An Alpharetta-based homebuilder has broken ground on an east metro community billed as much-needed housing in a location that will provide “the perfect reverse commute” for 7,500 future employees at EV carmaker Rivian’s under-construction plant, which scored $15 billion in bond funding this month.
After gaining City of Stonecrest land development permits in late 2022, Parkland Communities announced today development is underway on a two-part residential project called Crestwind Township and Crestview Pointe, a mix of standalone houses and townhomes.
Plans call for adding the 389 housing units on a woodsy tract where Hayden Quarry Road meets Turner Hill Road. That's just south of The Mall at Stonecrest and the Interstate 20 corridor in DeKalb’s most populous city, which counts roughly 60,000 residents.
The 260 townhomes (Crestwind Township) will be for-rent, while the remaining 129 standalone houses (Crestview Pointe) will be for sale, according to Parkland Communities reps.
Planned location of the nearly 400-home project along the Interstate 20 corridor in DeKalb County. Google Maps
Recent aerial of the Stonecrest site in question. Courtesy of Parkland Communities Inc.
Parkland officials say the project is geared toward the “underrepresented missing middle market” and will “help satisfy the huge housing demand in the market where limited opportunities for new housing are available,” according to today’s announcement.
Sales and rent prices have yet to be determined, a Parkland representative tells Urbanize Atlanta.
The sizes of forthcoming housing options, meanwhile, have been set. Expect the townhomes to range between three and four-bedroom units with two and ½ bathrooms in 1,700 square feet.
The single-family homes will span more than 2,000 square feet with four or five bedrooms, and either two and ½ or three ½ bathrooms. All options will have two-car garages, according to Parkland officials.
A grand opening for the community is forecasted for summer 2024. Parkland officials have called the build-to-rent portion one of the largest rental communities of its type in Georgia.
Courtesy of Parkland Communities Inc.
Parkland developers continue to point to large-scale economic development along the Interstate 20 corridor and automaker Rivian’s plans to build a $5-billion manufacturing plant across 2,000 acres in nearby Morgan County. The Rivian project is expected to begin vertical construction in coming months and production in 2026.
The Stonecrest location is walkable (roughly a half-mile) to New Black Wall Street Market, a shopping and dining concept with 100 minority entrepreneurs that opened in a vacant Target near the mall in 2021.
Meanwhile, Stonecrest Mall is undergoing redevelopment that aims to reposition it as a regional tourism destination and jobs hub, 20 miles east of Atlanta. An aquarium concept called SeaQuest is open, and a two-story, $17-million remake of a former Sears called Priví announced 12 new tenants last year, with hopes of opening its food hall, health complex, events spaces, and other components early next year.
Another perk of living in the area, according to Parkland heads, is a planned MARTA Park and Ride station across the street from the forthcoming housing units.
The site's location, in relation to The Mall at Stonecrest and Interstate 20. Google Maps
Parkland’s BTR properties dot Atlanta’s suburbs. In Stonecrest, the homebuilder says onsite perks will include nature trails and green spaces, sidewalks, a clubhouse, and a swimming pool, plus a playfield and tot lot.
Elsewhere in the metro, the BTR model has drawn criticism for claiming available land that could have gone to for-sale housing, where first-time homebuyers could start to build wealth via equity. Advocates say it allows occupants flexibility that mortgages don’t.
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