Plans are moving forward to transform a vacant corner of a South Atlanta crossroads into unique mixed-use node geared toward boosting the local community.
Dubbed “Brownsville Pointe,” the project would reclaim an empty, arrow-shaped lot where McDonough Boulevard meets Jonesboro Road, about three miles south of downtown and a few blocks from the BeltLine’s Southside Trail corridor.
Focused Community Strategies, the landowner and developer, specializes in creating equitable housing and commercial projects and has worked in South Atlanta for decades. FCS also created small businesses Carver Market and Community Grounds Café across the street from the proposed development site.
As designed by Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, the 105 McDonough Boulevard project would see a flatiron-shaped commercial building at the corner with two taller residential structures behind it, along with street upgrades such as bicycle racks and additional parking.
The brick-clad, triangular piece of Brownsville Pointe includes 2,800 square feet of retail at the base. Kronberg Urbanists + Architects
The 108 McDonough Boulevard project site at a key South Atlanta crossroads. Google Maps
Kevin Lynch of Keller Knapp Commercial Real Estate Advisors says demolition and site work are scheduled to kick off for Brownsville Pointe soon. Lynch and colleague Bobbie Spiller are tasked with leasing the 2,765-square-foot street retail portion of the corner building, where selling points include 11 and 12-foot ceilings.
“This is an exciting project,” Lynch tells Urbanize Atlanta. “The timing factors that every intown developer deals with are at play for us, and given the nature of this site as a gateway to South Atlanta from the BeltLine, downtown, and west Atlanta, we’re working together [with FCS] to make sure we get this right.”
The property, which FCS purchased in 2018, once functioned as a gas station, but that shuttered years ago. More recently, the buried fuel tanks were removed, and only the former convenience store portion remains standing. In 2019, FCS floated plans for converting that building into a sit-down restaurant that didn’t come to fruition.
Kronberg Urbanists + Architects
The former gas station site in question in February. Google Maps
The general concept could look familiar to Atlanta development hounds.
Across town in English Avenue, another Kronberg-designed project with a similar scope and blend of uses is under construction now, as led by nonprofit Westside Future Fund. And in East Atlanta, another flatiron-shaped proposal has also recently emerged.
Have a closer look at what’s planned in South Atlanta in the gallery above.
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