Leasing efforts have begun at the latest option for extremely amenitized student housing within a quick walk of Georgia Tech classrooms.
Capstone Communities is wrapping construction on a mid-rise project along North Avenue called Inspire Atlanta (formerly known as Centennial Lofts) that’s expected to open in August for fall classes.
Including underground levels, the building stands a dozen stories.
Just south of Boddy Dodd Stadium, the downtown site had been empty since 2011, when the 1970s, 17-story public housing tower Roosevelt House was imploded. [CORRECTION: As an astute reader points out, Inspire was built next to the former Roosevelt House site, on land formerly Techwood Clark Howell Homes public housing, cleared before the 1996 Olympics.]
The Inspire Atlanta project today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
According to marketing materials, student rents at the Niles Bolton Associates-designed building will start at $999 for spaces in five-bedroom units. More private studio apartments start at $1,385 monthly.
As is par for the course with new intown student housing buildings these days, Inspire aims to lure young renters with 24-hour amenities that could pass for a deluxe condo building’s, only with more hammocks.
The rooftop grill bar will have a backdrop of downtown views. Renderings courtesy of Capstone Communities/Inspire Atlanta
Spread across six levels, perks include a game room, cycle-fitness room, private study areas, a computer lounge and business center, electric car charging stations, hammock lounges, and an onsite “courtesy officer.” The rooftop has a pool with sun ledge, firepits, a grilling bar, and views across the city.
The company is building a similar student complex in Austin called Inspire on 22nd, also scheduled to open this fall.
Inspire broke ground in fall 2019 and was originally planned to have 239 apartments in two buildings, with a shorter seven-story structure flanking the existing one.
Original plans for the two-building Inspire Atlanta complex where North Avenue meets Centennial Olympic Park Drive.Courtesy of Capstone Communities; designs, Niles Bolton Associates
Along with 17-story, market-rate apartment community Generation Atlanta, it marks the first new mid-rise built in the neighborhood since the 1990s. The Olympic Village towers, now Georgia Tech dorms, and the Coca-Cola corporate campus had been the only tall buildings south of North Avenue in the area.
Inspire joins numerous student-housing projects that have sprouted in recent years, wooing Tech students across the Connector in Midtown with everything from a poolside Jumbotron to an urbanized Taco Bell.
Those include University House, Square on Fifth, and more recently 28-story The Mark, which replaced an old Dominos pizza, and a 27-story CA Ventures project also on Spring Street near The Varsity.
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