The Atlanta Beltline paid more than $13 million to acquire a piece of vacant land to create new housing and workplace options near one of the Southside’s premier projects.
The organization in charge of the 22-mile loop of trails announced recently it purchased 13.7 acres next to Pittsburgh Yards, a business and community hub along the Beltline’s Southside Trail. Beltline officials said the parcel, located at 356 University Avenue, is prime property for new housing and commercial development, with a focus on offering affordable rental prices.
The purchase is the latest land acquisition for the Beltline, which has increased its role as a property manager and affordable development curator as its multi-use trail loop gets closer to completion. The organization has tripled its land holdings since 2020, mostly scooping up property in disinvested corners of Atlanta under the threat of gentrification.
“Purchasing this parcel is another step that the Atlanta Beltline is taking in our focus on righting historic wrongs that have left residents and communities behind in the face of city-wide growth,” Clyde Higgs, the CEO of the Beltline, said in a news release.
The Beltline purchased the property through a loan from SouthState Bank.
The land was sold by AECF Atlanta Realty, a subsidiary of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is the nonprofit behind Pittsburgh Yards. Once an abandoned trucking terminal, the mixed-use development opened in 2021 and now hosts more than 100 offices, a handful of apartments and community gathering spaces.
Credit: Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com
Credit: Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com
Roughly three miles south of downtown Atlanta, Pittsburgh is a historic neighborhood that has endured generations of underinvestment. The neighborhood saw a wave of real estate speculation in the run up to the Great Recession, fueled by easy credit, and at times, fraud. A devastating wave of foreclosures followed, which set back the neighborhood for years.
Since that time, investors have scooped up properties again. Over the past five years, the average price of homes in the area has increased 163%, from about $102,000 in July 2018 to more than $269,000 last month, according to Zillow, threatening to displace long-time residents.
The Casey Foundation will remain a stakeholder in the development vision for the Beltline’s newly acquired land. The foundation is also marketing five additional acres of pad sites next to Pittsburgh Yards for complementary development.
“Pittsburgh Yards is ultimately going to serve as the heart of this community,” Re’Nauta Bell, who was the office tenant advisor with Cushman & Wakefield tasked with marking the pad sites, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this year. She has since left to join National Land Realty but remains involved with the Pittsburgh Yards project.
Credit: Atlanta Beltline, Inc.
Credit: Atlanta Beltline, Inc.
The project near Pittsburgh Yards, which will begin collecting community feedback in the coming months, will join several other developments underway south of I-20, including the 20-acre Murphy Crossing site along the Westside Trail.
Following community engagement sessions, the Beltline will issue a request for proposals to select development partners.
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