Future foggy for massive factory replacement on ATL's eastside

Three years after demolition kicked off for an Edgewood development promising nearly 700 new homes across two dozen buildings, the majority of a former desserts factory site remains cleared but idle, piquing the curiosity (if not concern) of some neighbors.  

National homebuilder Toll Brothers began demo in early 2022 at the industrial block formerly occupied by Edwards Fine Foods—a sweet-smelling pie factory owned by Schwan's Company that operated on La France Street for six decades—along Edgewood’s transit-connected northern fringes. 

At 13.3 acres, the substantial site spans the equivalent of several city blocks. The 422-unit Hanover Edgewood mixed-use project, a joint venture between Hanover Company and GID Development Group, has taken shape at the site’s western edge. But observers say the remainder of the site hasn’t seen noticeable progress in months. 

“I've seen they’ve got all the streets paved and looks like sewer run [at the site], but they haven't broken ground on actual units” beyond the apartments, one reader recently wrote via email, requesting an update. 

Toll Brothers isn’t shedding much light on where the remainder of La France Street development stands right now. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any updates to share at this time,” a spokesperson wrote to Urbanize Atlanta. A recent site visit showed no heavy equipment on site beyond what’s constructing the Hanover Edgewood project.

Toll Brothers in recent years has delivered numerous projects around Atlanta—including the two-tower, skyline-changing Momentum Midtown project—and surrounding markets such as Decatur. It’s also building what’s essentially a new small town in Forsyth County, in the far northern suburbs. 

But not all Toll Brothers developments have gone according to initial plans in a turbulent, post-COVID economy. 

A controversial high-rise proposal on 14th Street in Midtown has been delayed for several years, while a cleared Reynoldstown site where condos and townhomes were proposed near the Beltline’s Eastside Trail was sold off last year to another developer.  

In Edgewood, Toll Brothers officials have told Urbanize Atlanta plans call for 240 condos and townhomes on both sides of La France Street, immediately east of the standing apartments. 

All told, Toll Brothers' site plan shows 24 separate buildings rising across the former industrial acreage. 

The scope of work will also include a protected bike lane on La France Street, a dog park, and at least two small, public-accessible greenspaces. About 900 parking spaces would be spread around the property, according to project filings. 

The Hanover venture will join more than 400 apartments built on former MARTA parking lots next door, continuing the densification of Edgewood’s northern blocks near transit options and other attractions such as the Edgewood Retail District and Pullman Yards. It also continues an intown push—from Brookhaven to East Point and many points between—to locate denser housing types within walking distance of MARTA stations. 

The former factory site is located immediately east of Columbia Ventures’ 208-unit Quill Apartments, the final component of MARTA’s 6.3-acre redevelopment of parking lots around the transit station, collectively called Edgewood Park. 

That transit-oriented development also produced 224 apartments at the Spoke complex, offices, and food-and-beverage concepts Bona Fide Deluxe and Vin ATL, with a public park in the middle.

In the gallery above, find glimpses of where the Edgewood site stands today versus its full development plans. 

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