A two-part residential project aiming to reshape large sections of affordable housing beside one of the Beltline’s newest trails is plotting its next moves after securing more than $30 million in funding from Atlanta’s economic development arm. 

The Invest Atlanta Board voted Thursday to approve $29 million in bond financing for Boston-based developer Wingate Companies’ redevelopment of Trestletree Village along the Beltline’s Southeast Trail. 

Invest Atlanta has also approved a $2-million Tax Allocation District grant to assist in development of the property, according to Wingate officials. 

Wingate went under contract in December to purchase both of Trestletree’s Section 8 parcels, totaling 188 units in 44 buildings. The northern section is in Grant Park, and the southern one in Ormewood Park. 

Wingate’s proposal has proven controversial among some current neighbors for the density it would generate and how plans call for condensing all affordable housing into one new building planned in Ormewood Park. Nonetheless, the Invest Atlanta approvals represent a major hurdle cleared, one that allows developers to focus on shifting some current residents to allow for phased construction. 

This week we caught up with Wingate officials for an update on the latest Trestletree timelines. Wingate officially closed on the properties in question totaling about 21 acres last month, following NPU-W’s approval of redevelopment plans. Wingate is now in charge of managing both apartment communities. 

But it could be a while before nearby residents and Beltline patrons see noticeable changes at Trestletree’s low-rise villages. 

Updated plans for facades and amenities at the Trestletree redevelopment's initial phase. Courtesy of Wingate Companies

Scope and location of north and south Trestletree Village communities along the newly opened section of the Atlanta Beltline. Google Maps

For phase one, relocation of affected Trestletree residents from existing buildings is scheduled to start in November next year and be complete by the end of 2027. 

Those current residents will be required to move into apartments that are currently vacant in both Grant Park and Ormewood Park sections, but Wingate doesn’t expect that anyone will be asked to temporarily move off-site. 

“In the unlikely event off-site relocation is required, apartments will be found in the same school district to minimize impact on families,” said John Tatum, Wingate vice president of affordable housing, in an email to Urbanize Atlanta.

Residents of roughly eight or nine buildings on the southern parcel in Ormewood Park—40 families total, per Tatum—will have to move to make way for development of phase one’s residential building next to the Beltline. All 188 Section 8 households at Trestletree today will reside in that first new multifamily building. 

Demolition of the vacated units and construction is now scheduled to begin in January 2028. 

Wingate forecasts that phase-one construction will take about two years to finish, with the first new building scheduled to open in December 2029. 

Trestletree Village South (bottom right) today in Ormewood Park, along the Beltline's new Southeast Trail section. Urbanize Atlanta

Initial redevelopment plans for the Trestletree Village South/Ormewood Park site, where the first building with all affordable housing units is planned. Courtesy of Wingate Companies

According to Tatum, the relocation process is being managed by national specialists Housing to Home, and Wingate is covering all relocation costs, including packing, storage, and movers. 

Whether they’ve been uprooted or not, any Trestletree resident will be allowed to move into the new building once it’s finished without having to re-qualify, per Tatum. Every Trestletree resident today could be living in the new building as early as January 2030, he said.  

Refined, mixed-income development plans for the first building call for 208 apartments total—188 “legacy units,” alongside 10 affordable/workforce housing options, and 10 market-rate units. 

According to Wingate, all new apartments in the first building will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 950 square feet with all new systems and appliances, including in-unit washer and dryer hookups and other amenities.

Tatum says those floorplans are considerably larger than current Trestletree units, which count one fewer bathroom and 638 square feet. 

Once the new building opens and residents are squared away, per Wingate officials, redevelopment of the remaining Trestletree sections is expected to begin construction in summer 2030. 

The latest massing plan for the Trestletree Village South/Ormewood Park site “preserves greenspace and provides natural buffers on both sides,” per developers. The affordable housing section is shown in blue, with the Beltline corridor at left. Draft proposal courtesy of Wingate Companies; designs, TSW

The Trestletree community was developed between the early 1940s and 1950s and today consists of garden-style, one and two-story residential buildings, totaling about 21 acres. Current rents at Trestletree Village range between $479 and $812 monthly for qualified renters required to pay no more than 30 percent of their income.

Find additional Trestletree context and visuals in the gallery above. 

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• Ormewood Park news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)