History
CHNDC is a novel concept, and it has a surprising track record.
CHNDC is a novel concept, and it has a surprising track record. Were it not for the direct intervention of CHND
- The City of Atlanta would have constructed a large parking deck where City Plaza Apartments now stands.
- The Atlanta Board of Education would have oriented its new headquarters toward Pryor Street rather than making Central a front door.
- Hope House would not have been developed and certainly not at its current location.
- The City would not have located its new public safety complex next to the Garnett MARTA Station.
- The Government Center parking deck was built by CHNDC and was designed to allow for additional housing at the corner of Trinity and Central.
Hope House
In the early and mid-1990s, the parking lot adjacent to Trinity United Methodist Church was overrun with homelessness, creating both an untenable visual blight and unsanitary conditions. CHNDC worked with the City of Atlanta to find a site on the block to develop a 70-bed supportive housing facility. With the support and cooperation of Mayor Shirley Franklin and Councilwoman Debi Starnes, CHNDC assisted in sourcing seed capital for the facility and serves as the sandwich lessor/lessee in a complicated ground lease between the Downtown Development Authority and the Developer, Progressive Redevelopment, Inc.
Public Safety Complex
When the city sought to locate a new public safety complex next to City Hall, CHNDC helped persuade the city to consider sites that are more easily accessed by the considerable traffic generated and have easy transit availability. CHNDC helped the City find the site adjacent to the underutilized Garnett Marta Station and provided the expertise (through Board members) for land acquisition.
Depot Plaza
CHNDC created a financially feasible plan for the underutilized land around the Old World of Coke site, owned by the State of Georgia. The plan, designed by the architectural firm of Perkins & Will and cost out in partnership with Balfour Beatty Construction, included student housing for Georgia State University with parking underneath, street-level retail, a State History Museum, and a hotel and conference center. Though rejected by the GSU and Georgia Building Authority, the plan stimulated considerable discussion and planning by those interested in the potential of this strategic and historic site.
City Hall Parking Deck
Around 2005, parking needs around City Hall were increasing with the development of the Atlanta Public Schools headquarters, a new Municipal Courts building, and City Hall itself, CHNDC pro-actively created a plan for the City providing for future development at the strategic and vital corner of Trinity and Central, future retail on Central, and potential development on top of the structure. The first phase is a parking deck with 836 spaces, and future phases contemplate residential, office, and retail space along with a pocket park. The parking deck was designed to be minimally intrusive to the Capitol Hill area by fitting into the site’s topography and rising only slightly above street level on Washington Avenue. CHNDC then contracted to coordinate the design and construction of the facility, managing its delivery to the City in 2008.
Trinity Central Flats
CHNDC partnered with Radiant Development Partners to propose a 218-unit affordable housing
development at the corner of Trinity and Central on a parcel carved out by CHNDC’s planning of the Trinity Block in the mid-2000s.
At CHNDC’s insistence, 20 of the units will be reserved for clients of Partners for Home, the City’s agency, to coordinate efforts to re-house those without permanent shelter.
The project will seek to activate Central Ave. with 6,700 s.f. of retail and commercial space and provide residents with a full array of amenities, including fitness and activity centers, bike parking, a computer center, and opportunities for co-working.