The influence of Georgia State University continues to spread across the oldest sections of Atlanta, tolling the death knell for another downtown parking lot. 

Landmark Properties and AECOM-Canyon Partners made plans official today for a 32-story student housing tower called The Metropolitan (not to be confused with the nearby Metropolitan condos at Five Points). It’s set to rise at 130 Luckie Street NW, a half-acre site long used for surface parking. 

The location, bordering the Atlanta Streetcar’s Luckie at Cone stop, is within a block of downtown landmarks that include the Tabernacle events venue, SkyView Atlanta Ferris wheel, Centennial Olympic Park, and Ted Turner’s penthouse over his namesake restaurant.  

The Metropolitan is slated to begin construction later this month and open in time for GSU’s fall semester in 2023, officials say.

Expect 835 beds in 265 student apartments, plus 5,700 square feet for retail, located a quarter of a mile from the GSU campus. 

GSU isn’t part of the development deal. But like the 25-story The Mix luxury student tower on the flipside of downtown, The Metropolitan will claim underused land to serve students at the growing university.   

The parking lot in relation to downtown tourist attractions and other landmarks. Google Maps

Student towers have been cropping up across downtown and Midtown for years, and Athens-based Landmark has already built two of them: The Standard, which opened in 2018 at Spring and Third streets in Midtown; and The Mark, a 28-story venture that claimed a longstanding Domino’s Pizza on 10th Street and opened last year. 

Landmark, described by reps as the nation’s top developer of student housing, also plans to open a cottage-style community serving Kennesaw State University students this fall. 

AECOM-Canyon Partners will focus on the 325,000-square-foot project’s design, construction management, and engineering. Floorplans will range from one to five-bedroom units (party!), with amenities on tap that include concierge services, an outdoor pool, a café study lounge, and a golf simulator. 

No finalized renderings or other images for The Metropolitan are available for release yet, reps told Urbanize Atlanta today. 

UPDATE: "After some additional conversations, we were able to finalize and share a rendering," a Landmark spokesperson wrote today, after this article was initially published. See that image below. 

The site in question borders the Atlanta Streetcar’s Luckie at Cone stop. Google Maps

In a prepared statement, Wes Rogers, Landmark CEO and president, said his company continues to see “strong demand for quality living options near the heart of the city and across the Atlanta metro area.” 

The Metropolitan’s goal, said Rogers, is to provide “an unsurpassed living experience” for students downtown. 

Courtesy of Landmark Properties

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