Affordable Housing Comes to Downtown Atlanta; BeltLine Streetcar Route Expansion; Rivian Halts Construction Project

Workforce Apartments Set to Redevelop Vacant Lot Near City Hall

Urban dwellers longing for improvement to the vacant grassy lot downtown across the street from Atlanta City Hall are celebrating good news this week. The long-standing plans for developing 200 workforce apartments on this site appear to be back on track. Trinity Central Flats, the project proposed for this site, has now secured 4% in low-income housing tax credits via the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, amounting to $50 million in funding, which constitutes a significant portion of the project’s total cost of $72 million.

Radiant Development Partners and the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Development Corporation were chosen over two years ago to lead this project, which envisions 10 storeys containing 218 apartments, both affordable and market-rate. The development also includes 7,500 square feet of retail space along Central Avenue. The Department of City Planning esteems this site for its convenience with respect to transportation and walkability options for residents.

A Step Forward for Atlanta Streetcar and BeltLine

It has been a year since MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) planning committee greenlighted the expansion of Atlanta Streetcar into the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail and PCM (Ponce City Market). Now, the agency has developed a preliminary land-acquisition blueprint to facilitate the project.

The extension of the streetcar along Edgewood Avenue, Randolph Street, Auburn Avenue, and Irwin Street will incorporate the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail and will connect to Ponce City Market. MARTA anticipates breaking ground next year and commencing streetcar extension operations for passengers by 2028.

Rivian Construction Project Stalled

In a potential blow to developers hoping to sell properties in the vicinity of the future Rivian EV factory, the California-based automaker has decided to hit the pause button on its $5 billion construction project to the east of Atlanta. The 2,000-acre site had already undergone significant groundwork. Despite the hold on the project, Rivian claims the initiative for Georgia is still “extremely important”. The hold places 7,500 potential jobs, with average salaries of $56,000, on indefinite hiatus. Rivian’s priority now rests with producing their upcoming R2 crossover model at their Illinois plant by 2026.

However, state officials intend to turn the situation into an opportunity, as the previously cleared mega site still holds allure for potential future business partners looking to set their operation.