The building crane, metro Atlanta’s other civic bird, is back. It fills the skies all over the region, but this time the story is different: These cranes are deliberately concentrated in areas where there are MARTA rail stations.
In Brookhaven and Chamblee, two new transit-oriented development projects are in the works. Once built, they will improve the transportation and quality-of-life experience for these communities. Situated on busy commercial and residential corridors, these transit-oriented developments (TODs) should improve vehicle flow and make it safer and more convenient to walk, bike and use public transit.
A 15-acre site, the Brookhaven MARTA station will serve a rich mix of land uses, including apartments, condos, offices, hotel, retail shops and restaurants. One station to the north, at Chamblee, a Georgia company, Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, will soon embrace the national trend of corporate relocations seeking to benefit from the convenience of transit access.
MARTA’s redevelopment of Brookhaven and Chamblee, along with the private redevelopment of the old General Motors plant across from the Doraville station, will catapult economic activity along the Gold Line.
But these developments are not limited to the north of Interstate 20, nor should they be. At the Oakland City station, a TOD aims to improve mobility and transform a community.
The MARTA rail corridor south of Five Points is ripe with development potential due to billion dollar investments, including those at Fort McPherson and Aerotropolis, an expansive mixed-use project near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest.
Oakland City is at the heart of south Atlanta’s redevelopment. Public and private partners have teamed up to redevelop dilapidated neighborhood eyesores and establish an innovation hub to attract and anchor new quality jobs for local residents, in large part due to the Atlanta BeltLine and the redevelopment of Fort McPherson. These stakeholders understand new buildings alone do not generate sustainable community growth. Developing human capital is a key component to building equitable, livable communities.
Metro Atlanta was slow to get on the TOD bandwagon, but frustration with traffic and sprawl has changed all that. What are now empty parking lots will one day become vibrant, mixed-use communities. This promising new development has the potential of changing how and where we live, work and play. That’s why it’s important to note the benefits of these million-dollar investments aren’t exclusive to the well-to-do. All projects carry a 20 percent affordability goal, one of the highest in the country, and MARTA has a track record of selecting diverse development partners.
From start to finish, MARTA has committed to an equitable TOD approach to ensure that from Brookhaven to Oakland City, the partnerships and projects we have forged provide a lasting, positive impact on each community. Where disconnected developments consumed time, taxed our infrastructure and reduced our quality of life, equitable TOD builds community, promotes inclusion and strengthens the fabric of the region.
With seven TOD projects under way and even more private-sector development near our transit stations, MARTA is helping to ignite a community-driven, 21st century approach to creating unique regional destinations in a growing metropolis.
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