Clearly (and unfortunately), they don’t make ’em like this anymore.
An adaptive-reuse restoration project that aims to help lift up Atlanta’s chronically homeless population is making strides at the Odd Fellows Building, a 250 Auburn Ave. structure that preservationist nonprofit Easements Atlanta describes as one of Sweet Auburn’s most important commercial buildings.
Behind scaffolding erected earlier this summer, restoration work is preserving the abundance of architectural features—terra cotta medallions, cast grotesques, and diapering among them—at the 1912 Odd Fellows Building designed by the Edward & Sayer firm in the Jacobean Revival style.
Plans call for turning the Odd Fellows Building into a range of stable housing and the headquarters of Georgia Works, a donor-funded nonprofit that helps homeless men transition into becoming more productive members of society. The renovation will also see four retail spaces at street level with below-market leasing rates, an effort to increase Auburn Avenue’s vibrancy and help local businesses.
Georgia Works currently operates at the Gateway Center on Pryor Street, housing its program participants in converted jail facilities.
The Odd Fellows Building is located at the northwest corner of Auburn Avenue and Bell Street, about a block west of the Connector, in the historic Sweet Auburn district. The restoration project is estimated to cost $13.3 million overall, with the bulk of funding sourced from grants.
Previous condition of the 1912 landmark building where Auburn Avenue meets Bell Street. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta
Expected look of the Odd Fellows Building's facade after renovations. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta
The main Odd Fellows structure opened in 1912, followed by an annex with an auditorium the next year. The complex became an important landmark for Black Atlanta society in subsequent decades, hosting dances and myriad social functions. It underwent an extensive renovation in the 1980s but more recently slipped into disrepair, project officials have said.
Once renovated, the Odd Fellows Building will house all of Georgia Works’ operations under one roof, including the nonprofit’s offices and programming space.
Other sections will house up to 164 men at any given time, including 40 spaces for Georgia Works program participants, plus transitional housing for 124 recent graduates of the program. Those men will live in 60 shared apartments, each with two or three beds, according to Invest Atlanta.
At street level, most of the discounted retail spaces have been spoken for, officials said last summer. Georgia Works has secured letters of intent from nutrition provider Open Hand to operate a convenience store that will serve fresh, prepackaged meals; Atlanta nonprofits Civil Bikes and Bearings Bike Works plan to share a retail space; elsewhere, existing tenants The Skate Shop and Lee’s Boutique are expected to consolidate into a single storefront.
A restaurant concept is planned to occupy the fourth retail space.
Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta
Since its founding a decade ago, Georgia Works has graduated more than 1,000 men from its program, with 80 percent of them remaining in their apartments and original jobs thereafter, earning average wages of $12 per hour, according to an Invest Atlanta update last year.
Today, the nonprofit’s housing division provides stable living options for graduates in 16 single-family houses dotted in neighborhoods around Atlanta, each leased by Georgia Works. In addition to housing, Georgia Works provides GED classes, job-placement services, help in obtaining drivers licenses, workforce training, and other services.
Georgia Works purchased the tower portion of the Odd Fellows complex with a $5-million grant from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget last year. Invest Atlanta contributed an additional $1.25-million Eastside TAD Ascension Fund grant to assist with financing.
Other partners in the project include Lord Aeck Sargent architects, Landmark Preservation, MetroGreen Construction, the Atlanta Preservation Center, DSM Real Estate Partners, Easements Atlanta, and Matt Mitchell Designs.
Georgia Works’ plans call for opening the Auburn Avenue facility in early 2025.
Find more context and renderings for the Odd Fellows Building project in the gallery above. Below are descriptions and images depicting current work, as provided by Easements Atlanta, a nonprofit formed in 1984 by a partnership between Atlanta Preservation Center, the City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission, and Atlanta History Center.
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Scaffolding at the 250 Auburn Ave. structure (left, below) was erected earlier this summer as Landmark Preservation rehabilitated windows, masonry, cast stone, and terra cotta. At right is a view of the building’s cast grotesques during rehabilitation:
Courtesy of Easements Atlanta
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Decorative spandrels were repaired and then carefully coated with a uniform color, ensuring they don’t look “too new,” per Easements Atlanta officials:
Courtesy of Easements Atlanta
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As viewed through a restored window, here’s an example of a fifth-floor Odd Fellows Building space with plenty of natural light:
Courtesy of Easements Atlanta
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On the Bell Street façade, an example of a terra cotta medallion surrounded by what’s called masonry diapering:
Courtesy of Easements Atlanta
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Before/after views of the historic 1912 windows after being restored and put back in. “With assistance from Atlanta Preservation Center student intern Jaylon Butler,” notes Easements Atlanta, “the green paint color was determined by looking at vintage photographs and informal paint analysis of the historic windows.” -->
Courtesy of Easements Atlanta
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