MARTA has selected a New York company to build a residential and commercial development at Bankhead station near the proposed Microsoft campus in Atlanta.
The MARTA Board of Directors Thursday authorized the agency to negotiate with Peebles Corporation for construction of a mixed-use development at the west Atlanta transit station. The project includes 495 multi-family housing units, with 148 of them set aside as affordable units for low-income residents. It also includes office, workshare and retail space, plus a hotel and more than an acre of open space.
The Bankhead station is adjacent to the proposed 90-acre Microsoft campus that is expected to bring thousands of jobs to Atlanta in coming years.
“Bankhead Station is in a part of Atlanta that is undergoing significant growth and land use changes,” MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood said in a statement released after the board vote. He called the development “an incredible opportunity to provide affordable housing and other community amenities convenient to transit.”
Peebles is one of the largest minority-owned real estate development firms in the country. The company will lead a joint venture that also includes co-developer Exact Capital of New York and local firms Third & Urban and Bolster Real Estate Partners.
They will develop a 5.5-acre site on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. In addition to the Microsoft campus, the station is near the Atlanta Beltline Westside Trail and the Proctor Creek Greenway.
Credit: Courtesy of MARTA
Credit: Courtesy of MARTA
MARTA is also renovating the Bankhead station at the end of its green line. Last year the General Assembly pitched in $6 million for the $50 million renovation.
The Bankhead project is the latest “transit-oriented development” around a MARTA station. The agency is converting parking lots and other property around its stations to residential and commercial space. The idea is to generate lease revenue and create future customers who will use its transit service.
MARTA has had success with such developments at its Avondale, Chamblee and Lindbergh stations. It recently completed a new phase of its Edgewood/Candler Park development, and it dedicated a new development at King Memorial station in May.
Earlier this month, it announced it’s seeking a new developer for its proposed Arts Center development in Midtown.
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