COVINGTON HOUSING AUTHORITY H O U S I N G , U R B A N D E V E LO P M E N T A N D E C O LO G I C A L F R A M E W O R K S T U D Y
TABLE OF CONTENTS Ecological Framework 03 Urban Street Connectivity 05 Urban Infill Strategies 08 Housing Site Typologies 12 Development Sites 26 Recommendations 30
2 | Covington Housing Authority // Georgia Conservancy // May. 2020
ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
ECOLOGICAL LOOP The existing configuration of a city’s built and natural environments can help us identify where growth is feasible and where there might be opportunities to bring people closer to nature. In Covington, we identified two creek beds that form a natural loop around the city’s downtown core, offering opportunities for recreation, connectivity, and potential economic growth along with it.
4 | Covington Housing Authority // Georgia Conservancy // May. 2020
URBAN STREET CONNECTIVITY
STREET CONNECTIVITY Without looking at names, rights-of-way, or an existing street hierarchy, we identified major connectivity opportunities (existing or emerging) in red, prioritizing how people get to and move through downtown. Existing streets were then outlined in solid black, while potential new connections were made in dotted blue. This framework begins to stitch together the city center, helping people navigate town and get where they need to go.
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NEW URBAN NETWORK With the ecological and street connectivity layers complied together, a new robust urban network begins to emerge. Focusing housing opportunities near these major corridors and connection points will not only make progress toward housing goals, but can advance quality of life by placing people close to work, services, and attractions.
Urban Street Connectivity | 7
URBAN INFILL STRATEGIES
8 | Covington Housing Authority // Georgia Conservancy // May. 2020
INFILL OPPORTUNITIES Using existing building footprints and crossreferencing with site visits and Google Street View, we identified potential sites where adding housing through small-scale infill could be possible. We prioritized adding potential housing on vacant and underutilized lots within a halfmile radius of the Covington Square. These are not firm recommendations; rather, this demonstrates a scenario where Covington brings people and housing closer downtown to help create a vibrant, downtown district and community.
Urban Infill Strategies | 9
INFILL STRATEGY This view adds a layer of granularity to the previous map, demonstrating what the build-out of various infill sites could look like and utilizing some parcels that would otherwise be considered undevelopable. New housing could take one of several characters, including small-scale singlefamily (i.e. shotgun-style houses), divided units, or 12- to 20-unit apartment or condominium buildings. The type would depend on Covington’s housing demand and the existing conditions of each lot.
10 | Covington Housing Authority // Georgia Conservancy // May. 2020
INFILLS This sketch of a Covington street near the Square imagines existing apartments (1) next to housing infill (2) that retains the scale and Southern charm exhibited by Covington’s existing neighborhoods. In this case, second stories are added to pedestrian-facing shops.
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LEGEND 1. Existing Services 2. Housing Infill 3. Safe Pedestrian Streets 4. Street Front Shops
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3 Urban Infill Strategies | 11
HOUSING SITE TYPOLOGIES
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THREE SITE TYPOLOGIES To further illustrate different types of infill, three sites were selected for more in-depth demonstrations. These three sites differ from each other in shape, buildable space, and the nature of the lot itself.
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Housing Site Typologies | 13
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SITE OPTION I
This site, 3 blocks off the Square (1), combines two types of dwellings to create a community that’s visually interesting and offers options for different styles of living. On one end is a larger building of apartments or condominiums. This building faces downtown in order to match other multi-story buildings nearby. It horseshoes around a central courtyard, where residents are provided with communal green-space where they can gather, walk their dogs, and enjoy the company of their neighbors.
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LEGEND 1. Covington Square 2. Washington St. SW 3. Hendrick St. SW 4. Raynolds St. SW 5. Brown St. SW 6. Housings A - 70,800 SF (4 Floors)/ 50,300 SF (3 Floors) 7. Housing B - 2400 SF 8. Housing C - 3200 SF 14 | Covington Housing Authority // Georgia Conservancy // May. 2020
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SITE OPTION I
On the other end of this lot is a row of detached structures. These five structures could be singlefamily homes or they could consist of different configurations inside. The middle home in particular is larger than the others, offering an opportunity for a divided structure that houses more than one dwelling unit/family. In any of these cases, the character of the houses would reflect Covington’s southern-style architecture and provide a “stepdown” from taller buildings to neighborhood-scale homes farther from downtown.
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LEGEND
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1. Covington Square 2. Washington St. SW 3. Hendrick St. SW 4. Raynolds St. SW 5. Brown St. SW 6. Housings A - 70,800 SF (4 Floors)/ 50,300 SF (3 Floors) 7. Housing B - 2400 SF 8. Housing C - 3200 SF Housing Site Typologies | 15
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LEGEND 6. Housing A 7. Housing B 8. Housing C
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LEGEND 6. Housing A 7. Housing B 8. Housing C
Housing Site Typologies | 17
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SITE OPTION II
This site takes advantage of a block that is halfbuilt. Currently, the lot is shared by pedestrianfacing shops, an office building, and a converted single-family home that is now a law office. Additionally, it is only one block from the Square. Providing housing this close to shops, restaurants, and governmental services could benefit the community economically and socially by reducing the distance between residents and the center of town.
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LEGEND 1. Covington Square 2. Floyd St. NE 3. Pace St. 4. Usher St. NE 5. Elm St. NE 6. Potential Housing 17,500 SF
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SITE OPTION II
One infill strategy for this site could be to build a small building of apartments or condominiums on the remaining portion of the lot. This building, as pictured, could be at scale with the buildings that surround it. Its “L” shape provides a couple of advantages. First, this would allow the building’s residents to interact directly with the street and the establishments that are located along it. Second, the “L” would provide space for a courtyard at the interior of the square block, allowing for multiple points of access and providing a central courtyard for residents to enjoy.
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LEGEND 1. Covington Square 2. Floyd St. NE 3. Pace St. 4. Usher St. NE 5. Elm St. NE 6. Potential Housing 17,500 SF
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Housing Site Typologies | 19
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LEGEND 6. Potential Housing
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LEGEND 6. Potential Housing
Housing Site Typologies | 21
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SITE OPTION III
Certainly the most unique of the sites pictured here, this site takes advantage of the dried creek bed that runs through its middle. Six buildings of similar height and character are proposed, allowing full coverage of the site’s unique shape while preserving the Indian Creek’s former channel. This also creates common space in and around the dried creek bed, offering opportunities for enjoyment of the ravine, spaces for social gathering, and an enjoyable landscape scene.
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LEGEND 1. Highway 81 2. Potential Housing 82,000 SF 3. Dried Indian Creek 4. Access
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SITE OPTION III
This site, though a little farther from downtown, still offers the opportunity for connectivity to services. It is next door to City Hall (one block south) and very close to Newton Plaza’s shopping establishments. A retail node could be established here, with shops on the first floor of buildings that front existing streets. Lastly, the Cricket Frog Trail could be extended along the northern border of this site, allowing convenient pedestrian and bicycle access downtown and beyond.
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LEGEND
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1. Highway 81 2. Potential Housing 82,000 SF 3. Dried Indian Creek 4. Access
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Housing Site Typologies | 23
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LEGEND 2. Potential Housing 3. Dried Indian Creek
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LEGEND 2. Potential Housing 3. Dried Indian Creek
Housing Site Typologies | 25
DEVELOPMENT SITES
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DOWNTOWN COVINGTON
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LEGEND 1. Clark St SW 2. Fowler Alley SW 3. Highway 81 4. Dried Indian Creek 0
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Development Sites | 27
FORMER SCHOOL SITE
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LEGEND 1. Highway 278 2. Homer Sharp Stadium 3. William St NE 4. Re-purposed Buildings 0
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Development Sites | 28
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OXFORD SITE
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LEGEND 1. Highway 81 2. Dried Indian Creek
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Development Sites | 29
RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 01 Overall, when planning for new housing in a
community, we recommend identifying opportunities for infill that are connected to services. This includes a variety of connection types, including pedestrian and vehicular. Recommendation 02 When adding housing close to services, it is important
for that housing to help people interact with the street. This encourages people to take advantage of the community just outside their door, adding economic value to the city and supporting community institutions and quality of life. Recommendation 03 When designing projects, it is important to think
creatively and hold developers accountable for this creativity. Singlefamily homes, condominiums, and other types of housing (duplexes, guest houses, etc.) can maintain and strengthen community character if designed with character in mind.
Recommendation 04 When identifying new parcels for potential
development, do not ignore parcels that would seem “undevelopable� at first glance because they could provide unique opportunities for infill, stormwater management and density close to services.
30 | Covington Housing Authority // Georgia Conservancy // May. 2020
COVINGTON HOUSING AUTHORITY H O U S I N G , U R B A N D E V E LO P M E N T A N D E C O LO G I C A L F R A M E W O R K S T U D Y