A year after developers scrapped plans for a missing-middle housing venture with the slogan “Edgewood for Everyone,” the site’s replacement project is coming into clearer focus, with price points that are less accessible but not unexpected, given market trends.
Developer SLR Investments has titled the six-unit duplex project “The Alley of Edgewood.” It’s under construction on a corner property where Whitefoord Avenue meets Finley Street, just east of the Edgewood Retail District and south of a MARTA station that’s been transformed into a hub of housing and commercial spaces, including popular sandwich shop Bona Fide Deluxe.
The first option listed at the Alley, Unit A, carries a price tag of $949,900, according to Keller Knapp Realty.
Per the project’s website, larger floorplans with an additional 200 square feet will ask $979,900. All options stand three stories, with a flex space on the top floor.
At those prices, each unit would be among the most expensive residences ever sold in Edgewood, trailing only a 4,200-square-foot modern home that traded for $1 million in May.
How three-story facades and balconies are expected to look along Whitefoord Avenue at The Alley of Edgewood. thealleyatl.com/Keller Knapp Realty
So what’s that buy? Along with a location that affords people the ability to “WALK EVERYWHERE,” per the listing, the Alley's dwellings each include four bedrooms, three and ½ bathrooms, and two-car garages. Rooftop decks are described as “breathtaking,” and courtyard patios are included at ground level, per marketing materials.
The A floorplans will offer 2,062 square feet, and the wider, pricier B options have 2,252 square feet. Floorplans show no options for elevators.
Coan Park, Candler Park, downtown Kirkwood, and the newly finished Eastside Trolley Trail are all cited as nearby perks.
Site of the 90-98 Whitefoord Avenue NE project, just east of Edgewood Retail District. Google Maps
Formerly home to two standalone older houses, the 1-acre site was the source of a heated squabble last year over SLR’s relatively dense housing proposal in the middle of residential Edgewood.
Initial plans for 90/98 Whitefoord had called for creating four dozen missing-middle rental options, some reserved at prices people earning less than $36,000 annually could afford. Rents for studios would have been as low as $453 monthly, developers told Urbanize Atlanta.
The unit count was later rolled back to 36, with a one-to-one parking ratio, in an effort to gain approval. But following continued neighborhood pushback, SLR squashed those plans in May and moved forward with larger duplexes.
thealleyatl.com/Keller Knapp Realty
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 more expensive, market-rate living options.
SLR had hoped to rezone the property from single-family or duplex uses to a missing-middle housing designation, or MR-MU, to capitalize on walkability. The site is roughly four blocks from the Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA station, and a MARTA bus stop is located across the street. In interviews, project heads described those efforts as a “brutal process.”
Opponents and some neighborhood leaders contended the site wasn’t exactly right for so much new housing in one place, especially when considering more relatively dense projects popping up nearby. Lack of dedicated parking and traffic were concerns, as was a disagreement that the project didn't align with the broader Edgewood Redevelopment Plan.
Some residents did applaud the project’s scale and non-subsidized affordability goals and offered suggestions on other Edgewood locations where it might be more appropriate.
Today, the duplex construction site borders an infill rental project, Finley Street Cottages, in the middle of Edgewood that managed to gain approval and finish construction earlier this year. A key difference is that the Finley Street project renovated two 1920s Craftsman bungalows and placed additional units in large yards behind them, rather than erecting ADUs behind new buildings that front the sidewalk.
Despite the hefty asks, the duplexes aren’t the priciest option on the Edgewood market at the moment; that title belongs to a single-family home currently being built from shipping containers off Memorial Drive.
Find more context, site history, and renderings in the gallery above.
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