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West of downtown Atlanta, affordable housing community debuts Josh Green Mon, 12/30/2024 - 13:09 West of downtown Atlanta, near the intersection of interstates 285 and 20, a residential project has officially opened that helps address the city’s need for affordable senior living options, according to project leaders.  

Three-story Juanita H. Gardner Village consists of 108 apartments for residents age 55 and older at 3650 Bakers Ferry Road, just outside the I-285 loop near Cascade Family Skating.

The project was named for Juanita H. Gardner, a lifelong public servant, educator, and leader in the Adamsville community where the senior housing complex is located.

Overview of the 108-unit, three-story complex. Courtesy of Atlanta Housing

The $26.7 million Atlanta Housing project features perks such as fitness and business centers, laundry facilities, elevators, and easy access to three MARTA bus lines (73, 165, and 856).  

All units are being offered for rent at rates capped at 60 percent of the area median income, according to Invest Atlanta officials. Nearby retail, medical facilities, and churches are also cited as being highlights of the location.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the village project with Atlanta Housing officials and Mayor Andre Dickens was held earlier this month.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Timshel Development Group, CRN Development, Gateway Development Corporation, and Hill Tide Development are also cited as partners in the project.

The 3650 Bakers Ferry Road complex's location near the junction of interstates 20 and 285. Google Maps

The project was financed through the AH-Invest Atlanta Co-Investment Fund, Invest Atlanta tax-exempt bonds, and 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Atlanta Housing, one of the largest housing authorities in the nation, provides or facilitates affordable housing for almost 27,000 households today, or roughly 45,000 people, per agency leaders.

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3650 Bakers Ferry Road SW Juanita H. Gardner Village Atlanta Housing Invest Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens Georgia Department of Community Affairs Timshel Development Group CRN Development Gateway Development Corporation Hill Tide Development Atlanta apartments senior housing affordable senior housing Affordable Housing affordable housing Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens

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The 3650 Bakers Ferry Road complex's location near the junction of interstates 20 and 285. Google Maps

Overview of the 108-unit, three-story complex. Courtesy of Atlanta Housing

Subtitle Juanita H. Gardner Village project includes 108 units near interstates

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Images: East Atlanta development site undergoes price slice Josh Green Mon, 12/30/2024 - 11:32 The team behind a proposed single-family home development near East Atlanta Village is shedding new light on what the project could become (with discounted pricing) on currently vacant acreage.

Marketed as being in the heart of East Atlanta Village and walkable to all that entails (prepare to trek uphill), the 513 Maynard Ave. property came to market last month with Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta, asking $1.7 million. The 1.7-acre site in question is in a section of the city divided by Interstate 20 a couple of generations ago.

According to Keller Williams broker Jeni Thomas, the acreage has recently been discounted by $400,000 to $1.3 million.

Looking west across the 513 Maynard Ave. site in question, toward downtown and Midtown. Courtesy of Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta

Thomas also shed light on what development plans for the site entail—should another developer decide to take the project on.

Site plans call for a cove of eight houses tucked off Lamon Avenue. According to Thomas, each home would include four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a separate flex space or office in a hair over 2,800 square feet.

Thomas says those products, in that location, would be fetch between $850,000 and $875,000 right now.

“We have a professional feasibility test to show this,” Thomas noted via email.

Example of housing proposed in current listings for 513 Maynard Ave. Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta/FMLS

Looking southwest across the East Atlanta acreage, with I-20 at right. Courtesy of Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta

Today, the site is woods in a residential section of East Atlanta, about .7 miles from the EAV flank that includes Argosy, The Earl, and other attractions. It’s billed as being a rare new-construction opportunity for the area.

“Near immediate access” to I-20—westbound, at least—is called a highlight of the location. Ditto for proximity to everywhere from Summerhill to Cabbagetown, per listings.

In terms of Walk Score ratings, the site’s “somewhat walkable” Walk Score of 53 fares best, followed by the so-so 41 Transit Score and 36 Bike Score. Another metric called the Sound Score—calculated by the HowLoud platform—reflects the nearby interstate, coming in at a “loud” 66.

Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta/FMLS

According to listings, architectural plans, a land disturbance permit, and City of Atlanta tree recompose (essentially a fine for removing healthy trees, with funding used to plant and maintain other trees) would be included with the land sale.  

Find more context and imagery for this discounted East Atlanta land deal in the gallery above.

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513 Maynard Avenue EAV EAV project East Atlanta development Interstate 20 Walk Score Atlanta Housing Single-Family Homes single-family lots Alpha Land Services Keller Williams Realty Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta Livian Atlanta Atlanta Homes for Sale Land for Sale

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Looking west across the 513 Maynard Ave. site in question, toward downtown and Midtown. Courtesy of Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta

Courtesy of Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta

Looking southwest across the East Atlanta acreage, with I-20 at right. Courtesy of Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta

Example of housing proposed in current listings for 513 Maynard Ave. Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta/FMLS

Courtesy of Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta

Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta/FMLS

The 1.7-acre site's proximity to EAV and I-20. Google Maps

Keller Williams Realty North Atlanta/FMLS/Alpha Land Services

Subtitle Plans call for single-family nook near EAV, Interstate 20, with prices in $800Ks, per sellers

Neighborhood East Atlanta

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Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024, FINAL FOUR: Inman Park vs. Old Fourth Ward Josh Green Fri, 12/27/2024 - 15:48 As part of ongoing Best of Atlanta 2024 coverage, Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament kicked off last week with 16 places vying for the prestige of being called the city’s greatest.

Now, for each Final Four contest, voting will be open until noon Monday. Please, let’s keep the tourney fun and positive, as one neighborhood rises above the rest in very public fashion. The quest to crown a champion resumes now!

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(2) Inman Park

Recap:

2011 champ Inman Park showed Decatur the exit with a whopping 70 percent of votes in Round 1, and then bumped eastside neighbor Cabbagetown from the competition earlier this week.

Inman Park's parkside Waverly Way in 2022. Google Maps

Inarguably one of Atlanta’s most charming neighborhoods, the city’s “first planned suburb” remains a beautiful, fascinating amalgam of Victorian homes, useful greenspaces, transit/Beltline accessibility, and well-planned commercial hubs along North Highland Avenue, Krog Street, and elsewhere. For more than 50 years, Inman Park has also hosted one of the city’s best neighborhood festivals—no small feat in festival-happy ATL.

This year’s most splashy addition was the adaptive-reuse Painted Park, an expanded dining and entertainment concept borne of the old Parish space along the Eastside Trail. Elsewhere, the expansion of a 1950s complex promises to add vibrancy to Inman Park’s main commercial crossroads. Despite its attributes, Inman Park hasn’t taken the crown in one of these criteria-free contests since the very first one, 13 long years ago. Can a strong ’24 change that?  

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(3) Old Fourth Ward

Recap:

In Round 1, Old Fourth Ward escorted historic Adair Park to the door, and then edged feisty Summerhill in Elite Eight action. O4W is indeed a past champion, too—but not since 2012.  

The distinctive Forth hotel tower, at left, and Overline Residences apartments, as seen from Historic Fourth Ward Park earlier this year. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Beltline-connected Old Fourth Ward has been a hotbed of supersonic growth for what seems like ages now. As usual, O4W happenings this year were too numerous to list here, but a few highlights: Two high-rise hospitality concepts—New City’s diamond-patterned Forth hotel and the Scout Living tower over Ponce City Market—drew back their curtains in 2024, as rare for-sale condos debuted nearby at The Leon on Ponce.

Speaking of Ponce, a Complete Streets overhaul came together as an effort to improve pedestrian and bike connections between Boulevard and John Lewis Freedom Parkway. Elsewhere, the Atlanta Civic Center redo edged toward groundbreaking, and the relatively affordable evolution of Boulevard continued to rise. Nonetheless, this eastside powerhouse hasn’t claimed the (nonexistent) trophy in one of these contests for a dozen years. But could that change in ’24? 

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Best of Atlanta 2024 Best Atlanta Neighborhood Best Atlanta Neighborhoods Neighborhood Tournament Urbanize Tournament Golden Urby Chalice of Champions Final Four Inman Park Old Fourth Ward

Subtitle Who should advance to the Championship? Cast your vote now!

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Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024, FINAL FOUR: East Atlanta vs. West End Josh Green Fri, 12/27/2024 - 15:02 As part of ongoing Best of Atlanta 2024 coverage, Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament kicked off last week with 16 places vying for the prestige of being called the city’s greatest.

Now, for each Final Four contest, voting will be open until noon Monday. Please, let’s keep the tourney fun and positive, as one neighborhood rises above the rest in very public fashion. The quest to crown a champion resumes now!

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(4) East Atlanta

Recap:

East Atlanta-nah-nah-nah breezed by College Park in this tourney’s initial round. Then it banded together and edged red-hot downtown by the slimmest of margins in Elite Eight action earlier this week.

Pellerin Real Estate; designs, TSW architects

Usually a tough out in year-end neighborhood tournaments (and the overall Champion in 2016), East Atlanta garnered enough reader nominations this year to land a strong No. 4 seed. Which makes sense, given the buzz around several EAV projects this year (and what could have been the most rollicking East Atlanta Strut festival to date in September). Artist Greg Mike transformed a 1980s church in the village into a modern-gothic temple to creativity, while commendably old-school designs for mixed-use development on a small scale came to light on a vacant East Atlanta corner. Elsewhere, frequent village investors Pellerin Real Estate are bringing an infill project (see above) with dozens of new homes to a site where little more than a void in EAV’s vibrancy existed before. Not too shabby. 

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(8) West End

Recap:

Arguably the best end in town, two-time champ West End showed Poncey-Highland the door in Round 1 action, then toppled mighty Midtown (the No. 1 seed) earlier this week.

West End's Lawton Street, as shown in 2022. Google Maps

West End notched a relatively seismic year as development proposals go. The 800-pound gorilla in that room is, of course, the redevelopment of Mall West End. After three false starts, the mall’s extreme makeover appears to have finally found its footing (with city backing) to turn 12 acres of parking lots into about 900 units of mixed-income housing, 125,000 square feet of retail (with a grocery store), and much more, beginning as soon as next year. Around the corner, an eye-catching apartment proposal has emerged near West End’s MARTA stop, while a pickleball emporium and more is in the pipeline along a new (and needed) Beltline stretch now in planning. Bonus points to West End in ’24 for joyously welcoming Atlanta Streets Alive back to SW ATL—not once, but on three different occasions. 

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Best of Atlanta 2024 Best Atlanta Neighborhood Best Atlanta Neighborhoods Neighborhood Tournament Urbanize Tournament Golden Urby Chalice of Champions Final Four West End East Atlanta

Subtitle Who should advance to the Championship? Cast your vote now!

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MARTA to beef up services for 3 forthcoming, year-end events Josh Green Fri, 12/27/2024 - 13:31 MARTA officials are suggesting that ATL revelers not get behind the wheel and save money on ride-share services as a busy slate of year-end happenings approaches.

To help incentivize ridership, the transit system is planning to offer increased train service at stations throughout downtown, Buckhead, and elsewhere for three big events—the Peach Drop, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Parade and Game, and the Polar Opposite Peachtree Road Race—starting Tuesday.

In a media announcement, MARTA warns that rail station platforms are expected to be more crowded than usual, with many newbie riders trying to find their way around. But overall the transit system is “the safest, most efficient, and most affordable way to celebrate the New Year responsibly,” as MARTA officials put it.

A quick rundown:  

PEACH DROP

Tuesday, Dec. 31

The hallowed tradition of dropping a manmade, 800-pound fruit is returning to Underground Atlanta in ’24, with the first stage opening at 6 p.m. Scheduled performers include RES, Neon Trees, and legendary rapper and songwriter Big Boi.

According to MARTA, trains will run every seven minutes on the Red/Gold Lines between Lindbergh Center Station and Airport Station, and also on the Blue/Green Lines between Ashby Station and Edgewood-Candler Park Station come Tuesday.

Following the downtown party, MARTA says extra trains will go into service to accommodate revelers.

Shutterstock

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PEACH BOWL

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025

This pigskin clash will pit the No. 4 seed Arizona State Sun Devils against No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns. It’s the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s first-ever College Football Playoff Quarterfinal game—and kind of a big deal.  

To accommodate, MARTA says trains will run every seven minutes on the Red/Gold Lines between Lindbergh Center Station and Airport Station, and also on the Blue/Green Lines between Ashby Station and King Memorial Station.

After the game, expect extra trains to help move the masses.  

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POLAR OPPOSITE RACE

Saturday, Jan. 4

Starting at 8:15 a.m., this inaugural event will be just like the regular Peachtree Road Race—apart from happening in winter and in reverse, starting at Piedmont Park and finishing at Lenox Square. Up to 5,000 runners are expected.

Trains will run every seven minutes on the Red/Gold Lines between Lindbergh Center Station and Airport Station, and also on the Blue/Green Lines between Ashby Station and Candler Park Station, per MARTA. Expect extra trains after the race, too.

ALSO OF NOTE

MARTA says uniformed police and MARTA Transit Ambassadors will be posted at rail stations for assistance.

Check on parking availability here, and download the Breeze Mobile 2.0 app to pay fares with smartphones in advance and save time.

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MARTA Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Peach Drop Downtown Atlanta Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Polar Opposite Race MARTA Schedules

Subtitle Transit system called "safest, most efficient, and most affordable way to celebrate the New Year responsibly"

Neighborhood MARTA

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Meet the Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024 tourney Final Four! Josh Green Thu, 12/26/2024 - 15:56 After nearly 3,000 votes and several dramatic matches, the Elite Eight in Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tourney is officially in the books.

Which means it’s time, Atlanta, to meet your 2024 Final Four!

These four contestants are still alive in the quest to claim everlasting Best Neighborhood glory (for at least a year) as determined by the voting public—in very public fashion. The only criteria is that you vote for the place you feel is doing it right, right now.

Reader nominations determined the field of 16 contestants earlier this month.

The four left standing include typically strong contenders (West End, East Atlanta) and intown powerhouses (Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward) whose performances in recent years have left something to be desired.

But who will fully prevail this year, rising up to claim the crown? The Final Four contests will open Friday (that’s tomorrow, y’all).

Those will be followed by the Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024 Championship early next week.

Thanks again to all who’ve participated. Now, onward!

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The hallowed pantheon of Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament winners:

***2011:***Inman Park

***2012:***Old Fourth Ward

***2013:***Kirkwood

***2014:***Reynoldstown

***2015:***West End

***2016:***East Atlanta

***2017:***West End (again)

2018-2020:(forced hiatus)

2021:Mozley Park

2022:Avondale Estates

2023: Hapeville

2024: TBD

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Best of Atlanta 2024 Best Atlanta Neighborhood Best Atlanta Neighborhoods Neighborhood Tournament Urbanize Tournament Golden Urby Chalice of Champions Elite Eight West End Midtown Inman Park East Atlanta Old Fourth Ward

Subtitle Nearly 3,000 votes later, these four places are still vying for glory

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Sultry visuals preview Midtown tower set to open next year Josh Green Thu, 12/26/2024 - 13:12 Now here’s an antidote for the chilly doldrums of winter.

Renderings have recently come to our attention that depict another student-housing tower in Midtown as a collegiate Shangri-La, with rooftop pool parties, yoga classes, bustling social zones—and not a study group in sight.

The visuals by Atlanta-based Niles Bolton Associates architects aren’t exactly new, but they show in the greatest detail to date what’s in store for Rambler Atlanta, one of a half-dozen Midtown high-rises to top out in 2024 and a reflection of the subdistrict’s surging off-campus population.

According to Midtown Alliance’s recent tabulations, some 8,500 of Midtown’s current 28,000 residents are college students attending Georgia Tech, SCAD Atlanta, Emory University, Georgia State University, and other area schools.

Rambler Atlanta, the second local project by Texas developer LV Collective, rose quickly this year from a Peachtree Street corner two blocks north of the landmark Fox Theatre

Rooftop views planned for Rambler Atlanta. Niles Bolton Associates

A pool deck, fitness center, and outdoor terrace are being positioned on or near Rambler Atlanta's roof.Niles Bolton Associates

Today, the 736 Peachtree St. development, which modified its height twice before breaking ground, stands 19 stories on a former parking lot. Rambler Atlanta will count 214 apartments and 2,977 square feet of retail space, according to building permit records.

The name echoes another LV Collective project, Rambler ATX, in the developer’s home city of Austin.

Rambler's 1-acre property had long been used as surface parking bounded by Peachtree Street, 4th Street, and to the west, Cypress Street. Under construction now are student apartments offering 798 bedrooms total, with most amenities positioned on the top floor. 

The location, as developers have noted, is less than a quarter-mile from Georgia Tech buildings at Tech Square.

Niles Bolton Associates

An updated look at Peachtree Street retail plans at Rambler Atlanta's base. Niles Bolton Associates

Renderings indicate a café with outdoor dining will be recessed into the building, facing Peachtree Street, with exposed pillars and garden-like components, as opposed to glass storefronts. The building’s resident lobby and leasing office will also be placed near Peachtree, at the corner of 4th Street, according to site plans.

Building amenities will include coworking spaces and bike lockers on lower levels, with the pool deck, fitness center, and an outdoor terrace positioned on or near the roof, according to architects. 

Meanwhile, the western face along Cypress Street will see no active uses—apart from a resident entrance that will put student renters closer to Tech and shuttle routes. The rest of that façade will be used for loading and service areas, essentially forming the tower’s backside.

Elsewhere, plans call for screening a 134-space, three-level parking garage with a perforated masonry wall, a means to help hide the deck.

The Rambler building is expected to deliver in time for the fall semester in August, according to project leaders. Michael Hsu Architecture and Archie Bolden are also listed as partners.

The project will join three other student towers that delivered in Midtown in 2023 alone, with much more in the pipeline. Deliveries last year included another LV Collective venture, Whistler, the final building in SCAD Atlanta’s recent growth spurt, and Hub Atlanta.

Perspectives on the 736 Peachtree site's former condition. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

When initially presented to the Midtown Development Review Committee in 2022, LV Collective’s plans for the Peachtree site called for a building standing much taller: 37 stories with 480 apartments. That was later reduced to 29 stories and 374 units. Then in summer 2023, the height and unit count were scaled back again to the current size, though development officials haven’t provided answers as to why.

Swing up to the gallery for more Rambler Atlanta images and context—no student ID required.

Revised facade of the 736 Peachtree St. property. LV Collective; designs, Niles Bolton Associates

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736 Peachtree Street NE Rambler Atlanta New Mixed-Use Midtown Tower LV Collective Peachtree Street 4th Street Niles Bolton Associates Kimley Horn Kimley-Horn & Associates Morris Manning & Martin Mixed-Use Mixed-Use Development Atlanta Development Atlanta Construction Cypress Street Archie Bolden Michael Hsu Architecture Atlanta Student Housing Student Housing

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A pool deck, fitness center, and outdoor terrace are being positioned on or near Rambler Atlanta's roof.Niles Bolton Associates

Rooftop views planned for Rambler Atlanta. Niles Bolton Associates

An updated look at Peachtree Street retail plans at Rambler Atlanta's base. Niles Bolton Associates

Niles Bolton Associates

Niles Bolton Associates

Revised facade of the 736 Peachtree St. property. LV Collective; designs, Niles Bolton Associates

Plans for the retail arrangement fronting Peachtree Street. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

Perspectives on the 736 Peachtree site's former condition. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

Subtitle Forecast calls for pool parties over Peachtree in 2025

Neighborhood Midtown

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736 PEACHTREE STREET NE

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Here now, our top 10 most popular stories of 2024 Josh Green Thu, 12/26/2024 - 11:40 In a city and metro built on growth, there’s nary a dull year. From the boomtown that is Alpharetta and skies over Midtown to sleepy Senoia, 2024 hardly disappointed.

Closing out our fourth year of coverage, it's time to reflect on what Urbanize Atlanta readers found most interesting across the year that was. The results couldn't be more random, with topics ranging from interstate rail prospects, lofty skyscrapers, and celebrity architecture to indefatigable suburban growth. (A lot of interest in the state of Atlanta's ’burbs, this year, in fact.)

Without further ado, presented below are our most popular stories of 2024, based on overall number of reads in descending order:

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No. 10

Revisiting the awe-inspiring proposal for Atlanta's tallest building

A skyscraper taller than Bank of America Plaza, lording over Underground Atlanta? "I do think the project is still possible," the architect told us in January.

How the Union Tower building could have appeared from elevated MARTA tracks near Grant Park and Sweet Auburn. eightvillage

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No. 9

Avalon-style megaproject rebrands as groundwork barrels ahead

Proof that 1,500 proposed homes will move the needle anywhere.

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No. 8

Second metro Atlanta IKEA (sort of) on tap to open this week

August saw huge interest in this Alpharetta retail news—despite the lack of Swedish meatballs.

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No. 7

Developer sheds light on tallest Atlanta project in decades, now rising

Because 60 stories of new construction in Midtown by the Rockefeller Group can’t be boring.

A rough, in-house approximation of how the 730-foot building will stand out among other newer construction near West Peachtree Street. Urbanize Atlanta

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No. 6

Images: Centennial Yards unveils next phase for Atlanta's Gulch

The first glimpse at downtown’s new “center of gravity” as the 2026 FIFA World Cup nears.

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No. 5

Huge project pitched for town 'Walking Dead' made famous

Naysaying reader comment: “The charm of little Senoia is being butchered by developers.”

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No. 4

Outside Atlanta, 'Walking Dead' star's sweet modern estate for sale

Down in Serenbe, Norman Reedus’ Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired compound caught the eye of zombie enthusiasts in February. It’s still for sale today—but $600,000 cheaper.

Courtesy of Compass Greater Atlanta

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No. 3

Images: Suwanee is building a rather amazing new downtown park

Combine dazzling greenspace design with a buzzy city center in Georgia’s second most-populated county—and voila!

(Note: This project also had the year’s 10th most-read story, but we’re combing both here.)

A nighttime aerial over Suwanee's Town Center on Main and DeLay Nature Park.Courtesy of City of Suwanee

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No. 2

Amtrak ‘excited’ by potential of new Atlanta intercity rail hub

See, movers-and-shakers? Georgians do like trains.

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No. 1

Census: Georgia becomes rare state with 11M+ residents

Naturally, Peach State pride won the day in ’24.

United States Census Bureau

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Best of Atlanta 2024 1072 West Peachtree Serenbe Alpharetta IKEA Gwinnett County Amtrak Atlanta Skyscrapers Rockefeller Group The Rockefeller Group Norman Reedus Hall County Avalon Centennial Yards Centennial Yards Development Suwanee The Walking Dead Walking Dead Senoia Most Popular 2024 Atlanta Population Atlanta Population Growth State of Georgia

Subtitle Proof that Atlantans secretly care about the suburbs

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Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024, Elite Eight: Midtown vs. West End Josh Green Tue, 12/24/2024 - 14:35 As part of ongoing Best of Atlanta 2024 coverage, Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament kicked off last week with 16 places vying for the prestige of being called the city’s greatest.

Now, for this Elite Eight contest, voting will be open until 3 p.m. Thursday, allowing anyone to chime in who's currently traveling or enduring family. Please, let’s keep the tourney fun and positive, as one neighborhood rises above the rest in very public fashion. The quest to crown a champion resumes now!

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(1) Midtown

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

 

Like no other place right now—or across the past decade, for that matter—No. 1 seed Midtown exemplifies Atlanta’s roaring ’20s boom, as our aerial photo essays have relayed throughout the year. In just the past year, the district has packed on another 2,200 residences, as recently tabulated by Midtown Alliance. The tallest building to rise from Atlanta’s red dirt since Bill Clinton was president is currently climbing over Midtown’s West Peachtree Street. Lest we forget the leafy, stately Garden District in the shadow of glowing skyscrapers—and hands down one of the best urban parks in America.

Nonetheless, Midtown has a spotty track record in Neighborhood of the Year brackets, including a Round 1 knockout against 13-seed Adair Park in 2021 action. Surprisingly, Midtown has never won the non-existent trophy in these contests, either. Here’s a rundown of just a fraction of what’s happening in Midtown these days. But it begs the eternal question: Does all this activity make for the best actual neighborhood around? We'll see. 

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(8) West End

The most recent proposed redevelopment of parking lots at Oak and Dunn streets. Prusik Group/BRP Companies; One West End

As the only two-time Neighborhood of the Year champion in Atlanta history, West End notched a relatively seismic year as major development proposals go. The 800-pound gorilla in that room is, of course, the redevelopment of Mall West End. After three false starts, the mall’s extreme makeover appears to have finally found its footing (with city backing) to turn 12 acres of parking lots into about 900 units of mixed-income housing, 125,000 square feet of retail (with a grocery store), and much more, beginning as soon as next year.

Just around the corner, an eye-catching apartment proposal has emerged near West End’s MARTA stop, while a pickleball emporium and more is in the pipeline along a new (and needed) Beltline stretch now in planning. Bonus points to West End in ’24 for joyously welcoming Atlanta Streets Alive back to SW ATL—not once, but on three different occasions.

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Best of Atlanta 2024 Best Atlanta Neighborhood Best Atlanta Neighborhoods Neighborhood Tournament Urbanize Tournament Golden Urby Chalice of Champions Elite Eight West End Midtown

Subtitle Who should advance to the Final Four? Cast your vote now!

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Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024, Elite Eight: Inman Park vs. Cabbagetown Josh Green Tue, 12/24/2024 - 12:42 As part of ongoing Best of Atlanta 2024 coverage, Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament kicked off last week with 16 places vying for the prestige of being called the city’s greatest.

Now, for this Elite Eight contest, voting will be open until 3 p.m. Thursday, allowing anyone to chime in who's currently traveling or enduring family. Please, let’s keep the tourney fun and positive, as one neighborhood rises above the rest in very public fashion. The quest to crown a champion resumes now!

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(2) Inman Park

Courtesy of Painted Hospitality

Inarguably one of Atlanta’s most charming neighborhoods, the city’s “first planned suburb” remains a beautiful, fascinating amalgam of Victorian homes, useful greenspaces, transit/Beltline accessibility, and well-planned commercial hubs along North Highland Avenue, Krog Street, and elsewhere. For more than 50 years, Inman Park has also hosted one of the city’s best neighborhood festivals—no small feat in festival-happy ATL.

This year’s most splashy addition was the adaptive-reuse Painted Park, an expanded dining and entertainment concept borne of the old Parish space along the Eastside Trail. Elsewhere, the expansion of a 1950s complex promises to add vibrancy to Inman Park’s main commercial crossroads. Despite its attributes, Inman Park hasn’t taken the crown in one of these criteria-free contests since the very first one, way back in 2011. Can a strong ’24 change that?  

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(7) Cabbagetown

A typically quaint Cabbagetown street. Google Maps

As proven in its decisive Round 1 triumph over mighty Buckhead, Cabbagetown’s diminutive size shouldn’t be underestimated, because its sense of pride is so enormous. On the sensible urban-planning front, this year saw a two-way, protected cycle track added through Cabbagetown that provides a better connection to both the Beltline’s Eastside Trail and west toward downtown.

Otherwise, apart from infrastructure fixes in the Krog Street Tunnel, major changes in Cabbagetown were as few and far between as actual homes for sale. (Precisely two C-town houses are on the market right now, both of them priced north of $730,000.) That speaks to the charming neighborhood’s cachet—and locals’ unwillingness to leave.

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Best of Atlanta 2024 Best Atlanta Neighborhood Best Atlanta Neighborhoods Neighborhood Tournament Urbanize Tournament Golden Urby Chalice of Champions Elite Eight Inman Park Cabbagetown

Subtitle Who should advance to the Final Four? Cast your vote now!

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Hallelujah! As year ends, almost all Beltline is under construction or open Josh Green Tue, 12/24/2024 - 11:02 For anyone who’s been patronizing the Atlanta Beltline, reporting on it, or just generally following along for the past decade and a half (hand raised), a year-end statistic that’s being promoted by the Atlanta Beltline Partnership could be both shocking and deeply satisfying: 

Right now, 85 percent of the Beltline’s mainline trail—that storied 22-mile loop—is either open to the public or actively under construction.

Beltline leaders were saying as far back as fall 2023, if not earlier, those progress statistics would be reality come the end of 2024. They were correct, at least by their own estimates.

How’d this come to be?

Like every year from the pandemic on, the Beltline opened key sections of trail in 2024, such as almost half of Westside Trail Segment 4 and the immediate hit among walkers, joggers, and cyclists that was the Northeast Trail’s full connection through Piedmont Park.

The latest Beltline Northeast Trail section to open, in relation to Piedmont Park's dog park. Photo by LoKnows Drones; courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Meanwhile, significant groundbreakings in 2024 included the first Beltline segment between Lindbergh and Peachtree Street (with a sweet suspension bridge) and the Southside Trail’s final, nearly 2-mile section to see construction. The latter will be a crucial link between eastern and western sections of the city south of Interstate 20.

Looking ahead to the new year, 2025 is scheduled to see:

• The full opening of Westside Trail Segment 4 (springtime);
• The debut of Southside Trail Segments 4 and 5 between Glenwood Park/Grant Park and Boulevard (sometime next fall—delayed by “underground utility challenges”);
• Opening of Northwest Trail Segment 5, a .7-mile section extending toward Buckhead from Marietta Boulevard and Huff Road (next fall);
• Groundbreaking for the proposed “jewel” that Westview’s versatile, 8-acre Enota Park project could become (first quarter 2025).

What else, dear Atlantans, are you looking forward to as the calendar flips to a fresh year?

Progress on the 22-mile, multipurpose trail corridor and related projects as of November. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

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• Before/after: Atlanta BeltLine's famous Eastside Trail turns 10 (Urbanize Atlanta)

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Progress on the 22-mile, multipurpose trail corridor and related projects as of November. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

Subtitle Just 15 percent of Beltline loop remains idle as 2025 nears, project leaders report

Neighborhood BeltLine

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Best Atlanta Neighborhood 2024, Elite Eight: Summerhill vs. Old Fourth Ward Josh Green Mon, 12/23/2024 - 16:53 As part of ongoing Best of Atlanta 2024 coverage, Urbanize’s fourth-annual Best Atlanta Neighborhood tournament kicked off last week with 16 places vying for the prestige of being called the city’s greatest.

Now, for this Elite Eight contest, voting will be open for just 24 hours. Please, let’s keep the tourney fun and positive, as one neighborhood rises above the rest in very public fashion. The quest to crown a champion resumes now!

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(3) Old Fourth Ward

Forth Atlanta's 2,300-square-foot outdoor pool deck (shown at bottom) offers lounge seating and cabanas for club members and hotel guests.

Beltline-connected Old Fourth Ward has been a hotbed of supersonic growth for what seems like ages now. As usual, O4W happenings this year were too numerous to list here, but a few highlights: Two high-rise hospitality concepts—New City’s diamond-patterned Forth hotel and the Scout Living tower over Ponce City Market—drew back their curtains in 2024, as rare for-sale condos debuted nearby at The Leon on Ponce. Speaking of Ponce, a Complete Streets overhaul came together as an effort to improve pedestrian and bike connections between Boulevard and John Lewis Freedom Parkway. Elsewhere, the Atlanta Civic Center redo edged toward groundbreaking, and the relatively affordable evolution of Boulevard continued to rise. Nonetheless, this eastside powerhouse hasn’t claimed the (nonexistent) trophy in one of these contests for a dozen years. But could that change in ’24?

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(6) Summerhill

Wes Cummings, RealKit Photography; courtesy of Keller Williams Intown Atlanta

Another year, another slate of big changes in historic, evolving Summerhill. Most notably, MARTA’s first new transit line in more than two decades—a five-mile bus-rapid transit route actually named for the neighborhood, MARTA Rapid Summerhill—has made progress in fundamentally noticeable ways throughout 2024, with a goal of welcoming its first passengers next year. Elsewhere, Georgia State University’s planned baseball and softball complex got its ducks in a row this year, where Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium once stood, as another area landmark, the former Ramada Plaza tower, was green-lighted to become affordable senior housing. Meanwhile, the densification of Georgia Avenue continued with 10 stylish townhomes on a previously vacant corner, as other townhome product broke ground on a former church lot. Business as usual in neighborly old Summerhill.

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Best of Atlanta 2024 Best Atlanta Neighborhood Best Atlanta Neighborhoods Neighborhood Tournament Mozley Park Summerhill Avondale Estates Hapeville Golden Urby Chalice of Champions Elite Eight Old Fourth Ward

Subtitle Who should advance to the Final Four? Cast your vote now!

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