Documents filed with the City of Atlanta in recent weeks shed fresh light on how a new intown skyline could continue to evolve in coming years.

Star Metals District developer The Allen Morris Company filed plans last month with Atlanta’s Office of Zoning and Development that show proposed massing and scale for the final three buildings planned in the Marietta Street Artery district.

Those designs call for a tower that would climb 42 stories—and as new drawings indicate, would dwarf the Stella at Star Metals high-rise apartments that have topped out next door.

The Florida-based real estate firm has asked the city for a variance to increase the allowable height to 435 feet for the tallest proposed building. New development in the area, as is, can’t climb taller than 225 feet, according to city ordinances.

Looking west over Northside Drive, the context of Star Metals' phased proposals (at center) with the under-construction Stella at Star Metals tower (at right) and second phase of Interlock (at far right). Dwell Design Studio; The Allen Morris Company; via City of Atlanta Office of Zoning and Development

As seen in July, looking south from 17th Street, how the Stella project was beginning to stand out among other buildings in the district, including some at higher elevations. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Site plans submitted with the city in July show the high-rise, considered Star Metals’ phase six, would be the easternmost building on site, nearest to Northside Drive. In terms of scale, the 42-story component would be a dramatic shift for the former industrial zone just west of Georgia Tech. Plans call for it to top out at just 18 feet shorter than downtown’s 100 Peachtree, formerly known as the Equitable Building.

Like its sibling towers (phases four and five), the project would replace a low-rise block where the densifying Howell Mill Road corridor meets 11th Street.

Twenty-one stories would be the maximum height for other buildings in the final Star Metals phase, per planning documents.

The 3.27-acre property in question spans a full city block. Allen Morris in late 2022 succeeded in having the property rezoned to an MRC-3 designation to allow for mixed uses.  

The tallest building in Star Metals' final phases (center) as seen next to the Stella building (left) and the project's existing office stack on Howell Mill Road (right). Dwell Design Studio; The Allen Morris Company; via City of Atlanta Office of Zoning and Development

Blocks where Star Metals District is expected to expand (in yellow), between Howell Mill Road (left) and Northside Drive. Red stars represent existing Star Metals buildings, while the section marked "1" is where the 22-story Stella building is under construction. Google Maps/Urbanize ATL

The height variance would allow for more than 40 percent of the site to remain open space—as opposed to 15 percent in earlier plans, Allen Morris officials have said.

The site is unusually large for infill development in an urban setting and will allow for unique placemaking (think: outdoor dining, pedestrian improvements, and plazas) near all four surrounding streets, as project leaders explained in earlier paperwork.

“In an area dominated by new high-rise development with limited areas for pedestrian activity,” reads an application submitted in August, “the exchange of building height for significant sidewalk level open areas is appropriate.”

Earlier filings indicated the 42-story project would be the last of the three new Star Metals buildings to be erected on site, suggesting it might not move forward soon. Refined renderings for the final Star Metals phases have yet to be compiled, project reps have said.

So far, Star Metals counts two completed buildings, and both stand out for their atypical architecture in the Howell Mill Road corridor: Star Metals Offices and flex-living concept Sentral West Midtown across the street.

In the gallery above, find more context and a closer look at the site and projects in question.

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• Marietta Street Artery news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)