SimCity-like growth around Howell Mill Road is set to continue next month.

Officials with Chicago-based developer Sterling Bay send word that a groundbreaking is scheduled November 7 for another project that proves investor bullishness isn’t waning in Home Park, the Marietta Street Artery, and other formerly industrial neighborhoods west of Midtown.

Sterling Bay is partnering with Charlotte-based Asana Partners to spearhead 1050 Brickworks, a 225,000-square-foot office building that’s moving forward without a single signed tenant.

“This building is going up completely on spec, a bold move in today’s market,” Sterling Bay spokesperson Julie Goudie wrote in an email to Urbanize Atlanta.

The HKS-designed building will stand 14 stories, with about 14,000 square feet of retail at its base.

Low-rise commercial buildings on the West Marietta Street site in question, as seen in February. Google Maps

Plans for the 14-story facade at the corner of West Marietta Street and Brady Avenue.Courtesy of Sterling Bay/Asana Partners; designs, HKS

The project aims to help convert the West Marietta Artery’s character from industrial railroad district to a more walkable, mixed-use community. It’s also expected to complement and anchor the 166,000 square feet of dining, retail, and service space next door at Brickworks, which Asana Partners bought in 2020.

Today, the site houses several low-rise commercial buildings on about 1.3 acres, between West Marietta Street and active railroad tracks. It falls within the Marietta Street Artery district, across the street from Home Park, in the area colloquially known as West Midtown.

As Bisnow Atlanta first reported, the venture marks Sterling Bay’s first foray into Atlanta, which one principal called “the economic engine of the Southeast” and “one of the major metros [we think] will continue to thrive.” The company doesn’t foresee leasing 1050 Brickworks being a problem, as with other spec properties in hot Chicago markets that have been almost fully leased just months after breaking ground, as Bisnow relayed.

Asana, meanwhile, has been active acquiring and redeveloping property along the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, including Krog Street Market and SPX Alley, in addition to acquisitions like Plaza on Ponce, the iconic shopping center where the Plaza Theatre operates.

Beyond walkability to a growing slate of neighborhood retail, entertainment, and living options, 1050 Brickworks’ perks are expected to include a fitness center, private library, a lounge and bar, outdoor workspaces, and private terraces for tenants. Other aspects call for a large deck overlooking the Atlanta skyline, some 12,000 square feet of amenity spaces, and a parking deck with 549 spaces.

How the 1050 Brickworks project is expected to be slotted on a triangular site where West Marietta Street meets Brady Avenue. Courtesy of Sterling Bay/Asana Partners; designs, HKS

The office project would follow in the footsteps of the Seven88 West Midtown condo building in bringing a structure of considerable height to the former warehouse district. The 22-story condo tower opened in late 2020 across the railroad tracks, on the northeastern edge of English Avenue.

Within a few blocks, Allen Morris Company is planning to build a 20-story apartment tower called Stella at the Star Metals, continuing the area’s vertical residential growth. Meanwhile, along Howell Mill Road, Austin-based AC Residential Partners is marketing a 343-unit apartment building that would stand 16 stories.

Development officials have said 1050 Brickworks' construction should take roughly 24 months, meaning the building could open in late 2024.

• High-rise apartment, retail building pitched for Bankhead (Urbanize Atlanta)