Hundreds of new townhomes are bound for a site next to the last stop on MARTA’s eastbound line.

Atlanta-based developer Kaplan Residential has broken ground on a build-to-rent residential project now titled “Avondale East,” a joint venture with New York City-based real estate investment firm Dune Real Estate Partners.

Plans call for a town-center-style layout of 239 townhomes in the shadow of the Indian Creek MARTA station, the last eastbound stop on MARTA’s Blue Line. The 20-acre site also borders Interstate 285, about 15 miles east of downtown Atlanta, just north of I-20.

Avondale East will continue two prevalent real estate trends for developers in the metro: building rental properties that aren’t apartments, and claiming underused land near MARTA stations with next-door transit access as a selling point.

The property borders both the Indian Creek MARTA station and Interstate 285, directly east of downtown Atlanta. Google Maps

Kaplan officials say Atlanta’s population growth and escalating mortgage rates make the market ripe for build-to-rent, or BTR, products.

The BTR approach with townhomes has also been spotted lately in neighborhoods closer to Atlanta’s core, including Edgewood, Pittsburgh, Peoplestown, and Grant Park.

With Avondale East, floorplans will range from one to three bedrooms, with between 1,050 and 1,613 square feet, each with garages. An 8,000-square-foot clubhouse, coworking space, fitness center, walking trails, pocket parks, fire pits, and a pool described as resort-level are also in the works.

The first Avondale East townhomes are scheduled to deliver in summer next year, with Brock Built Homes tapped to the construct the dwellings, according to Kaplan officials. Also on the team is architecture firm Niles Bolton Associates, Focus Design Interiors, and civil engineers J Lancaster Associates.

Proposed designs of the traditional-style rentals. Kaplan Residential; designs, Niles Bolton & Associates

An additional selling point, per Kaplan officials, is the Electric Owl Studios under construction for TV and film production across the street.

Kaplan Residential—led by father-son duo Morris and Nathan Kaplan—are best known recently for building the 17-story Generation Atlanta downtown, a mixed-market-rate rental building near Georgia Tech.

Kaplan bought the Redan Road property, situated just OTP, from Paideia School for $6.5 million in summer 2021. Have a look at changes planned there in the gallery above.

• Stone Mountain news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)