A 1920s building that once served as a communal nerve center for Capitol View and other Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods could see a new lease on life by way of auction this month.

Where Metropolitan Parkway meets Dill Avenue, the vacant, classical building was constructed in 1924 by the Masons and functioned as a Capitol View centerpiece for gatherings, with its open interior spaces that remain intact, according to sellers. 

More notable for intown investors today is that the 15,000-square-foot, three-story structure is located about a block south of the BeltLine Southside Trail’s first paved (but not yet opened) section.

With that in mind, the building is scheduled for a two-day auction beginning March 23, according to Vantage Realty Partners and Ten-X Commercial. Bidding will start at $300,000.

The classic 1920s facade. Vantage Realty Partners/Ten-X Commercial

Should the auction succeed, it could mark the latest Masons-built property to be slated for reinvention in Atlanta, following Auburn Avenue’s circa-1940 Prince Hall Masonic Lodge (where a $10-million facelift is pending), and the planned mixed-use overhaul of a Masonic Lodge and adjacent properties where Ormewood Park meets East Atlanta Village.

Auction materials describe the Capitol View location as an “up-and-coming area of Atlanta [that’s] become extremely desirable” with “a flood of revitalizing development.” Name-dropped are nearby large-scale warehouse redevelopments Lee+White in West End, The Met in Adair Park, and jobs hub Pittsburgh Yards on the flipside of the BeltLine.

A former Masons meeting space. Vantage Realty Partners/Ten-X Commercial

Directly across the street is Atlanta’s modern-style Metropolitan Library branch. And a few blocks north on Metropolitan Parkway, Empire Communities has broken ground on a large residential build expected to bring about 100 townhomes for rent.

“Over the last five years,” notes the auction listing, “the average office asking rent along the BeltLine has increased by a whopping 70 percent.”  

BeltLine officials expect the Southside Trail’s first .8-mile segment to open nearby this summer, effectively extending the Westside Trail to the Interstate 75/85 Connector, just south of downtown.

As part of those efforts, a new bridge over Metropolitan Parkway was recently installed. Plans call for a new ADA-accessible ramp leading from Metropolitan up to the trail, and the installation of a pedestrian signal and crosswalk at the street.

• 100 new townhomes are moving forward in Southwest Atlanta (Urbanize Atlanta) 

• BeltLine's Southside Trail is getting a new bridge, eyeing summer debut (Urbanize Atlanta)