A new development, featuring housing affordability, is now open at the Edgewood-Candler Park MARTA Station. Previously, the Invest Atlanta Board approved $45 million in lease-purchase bonds to convert an underused parking lot into affordable housing along Atlanta’s transit lines – a key component of the city’s economic mobility strategy.

Columbia Ventures LLC constructed the mixed-use residential and retail development on 1.99 acres of existing excess parking on the south side of the Edgewood-Candler Park MARTA Station. The development contains 208 residential units, 53 of which are workforce housing units affordable to households earning 80% area medium income.

In addition to the residential development, there is a two-level parking deck, a shared central common area featuring .55 acres of green space, as well as a 7,000-square-foot commercial building.

As part of this development, Columbia Ventures also constructed a 22,000-square-foot performing arts and administrative building for a youth-focused nonprofit financed by New Market Tax Credits.

According to Dawn Arnold, executive vice president and COO of Invest Atlanta, this project helps to fulfill an urgent and important need for housing affordability with convenient access to essential services and activities to minimize household cost burdens. “I’m proud to be adding more affordable housing units and complement development efforts occurring in Edgewood Park and the surrounding community,” says Arnold. “Transit-oriented development like Edgewood-Candler Park Station and similarly at the King Memorial Station helps to drive investment while decreasing a family's spend, allowing them to focus on other needs.”