A vacant plot of land near the BeltLine’s Southside Trail that’s been marketed as “amazing” appears to have found a suitor—and one that’s intent on bringing a not-insignificant amount of affordable housing to the area.
Gorman and Company, a national developer with affordable housing expertise, plans to build a mixed-use project with 106 total residences on McDonald Drive in Chosewood Park.
The hilltop, 1.6-acre site in question is around the corner from where Milton Avenue meets the Southside Trail.
The project is expected to provide 85 percent of its units as affordable housing, reserved for tenants earning 50 to 60 percent of the area’s median income or less, according to paperwork filed with the BeltLine Design Review Committee.
Recent aerial photography over the 1.6-acre Chosewood Park site. Courtesy of Ansley Real Estate
Beyond a six-story stack of apartments on a podium, the scope will also include a three-story, mixed-use building offering 6,000 square feet of commercial space at street level with six townhomes above that, according to Gorman and Company’s plans.
Elsewhere, 84 parking spaces are included in development plans—a relatively low number by Atlanta standards.
Gorman and Company, founded in 1984 and based in Wisconsin, has developed affordable-housing initiatives around the country through public-private partnerships. The company’s first Atlanta venture, a 60-unit mixed-income project near Westview Cemetery, broke ground last year.
The site in question—an assemblage of four vacant properties beside an auto salvage yard—came to market in late 2021 for $2.99 million.
According to FMLS data, the property has been under contract since June.
Earlier plans drawn up for the site lend an idea what density is possible. Courtesy of Ansley Real Estate
Courtesy of Ansley Real Estate
Listing agent David Tufts, a partner and chief development officer with Ansley Developer Services, previously told Urbanize Atlanta the property is special for its BeltLine proximity, elevation, and “incredible views of the city.”
Blueprints and renderings for the Chosewood Park assemblage, dating back to 2008, show it’s been entitled for 110 residential units and 6,000 square feet of commercial space before.
As the listing notes, the property falls within the BeltLine Tax Allocation District, a mechanism that helps fund construction of remaining trails, and it qualifies for Opportunity Zone funds meant to help uplift distressed areas.
A flurry of projects, including RangeWater Real Estate’s Maverick community, has taken shape in the immediate area, bringing nearly 1,000 new housing units in expectation of the BeltLine’s arrival.
That's despite the fact the two Southside Trail segments on either side of Milton Avenue are expected to be the last built.
Both segments are in design phases now—with a 2021 funding boost by way of a $16-million federal grant—but the process of utility relocation, brownfield remediation, and permitting is expected to take roughly another year before construction can begin. Once finished, those sections will fill the final gap between the paved Westside Trail and the BeltLine linking around the city to Piedmont Park.
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