MARTA-Owned Land Near Avondale Station: Decatur's Next Development Boom?

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, seeking to boost its revenue stream, is looking at developing land it owns around its train stations, including Avondale station.

The transit agency is in talks with Decatur Development Authority officials on the roughly six-acre MARTA land just south of the Avondale station, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported.

Avondale station, located at 915 East Ponce de Leon Ave., is one of five sites that MARTA leaders feel are ripe for development, the Business Chronicle reported.

The idea is still in the early discussion phases, but at least one development expert said it's a good strategy, particularly in Decatur, which is enjoying an investment boom.

An agreement between the city, which has been itching to redevelop that site for the better part of a decade, and MARTA could come as early as July.

"Avondale station is tremendous because Decatur right now is probably one of the hottest housing markets in the region,” Ken Bleakly, principal of the Bleakly Advisory Group, told the Business Chronicle.

Indeed, Atlanta-based Carter plans to redevelop a 2.5-acre site at 315 West Ponce de Leon Ave. and spend $40 million to build a mixed-use, high-end apartment complex and retail project.

Beyond the six acres owned by MARTA, Bleakly, which is advising MARTA, estimates there's some 62 acres of developable land within a quarter-mile radius of the Avondale station.

And because Decatur is so hot, it will be easier to finance developement projects, Bleakly told the publication.

“We think there’s a strong market to support the kind of rents and sales prices you need to finance the development," the Business Chronicle quoted Bleakly as saying.