A couple of blocks from Brookhaven’s MARTA station, a mixed-use concept is percolating that would continue the city’s urbanization and install a row of retail options, though it’s not clear when the project might start to materialize.

Pitched by longstanding metro Atlanta firm Connolly Investment & Development, Parkside on Dresden would add up to 15 restaurant and retail spaces along Brookhaven’s walkable main thoroughfare, Dresden Drive.

Plans also call for 176 luxury multifamily units and seven townhomes fronting homes on the opposite side of Dresden Drive, lending a transition to upscale neighborhoods to the north. It all would wrap a parking deck with 163 spaces included for retail customers, per Connolly’s plans.

The broader context just east of Peachtree Road and Brookhaven's MARTA hub. Connolly Investment & Development

Located next to Savi Provisions Market, and across the street from the @1377 apartments, the project would join other recent builds such as Bramley Park townhomes in Brookhaven's densifying commercial core.

Connolly’s marketing materials describe it as “the capstone project” that “will complete the pedestrian-friendly retail and restaurant experience along Dresden Drive, connecting Brookhaven Village to the Brookhaven MARTA [station] and Peachtree Road.”

The proposed look of boutique shopping and multifamily residences next to a new communal greenspace. Connolly Investment & Development

Project officials haven’t responded to an inquiry about construction timelines and other aspects of Parkside on Dresden. Company heads told Bisnow Atlanta last month they weren’t sure when Parkside on Dresden might break ground.

All told, the venture would bring 30,000 square feet of street-level retail in a way that enhances a village feel, with wide sidewalks and “unique storefronts,” per the developer.

Across the Southeast, Connolly has built more than 40 projects of varying uses, totaling more than 3 million square feet, since its founding in 1972.

Site plans for Solis Dresden Village.Connolly Investment & Development 2021

Development wonks will recall that MARTA pulled out of $200-million plans to redevelop Brookhaven’s MARTA parking lots into 15 acres of transit-oriented development with a Krog Street Market-style food hall in 2017, following pushback from the community and some city officials.

Those parking lots hosted the Cherry Blossom Summer Block Party in July, with an estimated 34,000 people groovin' to the likes of Collective Soul and Rick Springfield. 

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