A year’s worth of city-led demolition has left large swaths of land as blank slates along one of the Atlanta Beltline’s newest trail segments. 

Demolition of 20 buildings with 92 apartments has recently wrapped at the formerly vacant and blighted Azalea Gardens Apartments, located at 1115 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard along one of the Beltline’s freshest completed sections, Westside Trail-Segment 4. 

Removal of the Azalea Gardens buildings allows for a “seed and grass” phase to begin on the property, according to city permitting records. 

The demo work means nearly 9 total acres of former residential property has been cleared along a short stretch of the Westside Trail in Bankhead. 

Prior to demolition, proximity of Azalea Gardens Apartments is shown beside the Westside Trail. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Current state of the former Azalea Gardens Apartments site along the Westside Trail, with Joseph E. Boone Boulevard shown at right. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Last year, the city deployed a similar, bulldoze-and-plant-grass tactic at another vacant apartment complex immediately north of Azalea Gardens: the former Oak Valley Court Apartments, spread across 4.7 acres at 1073 Neal Place, also along the Westside Trail. The latter property had been home to seven buildings and 88 total units, per city records. 

We reached out to city officials Monday for an update on what could be in store for the properties in question, including information on potential redevelopment. A spokesperson replied today that officials are looking into the matter; we’ll update this story with any additional details that come. 

Attempts by Urbanize Atlanta to reach the owners of both properties—two LLCs named for the apartment addresses—have not been successful. 

Building permits show no recent redevelopment activity at either location. City records do indicate the Joseph E. Boone Boulevard complex had been the source of more than 90 code complaints over the past couple of years, including reports of fires onsite. 

Over the years, city inspectors noted that sections of both complexes had degraded to a “highly hazardous” state. 

The Oak Valley Court Apartments, as seen from the Westside Trail in September 2025. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Where the Oak Valley Court Apartments were razed across 4.7 acres, as seen today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Just south of the cleared apartment sites, the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management is building a flood-mitigating, 8-acre wetland project called “Valley of the Hawks” that will also function as a public park. Longterm plans call for that site to be part of the east-west connector Valley of the Hawks Trail (see page 58 here), linking to the Beltline, Proctor Creek Greenway, and eventually the Chattahoochee River. 

The Westside Trail’s 1.3-mile Segment 4, which officially opened in June last year, includes wooded sections, shade structures, seating, and easy connections to neighborhood streets. Nearby, 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 trail, also north of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.

In the gallery above, find a before/after look at how recent demolition work has transformed Beltline-adjacent property on the Westside, adding to a stock of developable land. 

As shown prior to demolition, the Oak Valley Court Apartments property (in green) and Azalea Gardens (yellow), in relation to the Beltline corridor and other landmarks. Google Maps; Urbanize

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