Vertical construction has kicked off for another large injection of housing in a northwest Atlanta neighborhood that’s getting more connected to the Beltline by the day. 

The Novel Blandtown project by Charlotte-based Crescent Communities—an active Atlanta builder with multifamily projects dotted from Buckhead to Old Fourth Ward and the southside suburbs—is redeveloping a total of 3.03 acres at 1095 and 1121 Huff Road.

But the project won’t function as previously planned. At least not at the outset. 

Novel Blandtown calls for a seven-story multifamily building with 250 luxury units and a 4,700-square-foot, one-story structure for retail topped with a patio overlooking Huff Road.

That standalone retail component is now being reserved as a future phase, however. In its place, for the time being, will be “an urban plaza [that] uniquely integrates dynamic hardscaping and a grassy knoll into one space,” according to project designers Niles Bolton Associates architects.

Revised plans for Novel Blandtown's eastern corner at Huff Road, with a pocket greenspace now shown in project renderings. Courtesy of Crescent Communities; designs by Niles Bolton Associates

Prior to revisions, proposed look of the stacked apartments, left, and corner retail component, according to initial renderings. Crescent Communities/submitted

Overall, the designers describe the Huff Road project as having “a bold use of various exterior materials” and an “interplay of vertical and horizontal elements” that lends “the building its Bauhaus-inspired personality,” per a project description. 

The project’s title, Novel Blandtown, echoes other Crescent ventures across the country and embraces the historic neighborhood’s atypical name.

Demolition of a former showroom for home improvement store PDI Kitchen, Bath, and Lighting began late last year to make way for the Crescent project. The site is located across the street from AuthenTEAK Furniture, X3 Sports, Anadol Rug Co., and other Blandtown businesses. The scope also included a vacant, triangular lot next door to the former showroom.

Novel Blandtown will include a clubhouse and pool-topped, six-story parking deck with 322 spaces described by architects as “carefully concealed.”  

Rooftop pool, grills, and social zones bound for Novel Blandtown. Courtesy of Crescent Communities; designs by Niles Bolton Associates

Beginnings of vertical construction on the 250-unit apartment and retail venture. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Plans also call for about 50 spaces for bicycle parking, according to designs brought before the Beltline Design Review Committee in 2023.

To comply with the Beltline’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, 10 percent of Novel Blandtown apartments will be reserved for tenants earning 60 percent of the area median income or less, per the Beltline DRC.  

Novel Blandtown is scheduled to open in early 2027, with Peachtree Corners-based construction company Fortune-Johnson building it, according to Crescent officials. 

The newest section of the Beltline’s Westside Trail opened about two blocks away, directly west (up a steep hill), in fall 2022. Now, a Northwest Trail segment of the Beltline slinking toward Buckhead is scheduled to open later this fall, just to the north. 

Planned look of the Novel Blandtown leasing area. Courtesy of Crescent Communities; designs by Niles Bolton Associates

Where construction stands today at Novel Blandtown, with Huff Road at right. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Crescent’s investments along Huff Road continue a surge of residential building for the historically industrial neighborhood in recent years. 

Neighboring projects that have claimed underused Blandtown parcels include Minerva Homes’ 34-unit Hayden Westside townhomes and Empire Communities’ sprawling Longreen project, which is consuming an area roughly equivalent to three city blocks along Huff Road.

Practically next door to the Novel Blandtown proposal, Crescent Communities also built a 340-apartment community called Novel West Midtown that opened in late 2023 on Fairmont Avenue. Ten percent of those apartments were also reserved as affordable housing, as Beltline inclusionary zoning rules in the area dictate.

So much development along the Huff Road corridor is the driving force behind what’s called the Huff Road Multimodal Study.

Huff Road today includes two traffic lanes (and spotty sidewalks) for most of its length between Howell Mill Road and Marietta Boulevard, where it meets the Beltline corridor. 

That initiative is striving to eventually “reimagine [the] industrial freight corridor as an accessible, safe, and multimodal network, in line with the community’s goal of creating a restorative urban environment,” according to the Atlanta Regional Commission, which contributed $200,000 to the effort in 2023. 

The 83-page Huff Road Multimodal Study was officially adopted by the city last month. It estimates the project cost at just shy of $17 million, but no specific timeline for construction has been determined. 

In the gallery above, find more context and a thorough preview of what’s in store for the latest Huff Road build. 

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