Atlanta BeltLine Inc.’s buying spree continues for land the agency says will see affordable housing rise in coming years.
The BeltLine’s latest purchase is 6.3 empty acres at 350 Chappell Road, located just north of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard in the Grove Park and Historic Westin Heights neighborhoods, due west of Midtown.
The BeltLine’s final unbuilt stretch of the Westside Trail—the 1.3-mile Segment 4—is under construction about two blocks to the east. Atlanta’s largest greenspace, Westside Park, is located a few blocks north.
According to BeltLine officials, the $4-million land purchase, made in collaboration with Atlanta nonprofit City of Refuge, will be used for future affordable-housing multifamily development as the 22-mile loop circles toward completion and continues to drive up home and property values.
ABI's latest purchase of 6.3 acres at 350 Chappell Road is demarcated in red, with a larger Chappell Road site bought by the agency for affordable housing development shown just to the northeast. Google Maps
The acreage in question was once the site of a blighted apartment complex, per BeltLine officials. According to Google Maps imagery, the property has been vacant since at least 2007.
It’s just down the street from the BeltLine’s largest planned site for affordable housing, a 31-acre parcel at 425 Chappell Road that’s currently in master-planning phases. The BeltLine and City of Atlanta purchased that site for $26.5 million from active Westside homebuilder Brock Built Homes in 2021.
The 350 Chappell Road site, at right, in January. Google Maps
So far, the BeltLine has invested more than $43 million to secure 72 acres at six properties across the city. Other sites include 20-acre Murphy Crossing in Oakland City (where the Murphy Crossing by Culdesac project is planned), a 3-acre property on Garson Road in south Buckhead, and roughly 9 acres on Avon Avenue in southwest Atlanta.
In an announcement today, BeltLine president and CEO Clyde Higgs called the 350 Chappell Road purchase “one more meaningful step in the [BeltLine’s] goal to create affordable housing around the corridor… creating whole communities where ultimately we hope people can access jobs and services within walking distance of where they live, without the need for a car.”
No specific plans for what could be built on Chappell Road were outlined.
But City of Refuge, the BeltLine’s purchasing partner, specializes in providing housing and resources such as job training and food access to Westside residents earning between 20 and 80 percent of the area median income, through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.
“Our mission is to ensure that people in one of Atlanta’s most historic and struggling neighborhoods, where nearly 40 percent of residents live below the Federal Poverty Level, are not left behind when it comes to equitable resources, like affordable housing,” Bruce Deel, City of Refuge’s CEO, said in a prepared statement.
“Our collaboration with Atlanta BeltLine," Deel continued, "puts the pieces in place to provide new housing options to people who need and deserve fair access to safe and affordable places to live.”
The 350 Chappell Road site's broader Westside context. Google Maps
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