For the first time in a year and 1/2, a mixed-use development that would transform an idle block of Old Fourth Ward near key roadways is showing signs of moving forward.

Paperwork filed last week with Atlanta’s Department of City Planning indicates construction phases could be beginning for a sizable apartment complex, anchored by a grocery store, that was initially put forward by Fuqua Development and its Charlotte-based partners, Northwood Ravin, in 2022.

Project representatives are seeking the city’s permission to install a sewer plug at the 505 Highland Ave. site, which is typically an initial step for construction. A permit for the work has since been issued, according to city records.

Inquiries to Fuqua Development and Northwood Ravin officials for a project update haven’t been returned this week. Northwood Ravin’s website identifies the project only as “Highland” and lists it as “coming soon.”

A Special Application Permit for the overall project was approved by the city two years ago.

As seen in July this year, the idle 3-acre site and shuttered Desperate Housewares Atlanta furniture store. Google Maps

The latest available rendering for how the project would transform one corner of the Highland Avenue-Boulevard intersection. (Highland Avenue frontage is at left.) Northwood Ravin/Fuqua Development; 2023

The November permitting paperwork indicates the project’s apartment count has been modified slightly to 285 units, along with “some retail space.” The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported in summer 2023 the development team had closed on the 3.3-acre site, paying $4 million per acre.

Earlier filings indicated the project will include 56,000 square feet of retail space with a grocery store—reportedly a Publix—in the mix, and that 15 percent of the apartments would be reserved for renters earning 80 percent of the area median income or less.

The collection of parcels is situated just east of downtown, where Highland Avenue meets Boulevard, next to the popular Freedom Barkway Dog Park.

The property in question is largely vacant now, apart from a standalone house and the former Desperate Housewares Atlanta furniture store—both now shuttered. Two buildings in a low-rise brick apartment complex immediately to the east would not be impacted, and neither would the dog park, plans indicate.  

Other aspects of the Highland Avenue development call for roughly 12,400 square feet for restaurants and retail, plus a garage with 400 parking spaces that would serve retail guests, residents, and visitors headed to the dog park just south of new construction, according to plans brought forward in 2023. The development team said it was expected to cost $122 million at the time.

Looking southwest, initial images of Fuqua Development's proposal are shown next to John Lewis Freedom Parkway. Submitted

Breakdown of the Fuqua proposal as submitted to the city in 2022. Fuqua Development/Office of Zoning and Development

In May last year, the project succeeded in scoring a tax break despite Old Fourth Ward’s status as one of metro Atlanta’s hottest redevelopment zones.

The  Development Authority of Fulton County approved a request for $5.7 million in tax savings across 10 years. Fuqua and co-developers told DAFC members the abatement would determine whether the Old Fourth Ward project gets built or remains an underused lot, as its inclusion of affordable apartments would drop the return-on-investment to 5.4 percent with no tax help—a return they consider unviable, according to the AJC. Developers agreed to preserve those apartments’ affordability status for a decade longer than city code requires—30 years—in exchange for the tax incentive.

The development team also vowed last year to allocate $900,000 toward new sidewalks and on-street parking.

In addition to suburban mixed-use ventures at The Battery and in places like Buford, Fuqua’s controversial Atlanta-based development company is known for projects with a heavy emphasis on parking such as Midtown Place and Edgewood Retail District, and a suburban-style node with a towering self-storage facility near Atlantic Station. Fuqua’s more recent work includes Madison Yards in Reynoldstown.

Northwood Ravin’s work in Atlanta includes a mixed-use venture called Halo East Decatur that’s bringing nearly 400 apartments to the doorstep of MARTA’s Avondale station. That project is undergoing vertical construction now.

Just north of the Highland Avenue site, plans are starting to materialize for a massive redevelopment of Atlanta Medical Center’s 22 acres. That could see hundreds of new residences, plus commercial, retail, medical, and greenspace uses start coming together as early as 2025.

So time, it seems, could be of the essence in O4W.

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Old Fourth Ward news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)