The slate has been wiped clean where two cherished Juniper Street restaurants and bars long operated.
Following demolition last summer, Charleston-based Middle Street Partners is continuing site work at a two-building apartment project in the 1000 block of Juniper Street that will include one of the tallest new Midtown high-rises in years.
Two Midtown drinking and dining staples—casual Southern restaurant Einstein’s and lively bar Joe’s on Juniper—have been razed, along with neighboring bungalows-turned-businesses in the blocks between 12th and 11th streets. The Metrotainment Cafes concepts, both hubs for Atlanta’s LGBTQ community, had operated on the block since the 1990s.
Midtown Alliance lists the Middle Street project as one of 16 high-rises currently under construction across the subdistrict, with delivery expected in fall 2024. Modified plans call for two buildings to stand 38 and 34 stories with a total of 470 rental units.
Recent site work at Middle Street Partners' planned dual-tower project in the 1000 block of Juniper Street, where Einstein’s and Joe’s on Juniper formerly stood.
Exactly where the project stands, or when vertical construction might start, isn’t clear. Middle Street officials didn’t responded to inquiries about the 1081 Juniper Street project this week.
Development officials said last year plans call for the taller tower to be built first, as phase one, followed by the shorter building on the southern end of the block near 11th Street—but that tactic may have changed. Also included in the plans are 8,600 square feet of retail space at street level and 690 parking spaces.
In terms of sheer stories, the larger structure would mark Midtown’s highest residential stack since Related Group’s 39-story Icon tower wrapped in 2018.
How the two-tower project is expected to look from Piedmont Park, where it's also now visible from the banks of Lake Clara Meer. Middle Street Partners; designs, Brock Hudgins Architects
Middle Street Partners entered Atlanta’s development scene last year in Grant Park, where it’s currently building 323 rentals on 3.5 acres next to the BeltLine’s Southside Trail corridor.
The Juniper Street restaurants shuttered in summer 2021 and by September last year were surrounded by construction fencing, but the site went quiet over the winter and spring months. Deconstruction of the buildings this past summer marked the end of an era for the low-rise nightlife strip.
Retail slots planned for the buildings' bases along Juniper Street, looking south toward downtown. Middle Street Partners; designs, Brock Hudgins Architects
The two-tower venture isn’t the only significant change in store for the northern blocks of Juniper.
Midtown Alliance recently completed a bidding process for the long-awaited Juniper Street Complete Street project—to include a protected cycle track covering a dozen blocks—with hopes of beginning construction this year. And just north of Middle Street’s property, demolition efforts are continuing, albeit slowly, on Dewberry Capital’s delayed remake of the Campanile building.
From above Juniper Street, looking north. Middle Street Partners; designs, Brock Hudgins Architects
The larger tower, in the foreground, and the project's stance over Juniper Street. Middle Street Partners; designs, Brock Hudgins Architects
• Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
