A unique infill proposal is moving forward with a variety of planned uses in a walkable, historic commercial district on Atlanta’s eastside. 

Atlanta-based developer Stryant filed Wednesday for demolition and land disturbance permits with the Department of City Planning to begin work at 1976 Hosea L. Williams, in the heart of Kirkwood’s retail district. 

Stryant’s plans call for turning a standalone restaurant building and parking lot where barbecue concepts had operated for a decade into two restaurants, an office headquarters, and 50 apartments with no subsidies, according to company cofounder Stan Sugarman. 

Sugarman says the permitting process will determine when construction can begin. The building process is expected to take 18 months. 

How the mixed-use proposal with retail, offices, and micro housing would front Hosea Williams Drive in the heart of Kirkwood's commercial district. Courtesy of Stryant

The 1976 Hosea L. Williams Drive lot in question, as seen from the same angle as the lone available rendering, in January 2025. Google Maps

The two eateries will face the street and include a patio, while all apartments will target rents reserved for tenants earning at most 80 percent of the Area Median Income, according to Sugarman. 

The apartments were described in an August announcement as “professionally managed micro units” to be set beneath a solar-shaded rooftop event area. They’ll be managed by co-living platform PadSplit.

The office portion will be Stryant’s customer meeting space but will also be available for other local businesses to rent, Sugarman told Urbanize Atlanta last year. 

The half-acre site was long home to Anna’s BBQ and another barbecue restaurant more recently.

Beyond the solar panels, sustainable features call for both EV charging stations and no parking requirements, a means to encourage alternate forms of transportation for a site served by city buses and bike lanes. 

Atlanta-based tech company Cove employed its AI-powered feasibility tool called Vitras.ai to help design the project. Each planned apartment will be about 340 square feet, architects have said. 

Anna’s, the barbecue joint, was in business in Kirkwood for nine years but shuttered in 2022 when owner Anna Phelps decided to retire and open a food truck. Following Anna’s closure, the building operated for a while as Georgia Boy BBQ. The property is situated across the street from another mixed-use hub, Kirkwood Station, built in the mid-aughts. 

Stryant closed on the property in May for $910,000, per listings. 

Overview of the .47-acre property recently purchased by Stryant in Kirkwood. Google Maps

The central Kirkwood property, at right, in proximity to Kirkwood Station across the street. Google Maps

Stryant’s recent eastside Atlanta projects have included affordable housing ventures Ralph David House and an infill corner build at 111 Moreland Ave., both in Reynoldstown. Other Stryant projects in the city include the adaptive-reuse conversion of the 1912 George W. Adair School in Adair Park.  

Elsewhere in Kirkwood, around the corner from the downtown proposal, Stryant’s affordable-housing plans for formerly homeless residents age 62 and older on church-owned property were approved by Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board last month, despite substantial pushback at the neighborhood level. That development is expected to come before the full Atlanta City Council for review soon. 

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