Beltline Update - New Routes, Rezoning, Design Committee, Housing, etc (Atlanta: 2013, construction)

[tikigod311]

Just finished checking out the fourth Quarterly Briefing for the Atlanta Beltline. They went over the project as a whole - transit, trails, jobs programs, affordable housing, art, health classes, etc. Very exciting to see an overview of the project as a whole, it is huge. It's impact is massive, and it will continue to get larger.

I missed the first portion of the meeting, but when I came in they were talking about reevaluating the routes for streetcars. Over the course of their community meetings and research they noticed that there may be areas better served by streetcars. This is referring more to the future lines that are off the Beltline ROW. They are looking at a route/routes to better serve the AUC. More info to come.

They are actively working with the city to re-zone around the Beltline sub-areas and they already have three of the ten complete. Expected that a further three sub-areas will be rezoned within 6-12 months. This is being done to prevent exactly what happened in Glenwood Park with our good friend Mr. Fuqua. Much of the property along the Beltline is industrial, which leads to very liberal uses. Very happy they are prioritizing this.

The Mayor a couple months ago directed the Atlanta Beltline to look into forming a design committee. The idea here is to help direct developments in the Beltline sub-areas. It is modeled directly after the Midtown Alliance. As I understand it, there are no design standards, per se, but they will direct willing developers in design features and especially connectivity to the trail. They stated they are receiving calls every week from developers asking for the Beltline's input, this would be a formal way to do that. This is a big deal considering that the Beltline sub-areas cover about 20% of the city.

They have done some further number crunching on some prior statistics and figured that from 2006 - 2013, there has been 2.4 Billion dollars in private investment around the Eastside trail. The bulk of this has been in the past five years during the recession. Total investment from the Beltline = 350-400 million dollars. I know these are stats and I know what you can do with stats, but those are some impressive numbers.

They are actively working with a couple of groups from around the country to come up with a concrete model for affordable housing. Expect more info in around 6 months. They did mention turning a very cool former railroad freight building at the old state farmers market into affordable housing, but that is not set in stone.

Speaking of the farmers market, the Beltline now owns the property. They are planning on putting in some pop-up shops at a future date. They also said to expect a retail location for the urban garden across the street.


I'm not covering everything here, but there was a lot mentioned at the meeting. Exciting stuff, the impact isabsolutely massive. This is what defines Atlanta's future. It is going to make a place I love exponentially better through art, connectivity, smart development, and (hopefully) the upward movement of many of Atlanta's citizens. This is much more than just streetcars.

[Ray Ciss]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Just finished checking out the fourth Quarterly Briefing for the Atlanta Beltline. They went over the project as a whole - transit, trails, jobs programs, affordable housing, art, health classes, etc. Very exciting to see an overview of the project as a whole, it is huge. It's impact is massive, and it will continue to get larger.

I missed the first portion of the meeting, but when I came in they were talking about reevaluating the routes for streetcars. Over the course of their community meetings and research they noticed that there may be areas better served by streetcars. This is referring more to the future lines that are off the Beltline ROW. They are looking at a route/routes to better serve the AUC. More info to come.

They are actively working with the city to re-zone around the Beltline sub-areas and they already have three of the ten complete. Expected that a further three sub-areas will be rezoned within 6-12 months. This is being done to prevent exactly what happened in Glenwood Park with our good friend Mr. Fuqua. Much of the property along the Beltline is industrial, which leads to very liberal uses. Very happy they are prioritizing this.

The Mayor a couple months ago directed the Atlanta Beltline to look into forming a design committee. The idea here is to help direct developments in the Beltline sub-areas. It is modeled directly after the Midtown Alliance. As I understand it, there are no design standards, per se, but they will direct willing developers in design features and especially connectivity to the trail. They stated they are receiving calls every week from developers asking for the Beltline's input, this would be a formal way to do that. This is a big deal considering that the Beltline sub-areas cover about 20% of the city.

They have done some further number crunching on some prior statistics and figured that from 2006 - 2013, there has been 2.4 Billion dollars in private investment around the Eastside trail. The bulk of this has been in the past five years during the recession. Total investment from the Beltline = 350-400 million dollars. I know these are stats and I know what you can do with stats, but those are some impressive numbers.

They are actively working with a couple of groups from around the country to come up with a concrete model for affordable housing. Expect more info in around 6 months. They did mention turning a very cool former railroad freight building at the old state farmers market into affordable housing, but that is not set in stone.

Speaking of the farmers market, the Beltline now owns the property. They are planning on putting in some pop-up shops at a future date. They also said to expect a retail location for the urban garden across the street.


I'm not covering everything here, but there was a lot mentioned at the meeting. Exciting stuff, the impact isabsolutely massive. This is what defines Atlanta's future. It is going to make a place I love exponentially better through art, connectivity, smart development, and (hopefully) the upward movement of many of Atlanta's citizens. This is much more than just streetcars.

Excellent report, thanks for sharing!

[afdinatl]

Thank you sir.

[tikigod311]

Huh, every one of those paragraphs could be their own multi-page thread, but no conversation.

How about some thread bait... MARTA! Tim Lee! 7 mph streetcar! Fuqua!

[jsvh]

Awesome stuff Tiki. Sorry I missed the meeting.

The old state farmers market is a huge complex. I can't wait to see that get redeveloped. Future development prospects for the SWATS are looking promising.

I went to an earlier meeting and they mentioned they are continuing to look at LRT routes and prioritization. Including trying to get a Peachtree Street segment in sooner, maybe even the next round of construction.

[LynnHarris]

Thanks Tiki for keeping us updated...much appreciated...

[afdinatl]

Good info on the Streetcar going by the AUC. Hopefully it will link Ga Tech, GSU and AUC one day