O4W residents raise concerns over Highland, Boulevard project By Dyana Bagby Traffic and amount of parking space are the top concerns raised by residents living near a planned apartment complex and grocery store at the busy intersection of Boulevard NE and Highland Avenue in Old Fourth Ward. At a recent meeting of Fourth Ward Neighbors, community members met virtually with representatives of Atlanta’s Fuqua Development and Northwood Ravin, based out of Charlotte, N.C. The two real estate companies have teamed up to redevelop about three acres adjacent to the popular Freedom Barkway dog park. The area is notorious for heavy traffic as motorists travel along Highland Avenue and Boulevard to get on the Downtown Connector. Both are also major corridors
that cut north-south and east-west through Old Fourth Ward. Adding hundreds of apartments and more retail will clog the streets, said members of the group. “How are you going to minimize sort of what I call the traffic chaos?” Fourth Ward Neighbors President Tom Boyle asked. A traffic study would be done after the rezoning application is approved, said Julie Sellers, attorney for the developers. Building new sidewalks on Highland Avenue as part of the development would improve connectivity and create a more pedestrian-friendly environment, she said. The property, with just Desperate Housewares vintage furniture store and house on it, is prime real estate as development continues to emanate from nearby Ponce City Market and the Atlanta
Beltline’s booming Eastside Trail. The project would include about 53,000 square feet of commercial space. An unnamed grocery store is planned as part of the project. The number of apartments is now closer to 285 or 290 rather than 301 as depicted in an earlier site plan. Parking has also been reduced from more than 700 spaces for residential and retail to about 600. The parking would be surrounded by the apartment building. The number of spaces proposed is higher than what city code requires, but is the number needed to “find the right balance” to accommodate retail and residential, Sellers said. “This is certainly an urban mixed-use community that does not have surface parking lot,” Sellers said.
One resident who lives near the planned project described this area as one of the most “walkable, bikeable and transit-friendly parts of the city.” Hundreds of parking spaces would prohibit Old Fourth Ward’s vision of becoming a neighborhood less reliant on cars, he said. Another person pointed out Krog Street Market had fewer than 80 parking spaces. One person suggested the developers revise its plans for a large grocer that needs more than 100 parking spaces to a bodega or Savi Prosions market that would need fewer than 20 spaces. Sellers said besides a grocery store, the project would include neighborhoodscale retail like those at Madison Yards on Memorial Drive, another Fuqua development.
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