Images: Civil rights landmark's conversion to housing has delivered

After years of planning and construction, a landmark Westside property that played an important role in Jim Crow-era Atlanta has been reimagined and reopened with newfound purpose. 

Heritage Village at West Lake, an adaptive-reuse project, remade a 1950s building at 239 West Lake Ave. into five stories of multifamily residences with unique goals, according to developers Quest Community Development Organization and partners Columbia Residential. 

All 102 apartments at the West Lake development are being reserved for households earning at most 30 percent of the Area Median Income. Each rental includes one bedroom and one bathroom. 

Specific rents aren’t specified, but QuestCDC officials describe the apartments as “deeply affordable” and “high-quality” with access to onsite supportive services, workforce development resources, and nearby public transportation at MARTA’s West Lake station. 

A formal ribbon-cutting for the project was held Thursday, with numerous city officials and other dignitaries among the 200 guests. 

Another facet of the project is a 150-person ballroom featuring a “historic stage” that can be rented for special events, per QuestCDC.

According to Atlanta Housing, a financial partner in the project, the building in question was originally developed in 1951 as the Waluhaje Hotel and Apartment Complex. During the South’s segregated era, the property served Black patrons and residents—and housed a large ballroom where many top jazz musicians of the era performed—as a Green Book safe travel guide destination for Jim Crow America. 

Spread across nearly 7 acres in the historic West Lake neighborhood, the formerly vacant property is located just north of Westview Cemetery and Interstate 20. Shirley C. Franklin Park, the city’s largest greenspace, is about two miles due north. 

The hotel and apartments were sold in 1967, and the property operated for decades as Atlanta Job Corps’ headquarters. That organization provided vocational, residential, and education services and training until closing in 2017. The following year, Columbia and QuestCDC acquired the property from Job Corps via a joint venture. 

According to Columbia, the 61,300-square-foot conversion project aimed to provide modernized living options while preserving the site’s rich history. 

Of the 102 apartments, 24 will be set aside specifically for single men and women, ages 18 to 24, who are aging out of the foster care system. Job and life skills training, an entrepreneurial incubator space, and other services and resources are offered onsite, officials have said.  

Atlanta Housing announced in 2024 that more than $35 million in financing had closed to bring the project to fruition. It’s considered the agency’s first New Markets Tax Credit-financed development, and all units are being added to Atlanta Housing-assisted HomeFlex rental unit inventory.                                            

The remainder of the 6.8-acre property could be developed as future phases, Atlanta Housing officials have said. 

Other financial partners in the project include Westside Future Fund, Enterprise Community Partners, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Partners for HOME, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, the Home Depot Foundation, and Truist Bank, among others. 

Swing up to the gallery for more context and images. 

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