English Avenue project called largest in a generation moves forward

Plans are coming into sharper focus for a potentially transformative dose of new housing in the heart of a Westside Atlanta neighborhood long synonymous with disinvestment. 

Community nonprofit Westside Future Fund announced today it has secured $47 million in financing to start building an infill project called North + Oliver this year in English Avenue, a few blocks from two Beltline trails and other landmarks. 

WFF officials are calling the 120-unit venture the largest new housing development in the neighborhood in more than a generation. (The Vibe apartments component of English Avenue’s Echo Street West development counts more units—292 total—but has a smaller footprint and is part of a larger district.) 

North + Oliver will span more than 4 acres formerly occupied by blighted, vacant apartment buildings fronting North Avenue and Oliver Street, a half-dozen blocks east of the Beltline’s new Westside Trail—Segment 4. The site is about three blocks south of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. 

WFF and development partner OaksATL acquired the former Oliver Street Apartments in 2022 in “unlivable conditions,” and a $700,000 City of Atlanta Community Development Block Grant previously funded demolition of those rentals, officials said this week. 

North + Oliver is being financed with tax-exempt bonds issued by Invest Atlanta’s Urban Residential Finance Authority and 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. A $4-million Westside Tax Allocation District grant for gap funding has also made the project viable, according to WFF reps. 

The development team, which also includes Blue Ridge Cascade, expects construction to move forward this year, with completion forecasted for 2028. 

Apartments at North + Oliver will range from one to three-bedroom units and will be reserved for households earning between 30 and 70 percent of the Area Median Income. They’ll be offered through WFF’s program Home on the Westside, which prioritizes residents with residential, work, or education history in nearby neighborhoods. 

Plans also call for 25 units to be supported by an Atlanta Housing HomeFlex subsidy for lower income families in need of housing. 

Beyond the apartments, development plans call for a youth soccer field at North + Oliver, a fitness center, computer lab, community room, greenspace, and onsite parking. Site plans indicate the project will include five structures, including a community building. 

Rachel Carey, WFF chief real estate officer, said in an announcement North + Oliver will deliver “high-quality, deeply affordable housing” at a scale the neighborhood has long needed, following “years of careful planning, creative financing, and deep public private partnerships.” 

“For too long, this neighborhood was defined by what it lost,” added John Ahmann, WFF president and CEO. “That story is changing, and the families who stayed through decades of disinvestment are leading it forward.” 

North + Oliver is part of WFF’s goal of advancing more than $100 million in new developments this year, marking the most ambitious push in its history. The organization has reduced blighted properties by 50 percent in English Avenue and Vine City since 2017 and delivered more than 270 affordable rentals, per its leadership. 

Two smaller but handsome projects led by WFF—839 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and 646 Echo St., both in English Avenue—debuted earlier this year with 57 housing units deemed affordable. 

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