Following delays, vertical construction is well underway at a mixed-use project designed to inject affordable housing and neighborhood-boosting retail into Old Fourth Ward, a perpetually hot Atlanta Beltline submarket.

The Henderson Place project is replacing an aging apartment complex of the same name with 76 rentals—all of them deemed affordable by development leaders—roughly three blocks from where Irwin Street meets the Beltline’s Eastside Trail.

Development plans call for commercial space suited for a small grocery store or community market, and one, two, and three-bedroom rentals reserved for both longtime residents and new arrivals earning no more than 50 to 60 percent of the area's median income. 

Onsite amenities will include additional retail space, a fitness center, laundry facility, clubhouse, and business center, according to Invest Atlanta. A dozen on-site parking spaces are planned, with additional parking slated for nearby streets.

Steel framework and the beginnings of wood and concrete construction at the Old Fourth Ward site just east of Boulevard. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Updated look at the Henderson Place project's Irwin Street frontage. Goode Van Slyke Architecture

The former 58 apartments at 514 Irwin St. were built in 1951, renovated in the late 1990s by owners Historic District Development Corporation, and refreshed in the early 2010s. 

But in recent years the cinder-block buildings had started to deteriorate beyond repair, violating numerous code and accessibility requirements. The original complex was built during a period of decline in early 1950s Old Fourth Ward and later became infamous as a den of crime and drugs, per HDDC.

HDDC bought Henderson Place in 1995 and had been offering its rentals to families earning 50 percent AMI or less, or roughly $26,000 per year. It’s named for Valena Henderson, a longtime O4W resident and noted advocate of the civil rights movement.

The HDDC—an agency cofounded in 1980 by Coretta Scott King that aims to provide equitable housing—partnered with Mercy Housing Southeast to replace the complex with what they call mission-based, mixed-use residential options.  

According to HDDC, no longstanding, low-income residents will be displaced and excluded from amenities in the area such as the Beltline. A “relocation specialist” was hired several years ago to manage temporary accommodations for former residents.

The 1950s community prior to demolition. Courtesy of HDDC, Mercy Housing Southeast

Site plan with Irwin Street shown at bottom. Goode Van Slyke Architecture

Perks of the location include the expanded, modernized David T. Howard Middle School next door and proximity to Hope Hill Elementary School a couple of blocks away, officials have said. 

When Henderson Place was originally announced, project officials said it was scheduled to break ground in October 2021 and fully deliver by summer 2023. 

The latest construction updates from the development team list Henderson Place’s ETA as mid-2026. 

Henderson Place construction progress in mid-October at 514 Irwin St. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Henderson Place's 514 Irwin St. location in Old Fourth Ward. Google Maps

As of 2021, the project was expected to cost $20 million, financed with Eastside TAD and Invest Atlanta bonds, among other sources. 

In 2023, Invest Atlanta announced that a $12.5 million tax-exempt loan, along with an additional $3.26 million Housing Opportunity Bond Fund loan, would help fund construction.

Find more context and a closer look at where construction stands today in the gallery above. 

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