Anyone who’s walked, ridden, or driven past the longstanding, branded construction fencing at 99 University Ave. lately could assume the sprawling site is idle. But according to a prominent intown development firm, that’s not the case.

Officials with Mill Creek Residential, a national developer that’s built upscale intown apartments from Decatur to Buckhead in recent years, say Modera Southside Trail remains an active and viable project at a former industrial property in Peoplestown, about 2 and ½ miles south of downtown.

Vacant buildings on the 11.4-acre University Avenue site, located just east of the downtown Connector, had previously been used for truck repair and a fueling station. Demolition began about 19 months ago.

“We’ve completed the demolition of the existing structure, and site work is currently in progress,” Phil Carson, Mill Creek’s vice president of development, tells Urbanize Atlanta via email.

The seemingly idle (for now) site at 99 University Ave. in Peoplestown this month, just east of the downtown Connector. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The apartment community's University Avenue facade, just east of Interstates 75 and 85. Courtesy of Mill Creek Residential; designs, Studio Architects

The project calls for 402 apartments spread across several mid-rise buildings, with a centralized amenity space and surface parking lots in between, a stone’s throw from an under-construction stretch of the Beltline’s Southside Trail. Construction schedules in early 2023 called for opening the first units in the fourth quarter of this year.

Carson says vertical construction at Modera Southside Trail is now on track to start in the second quarter of 2025.

Officials have said 15 percent of Modera Southside Trail apartments—or 61 homes—will be reserved as affordable housing at 80 percent of the area’s median income. (Previous working titles for the project were cease-and-desist magnet “Modera Beltline” and “Modera SoDo.”)

The property also borders the site where 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot during an altercation with Atlanta police in June 2020. The drive-through restaurant was set ablaze by protestors and demolished the following month. 

Just east of Mill Creek’s site, more than 1,100 rental townhomes and apartments have recently delivered, or are under construction, on formerly vacant or underused land with Beltline walkability. Those projects include the massive Maverick complex and the Skyline Apartments tower.

Also nearby, adaptive-reuse food hall and office project Terminal South began construction in January.

The Peoplestown site's proximity to downtown and three interstate highways. Google Maps

Overview of the 402-unit project's layout off University Avenue. Courtesy of Mill Creek Residential; designs, Studio Architects

The Beltline section in question—the Southside Trail’s Segments 2 and 3—began full construction this past summer and is scheduled to open in early 2026.  

Swing up to the gallery for more images and context.

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