TOD master plan for Kensington station that “keeps with the community’s [TOD] vision,” as outlined in Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative Plan and the 2050 DeKalb Unified Plan adopted last year, according to MARTA officials.
The plan generally calls for a heavy dose of residential units (apartments and townhomes), along with small-scale retail spaces. A town green component, a community pavilion, and a range of smaller parks are also outlined in various Kensington station concepts. A Soccer in the Streets soccer pitch that opened on site last year will remain somewhere in the new plans.
The redevelopment would include workforce housing, affordable senior housing, and a new Housing Authority of DeKalb County headquarters.
MARTA and DeKalb County officials jointly hosted community meetings and launched an interactive website to gather public input for the TOD beginning last summer.
Potential uses around where parking lots and other underused parcels exist today. MARTA/Kensington Station Master Plan
How retail could interact with existing streets at Kensington Station. MARTA/Kensington Station Master Plan
Collie Greenwood, MARTA general manager and CEO, said in an announcement his agency is “now ready to solicit developers … to turn the undeveloped and underused property around the rail station into a community hub with affordable housing and neighborhood amenities.”
Added DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry: “[I]t’s exciting to help achieve this milestone. This type of development with convenient access to transit builds strong, connected communities.”
Head to the gallery above for a closer look at what's cooking at Kensington station.
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