A few blocks east of downtown Atlanta, another development with relatively attainable housing options is bound for Sweet Auburn. 

Dignitaries including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens are scheduled to lead a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for McAuley Station Phase II, a four-story multifamily venture at 300 Chamberlain St. with rent restrictions on nearly all of its apartments.

Like the initial phase, mixed-income McAuley Station is a team effort by between Atlanta-based healthcare provider Mercy Care and Philadelphia-based developer Pennrose. Collectively, the multiphase Sweet Auburn community is described as “visionary” by its creators. 

Phase II calls for 97 apartments reserved for residents aged 55 and older, just north of the Mercy Care clinic on Decatur Street. 

The project will claim a vacant lot that consumes the better part of a block, shared with Liberty Baptist Church. 

[UPDATE: 6:45 p.m. Nov. 11: Project architects Smith Dalia send over the following updated renderings for a more accurate depiction of what the next McAuley Station phase is expected to look like.] 

Courtesy of Smith Dalia

Courtesy of Smith Dalia

Courtesy of Smith Dalia

The 300 Chamberlain St. site for McAuley Station Phase II, in relation to the downtown Connector, MARTA's King Memorial Station (bottom), Edgewood Avenue, and other area landmarks. Google Maps

The site is sandwiched between two other affordable housing ventures in Sweet Auburn: McAuley Station’s first phase and the historic O’Hern House, a converted apartment building just south of Edgewood Avenue that’s undergoing renovations. 

According to project leaders, McAuley Station Phase II will see 11 apartments rent at market rates, while the rest (86 total) will be capped at 60 percent of the area median income or less, including 19 units at 50 percent AMI. 

Most of McAuley Station residents will live on fixed incomes and be disproportionately affected by spiking healthcare costs, officials say. They’ll have direct access to Mercy Care medical services as well as “tailored supportive services.” Onsite communal amenities are slated to include a fitness center, rooftop deck, activity room, and more. 

The Sweet Auburn site in question next to Liberty Baptist Church in March. Google Maps

Planned look of McAuley Station Phase II's main four-story facade. Pennrose, Mercy Care; via McShane Construction Company

According to project contractor McShane Construction Company, all Phase II units will be either studios or one-bedroom options, with perks that include GE appliances and granite countertops. Amenities will total more than 4,000 square feet, per that firm. 

Forty years after it was founded, Mercy Care counts four locations plus a mobile clinic and street medicine team today. The agency saw more patients that any other year in its history in the 12 months ending in June 2024. Those roughly 79,000 appointments for more than 18,800 people were up 25 percent and 12 percent, respectively, from the prior year, per Mercy Care officials. 

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