An infill project with exterior designs that wouldn’t look out of place in early 1900s Atlanta has an official start date.

Westside Future Fund has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning for a two-building, affordable housing venture at 646 Echo St. that’s expected to deliver 24 residences on an empty corner lot.

The English Avenue site is situated about a block from the Westside BeltLine Connector trail, near the Echo Street West district and T.I.’s Trap Music Museum. Mill Creek Residential’s latest Modera-branded project is also taking shape in the vicinity, with plans to start delivering the first of nearly 400 apartments next fall.

Described as a “landmark initiative,” the 646 Echo St. project is being funded by the James M. Cox Foundation, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Westside Future Fund’s Impact Fund, and Invest Atlanta.

Planned facades for the 646 Echo St. corner lot. Courtesy of Kronberg Urbanists + Architects

The 646 Echo St. corner lot shown in 2022, with construction cranes at English Avenue's Echo Street West project up the street. Google Maps

Plans call for two buildings standing three stories—including one with a distinctive brick façade that echoes smaller intown apartment communities from a century ago. Two of the planned 24 units will be ADA compliant, according to Westside Future Fund, an organization that aims to revitalize historic neighborhoods with accessible housing and job opportunities.

None of the apartments will rent for market rate.

Half of them will be reserved for renters earning 80 percent of the area median income or less, while 30 percent will be held for occupants at 60 percent AMI, according to a project announcement.

About five apartments will rent for just 30 percent AMI, the least expensive offerings of the lot. What the range of rent prices might be has yet to be determined.

Development partners on the Echo Street project include oaksATL and designers Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, a firm that's becoming known for innovative infill solutions across the city, such as Edgewood's Finley Street Cottages. 

Westside Future Fund officials say both English Avenue buildings are scheduled to deliver in September next year.

The 646 Echo St. location due west of Midtown. Google Maps

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