A large-scale, multifaceted development is moving forward that could bring hundreds of more housing options a stone’s throw from the Atlanta BeltLine’s most recently completed trail extension.
A team of intown development heavyweights has filed paperwork with the city for Special Administrative Permits to begin work on a combination of townhomes, commercial space, and a multifamily apartment component in the historic Knight Park/Howell Station neighborhood west of Midtown.
The properties in question total about 6 and ½ acres off West Marietta Street, just east of the BeltLine’s Westside Trail. The land was recently sold by Mount Ephraim Baptist Church, which plans to relocate, according to SAP filings that show revised designs for all facets of the projects.
Trammell Crow Residential is handling the apartment and commercial component, dubbed Alexan Howell Station, while Empire Communities is pushing forward the company’s latest townhome build, Empire Howell Station, across the street from the church between 1060 and 1080 Rice Street.
TCR; Dwell Design Studio
Breakdown of site plans, with 53 townhomes pictured at left. TCR; Kimley-Horn Engineering
The site in question encompasses an entire city block just north of the Knight Park greenspace, plus current parking lots across the street. Redeveloping the land would continue a trend that’s seen numerous churches across the city cash out and move on as land values have skyrocketed and developers’ appetites for large parcels have intensified—especially those located so close to the growing BeltLine loop.
Filings indicate the properties have been rezoned this year to MR-3 (Rice Street) and MRC-2 designations for mixed uses in a BeltLine Overlay District.
The BeltLine’s inclusionary zoning rules meant to inject more attainable housing options near the trail are only applicable to the multifamily component.
Empire’s Rice Street plans call for a public plaza alongside 53 townhomes—40 of them three-bedroom units, the others with two bedrooms. It would also include 88 vehicle parking spaces on site (shy of the maximum 106) and the minimum required 12 bike parking spaces.
Earlier designs showed 56 townhomes potentially rising on site.
Alexan Howell Station, meanwhile, would rise at 1202 and 1192 West Marietta Street, consuming just shy of 3.9 acres.
Plans call for 300 apartments and 5,530 square feet of commercial space fronting Church Street, the latter expected to host a coffee shop or similar business that would help activate the Knight Park greenspace.
The unit breakdown calls for 41 studio apartments, 192 one-bedrooms, and 67 two-bedroom units. Some 400 parking spaces would be provided—in a deck at the center of the property and on-street—for both residential and commercial uses, alongside the minimum required 50 bike parking spaces, per the SAP paperwork.
TCR; Dwell Design Studio
Proposed look of Empire Howell Station townhome facades. Empire Communities
Plans call for 46 of the apartments to qualify as affordable for tenants earning between 50 and 80 percent of the area’s median income.
That means studio rents would fall between $506 and $1,350 monthly, while the largest two-bedroom options would run between $651 and $1,735, according to developers' tabulations.
“Constructing multifamily homes on this parcel is consistent with the character of the area,” TCR reps noted in the SAP filings, “as well as produces much needed housing options for multiple income levels.”
Estimated completion for the apartment component is June 2025, according to SAP paperwork.
Head up to the gallery for more context and a preview of what’s in the pipeline today.
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