Years in making, Memorial Drive venture sniffs sellout (for now)

For proof that Memorial Drive’s gangbusters residential growth isn’t abating, head to the 2000 block of the vital east-west corridor, between DeKalb Memorial Park and East Lake Golf Club.

That’s where The Moderns, a townhome project that’s been in the pipeline for the better part of a decade, is gearing up for the next phase of construction alongside dozens of other under-construction townhome products.

The 62-unit project has been slowly taking shape since 2016, expanding away from Memorial Drive where DeKalb County neighborhood Parkview meets Kirkwood.

According to Jeremy Smith, an advisor with Engel & Völkers Atlanta, three of the final six unsold townhomes in the latest new phase have gone under contract since his company took over sales in August.

The most recent phase of The Moderns in the 2000 block of Memorial Drive, with unrelated townhome construction from Empire Communities next door, at left. Lee and James Atlanta Photography; Matthew Larrabee; courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta

Initial phase of the Memorial Drive-fronting townhome community. Google Maps

That leaves three options left in the current The Moderns phase, priced from $574,900 to $610,000.

In each case, that buys three bedrooms and three and ½ bathrooms in 2,359 square feet. (HOA fees are listed at $275 monthly; with new units, $15,000 seller incentives are being offered.)

Each of the TSW Architects-designed townhomes stands four stories.

Smith says 41 of the 62 townhomes at The Moderns have been completed to date, with the next phase of construction scheduled to begin this fall.

“The community has been well-received by buyers,” Smith wrote via email, “especially for its private roof decks and yards.”

Immediately west of The Moderns, active intown developer Empire Communities is building an 80-townhome project spread across three and ½ acres of former church property. Directly across Memorial Drive, Empire also built the rainbow-hued Paintbox community on another former church site several years ago.

Lee and James Atlanta Photography; Matthew Larrabee; courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta

Project officials have said The Moderns's next phase will include smaller workforce housing options, featuring two bedrooms and two and ½ bathrooms in about 1,500 square feet, with rooftop hangouts up top.

According to Smith, pricing and the timeline for finishing the next phase’s construction has yet to be determined.

When the infill project first started coming to market eight years ago, the larger Moderns units were priced in the mid-$400,000s, while the skinnier, smaller, foot-in-the-door options were going for the mid-$200,000s.

The site is home to a tributary that snakes through the property, which in the 1800s played host to several paper mills. More recently, it’d been a landfill.

Sugar Creek was brought back to the surface and worked into the community as an amenity, sales associates have previously said.

Lee and James Atlanta Photography; Matthew Larrabee; courtesy of Engel & Völkers Atlanta