To match the Southern neighborhood, the architects designed the homes with large front porches that form a gateway between individual homes and the public space. Site work and landscaping were part of the project’s LEED Silver focus, including reused topsoil; native, drought-tolerant species; and stormwater management features such as pervious hardscaping and a rain garden.
Leland Holder/Leland on Location To match the Southern neighborhood, the architects designed the homes with large front porches that form a gateway between individual homes and the public space. Site work and landscaping were part of the project’s LEED Silver focus, including reused topsoil; native, drought-tolerant species; and stormwater management features such as pervious hardscaping and a rain garden.
GATHER ROUND: Indoors, emphasis was placed on large shared spaces, including a community room (shown) with a vaulted ceiling, clerestory windows, a fireplace, and Wi-Fi connection; a combined library and business center; and a fitness room. Individual units include unusual amenities such as a washer and dryer. “The amenities are more typical of market-rate housing than affordable, which is what we like to do to set a high standard for the community and contribute to a way of life,” says Columbia Residential’s Jim Grauley.
Leland Holder/Leland on Location GATHER ROUND: Indoors, emphasis was placed on large shared spaces, including a community room (shown) with a vaulted ceiling, clerestory windows, a fireplace, and Wi-Fi connection; a combined library and business center; and a fitness room. Individual units include unusual amenities such as a washer and dryer. “The amenities are more typical of market-rate housing than affordable, which is what we like to do to set a high standard for the community and contribute to a way of life,” says Columbia Residential’s Jim Grauley.

FACTBOX

PROPERTY: The Retreat at Edgewood
LOCATION: Atlanta
OPENED: November 2011
DEVELOPERS/OWNERS: Columbia Residential, Atlanta, in partnership with The Zeist Foundation, Atlanta
DEVELOPMENT COST: $23.5 million (public and private funds)
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: Smith Dalia Architects, Atlanta
PROJECT SCOPE: 140 units in two phases; one- to three-bedroom townhome apartments and flats ­measuring 750 to 1,600 square feet
RENTS: $500 to $1,000 a month; residents must earn no more than 60 percent of AMI
CIVIL ENGINEER AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS: Planners and Engineers Collaborative, Atlanta
INTERIOR DESIGN: Chris Holt, Holt Interiors, Atlanta

 

When homeowners fled to suburban Atlanta from the 1960s to the 1990s, the downtown Edgewood neighborhood saw many of its old apartment buildings languish, and it became blighted and crime-ridden. In response, the locally based Zeist Foundation, which has focused on improving the area, bought five noncontiguous land parcels. To develop the eight acres of land, Zeist gave Columbia Residential, local experts in affordable and mixed-use housing, leeway to construct a mixed-income, family-oriented complex with a total of 28 separate buildings. “We felt there would be strong demand because this demographic had been ignored and because of the proximity to elementary and middle schools and a MARTA station,” says Jim Grauley, Columbia’s president and COO. Grauley and his colleagues were right and have witnessed a ripple effect. “It’s transformed the neighborhood,” he says. All of the 100 units in Phase 1 have been leased.