Decatur’s commission recently authorized an application to the Atlanta Regional Commission for developing a Livable Center Initiative Study of the East Lake MARTA Station. The study will be executed in partnership with city of Atlanta and MARTA.
Originally opened in the late 1970s, East Lake is currently the second most under utilized MARTA station in metro Atlanta — Vine City is first — in ridership and parking. An LCI Study would examine ways to develop a portion of the property, likely some style of mixed-use similar to the Avondale MARTA project scheduled to break ground later this year.
The East Lake MARTA property is a circle of eight acres or a one-half mile radius. The actual station is in Decatur, but half the property resides in Atlanta.
Daily entries average 1,101 at East Lake, compared to 5,388 at the Avondale MARTA, and 4,466 at the downtown Decatur station. There are 621 parking spaces at East Lake, with an average 39 percent used daily compared to 62 percent at Avondale.
Estimated costs for the study are $125,000, and if approved the grant would pay 80 percent of that. The final study would be due the city in July 2018.
