Significant changes are afoot along the newest stretch of the Atlanta Beltline loop—but this time, they involves destruction and not construction.

City officials tell Urbanize Atlanta demolition is planned for two neighboring, blighted apartment complexes in Bankhead situated along the Westside Trail's Segment 4, which officially opened in late June. 

According to Department of City Planning officials, a vacant complex called Oak Valley Court Apartments is currently being razed at 1073 Neal Place, just north of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard. 

Demolition permits for the site call for bringing down seven buildings with 88 units total, per the city. 

According to Fulton County property records, the 4.7-acre property is owned by an LLC called Ten73 Apartments and is valued at $3.4 million. 

As shown in June, the Oak Valley Court Apartments in Bankhead, just east of the recently opened Westside Trail Segment 4. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Ongoing demolition at the seven-building Oak Valley Court Apartments today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Demolition efforts along the Westside Trail won’t end with the Oak Valley Court Apartments, according to a city spokesperson. 

Just south of that site, another rundown complex called Azalea Gardens apartments at 1115 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard is also in the process of being razed. A demolition permit is currently under review with the Department of City Planning. 

“Once all approvals have been granted, documents received, and fees paid, the permit will be issued,” a city spokesperson relayed this week. 

That 3.98-acre property, valued at $7.8 million, is owned by another LLC named for the property address, Eleven15 Apartments, per Fulton County records. 

Just south of Oak Valley Court Apartments are the Azalea Gardens apartments, which are awaiting demolition permits, per city officials. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

What may become of the Bankhead properties once they’re cleared wasn’t known this week, but no building projects have been submitted for either site. Atlanta Beltline Inc. officials referred all questions pertaining to the apartment properties to the city. 

At 1.3 miles, Segment 4 was the Westside Trail’s only missing piece before opening earlier this summer to runners, cyclists, walkers, and anyone else not traveling by motorized vehicle. 

It provides a wooded section shaded by towering trees, views of vast templates for planned development, seating and shade structures, and easy-to-navigate connections to surface streets. But it also lent a front-row seat to residential blight like no Beltline pathway before it. 

The Segment 4 opening means 6.8 miles of contiguous, mainline Beltline pathway has now been pieced together, the longest stretch to date. 

Scope of Westside Trail's Segment 4 and approximate location of the apartment complexes along the trail, as shown on a map from earlier this year. Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The finished Westside Trail connects neighborhoods around the loop from Huff Road in Blandtown down to Pittsburgh Yards, directly south of downtown. 

Segment 4 includes bridges and other elevated structures, a fiber duct bank, vertical connections to several neighborhood streets, security cameras, and lighting, alongside storm drainage and management systems with green infrastructure. 

The Beltline and its city partners have ambitious plans to build an influx of housing—to the tune of 3,300 units, eventually—on parcels just west of the new trail section, also north of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.

The Oak Valley Court Apartments, as seen today from the Westside Trail. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

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