Decatur begins master planning for East Lake MARTA station
Decatur has hired Tunnell, Spangler and Walsh to provide master planning services for the East Lake MARTA station supplemental study.
A grant awarded last year by the Atlanta Regional Commission pays 80 percent or $100,000 of the $125,000 study. The remaining 20 percent gets split three ways among project partners: city of Decatur, city of Atlanta and MARTA. Decatur’s anticipated cost is $8,335.
In documents provided to the city, TSW anticipates a nine-months planning duration, meaning the process should finish next March.
The study will examine ways to develop a portion of the property, likely some style of mixed-used similar to E.co East, the Avondale MARTA project that broke ground in December. E.co East’s first phase, slated to finish in late fall, 2018, features 378 market rate apartments, 92 affordable senior apartments and 22,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space covering 7.7 acres.
East Lake, which opened in the late 1970s, is the second most under-utilized MARTA station in metro Atlanta, both in ridership and parking. The property is a circle of eight acres or a one-half mile radius, with the actual station in Decatur while half the property is in Atlanta.
