Stella at Star Metals opens opulent apartments in West Midtown

The district’s three buildings include the Sentral West Midtown apartments and the Star Metals offices. The latter is 98% leased despite opening after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the office market, and it is anchored by daily fantasy sports giant PrizePicks’ penthouse headquarters.

Morris said each building is meant to iterate on the last and create its own identity. He said they’re designed to feel like cousins, not siblings.

“We’re trying to build a neighborhood here,” he said. “We have a vested interest in making all the components work together harmoniously.”

Stella’s ruse as a hotel begins in the lobby.

Cushy seats, a backlit bookshelf and a plethora of potted plants invite residents and their guests to settle into a cozy corner. One side of the reception desk leads to future Italian restaurant and wine bar Füm, while the other side is a winding metal staircase forged by a West Atlanta metalworker.

The leasing office, a requirement within apartment buildings, is nowhere to be seen. It’s on the mezzanine level atop the staircase hidden from view.

“If you’re coming into a wine bar to hang out and there’s a leasing office next to it, that doesn’t feel very fun,” Morris said.

Another apartment staple, the mail room, is also incorporated in unorthodox fashion — at the bottom of the staircase and into a wood-furnished gathering space.

Other spots throughout Stella mirror the lavish trappings of high-end hospitality.

The infinity pool’s cushioned beds and umbrellas resembles those found in a resort. A rentable screen room for movies and watch parties is enrobed in velvet. Residents will be able to order room service from the building’s restaurants and bars. A cocktail lounge with memberships, called Rabbit Ears, is set to open next month on the 17th floor.

Each apartment’s main door is literally a hotel door, using the same frame as the Kimpton Shane Hotel in Midtown, which Allen Morris Co. helped develop.

The building’s 327 apartments are split into studios (starting at $1,900 per month), one-bedroom units (starting at $2,400) and two-bedroom apartments (starting at $4,200). The top floors, roughly a fourth of the apartments on offer, are penthouses at “significantly higher” rents.

With Stella nearly complete, Allen Morris Co.’s attention shifts to the next phases of Star Metals.

Three more buildings are in the works, including the tallest tower outside of Buckhead, Midtown and downtown Atlanta. The buildings’ specifics are still being designed, but they’ll likely include about 800 more residential units, 100,000 square feet of retail space, 200 hotel rooms and public green space.

Early stage renderings show the buildings overflowing with foliage, which drapes down over balconies and overhangs. Stella and Star Metals offices also feature green roofs.

“It’s how greenery engages with the built world in this natural way,” Morris said.

Other than a new location for popular Atlanta restaurant Ladybird, construction on the next phases likely won’t begin until next year. Morris said the district could eventually span 12 acres and include nine buildings.

“We want to bring in much more greenery. We want to bring in the best restaurants and the best architecture,” he said. “We want to create a small neighborhood of just the coolest things.”