Images: The Proctor starts vertical construction in English Avenue

Nine months after its ceremonial groundbreaking, a mixed-use venture that will add more than 100 housing units to Westside’s housing stock has begun its ascent. 

The Proctor, a mixed-income building, has recently started vertical construction on formerly vacant land at 698 Oliver St., roughly a block south of the Westside Beltline Connector trail, a link between the main Beltline loop and downtown Atlanta.

The mixed-use development joins an English Avenue growth spurt that’s seeing hundreds of residences come together in projects both large and not, due west of Midtown and Georgia Tech. 

The Proctor, a $55.6-million joint venture between Atlanta Housing and Atlanta-based developer Windsor Stevens Holdings, calls for 137 units total, with 41 of them reserved as affordable housing for residents earning at most 80 percent of the Area Median Income. [CORRECTION: 10:03 a.m., Sept. 9: A Windsor Stevens Holdings rep sends the following today: "We are not in a JV with Atlanta Housing; they made us a low interest loan, and we agreed to take Housing Choice Vouchers, but no JV."]

According to Atlanta Housing, the rent-capped apartments will be reserved for AH Housing Choice Voucher participants, a means to guarantee their affordability for at least 30 years. 

Beyond the apartments, the eight-story building will also include 10,000 square feet of retail space at ground level and a three-level parking deck. The rentals will average 813 square feet, per city officials. 

Amenities in the pipeline include a pool deck, fitness and yoga room, dog spa, and a “chill room” equipped with a full kitchen, according to permitting paperwork filed with the city’s Office of Buildings. 

Windsor Stevens was founded by Atlanta developer Rod Mullice, whose portfolio includes transit-focused projects such as The Pad on Harvard in College Park and forthcoming The Frazier in Chamblee. 

In English Avenue, the building’s retail component will be reserved for tenants focused on health, wellness, and beauty, Mullice has said. 

Promotional materials point to MARTA’s Bankhead station a mile west, Georgia Tech’s campus to the east, and Microsoft’s idle 90-acre property as walkable plusses of the location. The development is described as being transit-focused overall.

The Proctor is being put together through Atlanta Urban Development, a nonprofit entity that aims to develop underused public land into mixed-income housing. An LLC called WS Proctor Co. purchased the assemblage of properties for $3.75 million in March 2022.

The English Avenue site in question is tucked off Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, immediately west of Brock Built Homes’ 30-unit Oliver Street Townhomes. 

Other landmarks in the area include The Salvation Army Bellwood Boys and Girls Club (about two blocks east) and the Echo Street West project (also two blocks east).

The development team also includes Essayon Progress Management (construction), Niles Bolton Associates (architecture), Eberly and Associates (engineering), Southface (sustainable consulting), Troutman Pepper (legal), and Banks, Finley, White and Co. (accounting).

According to Atlanta Housing, the project marked the agency’s first financial closing using HUD’s streamlined Local, Non-Traditional/Moving to Work process, which allowed The Proctor to move forward quicker and with greater efficiency, officials have said.  

As of the project’s December groundbreaking, the development team said The Proctor was scheduled to start opening in the second quarter of 2026. (Atlanta Housing pegs the completion date as next May.) 

Head up to the gallery for more The Proctor context and imagery. 

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