First look: Massive project moves forward on Westside Beltline

Josh Green

Thu, 11/21/2024 – 08:12

Ambitious redevelopment plans are coming into clearer focus for a warehouse district that fronts a significant portion of under-construction Beltline trail on Atlanta’s Westside.

The Allen Morris Company, a Florida-based real estate firm with a growing Atlanta presence, has completed the rezoning phase for a 15.5-acre site in Bankhead the company says could become a “new nexus point for the Westside.”

Allen Morris, which bought the 1060 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway property for $31 million in 2022, has provided new renderings that detail how the future Beltline-adjacent district would look and function, as drawn by Miami-based Royal Byckovas architecture firm.

The site includes four developable parcels overall, all situated just east of the Maddox Park greenspace, MARTA’s Bankhead station, and Microsoft’s ballyhooed but postponed 90-acre Westside campus development.

The scope of redevelopment could be massive, with up to 1,600 residential units and 700,000 square feet of commercial space in Allen Morris’ eventual plans. That would include the adaptive-reuse reimagining of a 60,000-square-foot warehouse into a Beltline-fronting town center, project officials said this week. (Renderings also depict an observation tower with “Ironside” branding, standing over the site.)

Full scope of plans for the 15.5-acre parcel at 1060 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Royal Byckovas; courtesy of The Allen Morris Company

The first phase of construction will focus on remaking the warehouse into a retail hub with a market, bars, and food and beverage options. Other facets nearby will include pickleball courts, public greenspaces, and bike paths on the property, per Allen Morris officials.

On the residential front, the initial phase will see between 100 and 150 for-sale townhomes erected on a 5.5-acre section of the property next to the Beltline. Allen Morris officials are currently in talks with several homebuilders for potential partnerships on that facet of the development.

But the bulk of living options would come in several multifamily buildings with ground-floor retail planned to rise around the town center portion in future phases.

First look at designs for tiered seating along the Beltline’s Westside Trail Segment 4, which is scheduled to open next year. Royal Byckovas; courtesy of The Allen Morris Company

Royal Byckovas; courtesy of The Allen Morris Company

Spence Morris, Allen Morris president, said the company’s revised development plan and sequence for the project will initially be geared toward creating “a lush connection point and promenade from the Westside Beltline into the retail-activated adaptive-reuse phase,” according to a statement provided to Urbanize Atlanta.

We’ve asked Allen Morris reps for details on construction timelines and the inclusion of affordable housing in Bankhead, and we’ll update this story with any additional information that comes.

All aspects of residential development “will comply with Beltline overlay inclusionary zoning,” notes a statement. That requires developers to provide either 15 percent of a project’s housing units for households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, or 10 percent for residents making 60 percent AMI or less.

Much of the Donald Lee Hollowell property is vacant today, with the exception of a nonprofit facility and community organization called Village Skatepark ATL. According to the skatepark’s website, it’s conducting a 2024 fundraiser to help secure a new building and permanent location.

Royal Byckovas; courtesy of The Allen Morris Company

The linear site in question along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Brock Built’s Ten29 West townhome project is seen at left, as construction began a few years ago. Courtesy of Allen Morris Company

Allen Morris, a national developer, is actively planning the final phases of its growing Star Metals District about two miles east of the Bankhead site. Elsewhere in Atlanta, the company opened the Bryn House project in North Druid Hills about a year ago.

Alongside the Bankhead site, the full 5.6-mile Westside Trail’s completion could come in a few months, apart from a small gap in West End that’s seeking designers and engineers now.

The trail’s largest remaining gap—a 1.3-mile section between Bankhead and Historic Westin Heights, down to the western edge of Washington Park—remains mostly under construction now. Beltline leaders say that piece, Segment 4, is on pace to open in the second quarter of next year. It will include a direct (and relatively flat) link into downtown via the Westside Beltline Connector trail.

Allen Morris’ plans aren’t the only major Westside housing news to emerge this week.

Roughly a mile away, Beltline leaders detailed plans this week for creating up to 1,100 residences (nearly 1/3 reserved as affordable housing) and a much smaller amount of commercial space (5,000 square feet) at the largest developable site the agency owns: a 31-acre parcel at 425 Chappell Road, also in Bankhead.

Beltline officials told the AJC the $270-million project could officially be seeking development partners by next summer and be fully built and open by 2030, pending rezoning and a Development of Regional Impact evaluation that was recently set into motion.

Head up to the gallery for more 1060 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway context and imagery.

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