Developer Landmark Properties has begun construction on Phase II of its The Mark Athens student housing mixed-use. The greenspace adjacent to the Firefly Trail has been fenced off in preparation for approximately 18 months of construction.
Slated for a fall 2022 delivery, Phase II of The Mark Athens will include 20,000 square feet of commercial retail space, nearly 160,000 square feet of residential space, and 446 bedrooms.
Phase II will also come complete with a clubroom and study rooms, while the 24-hour fitness center and pool built with the project’s first phase will be shared with existing tenants atop Building 100.
Once construction is complete, The Mark Athens across both phases will have a whopping 1,300+ bedrooms, nearly 400 units, and 55,000 square feet of commercial space.
Although retail tenants for Phase II have not yet been announced, a spokesperson for The Mark Athens told What Now Atlanta that pre-leasing for the commercial space has begun. The Mark Athens’ existing retail spaces are currently occupied by Orangetheory Fitness, Golden Pantry Market, Sugar Polish Nail Bar, I Heart Mac & Cheese, Frutta Bowls, and Knuckies Pizza and Hoagies.
The Mark Athens Phase II has recently come under increased scrutiny due to the demolition of homes in the historic Potterytown Neighborhood for the construction of a parkade that will provide parking for residents, guests, and retail customers. Landmark Properties said they will be making direct investments towards improving the landscape and hardscape along the Firefly Trail and its Broad Street Trailhead, an extremely popular urban greenway among Athens residents.
The Mark Athens Phase II’s opening will coincide with the planned opening of another student housing development, The William, which is also currently under construction on the westside of downtown Athens.
7 Responses
This is a very odd location for student housing. It’s not on campus for any of the surrounding colleges and it’s right in the middle of a business/tourist district. The amount of mixed traffic this could bring to the area doesn’t seem like a good match for any group (students, business persons, or tourists). Another development project that doesn’t consider local culture and instead is an obvious money grab for outsiders.
Actually, that is not true. It’s right next to GSU, within walking distance of all the University’s main buildings. Its also close to the MARTA and to Olympic Park.
Wut Anna? This, is litterally closer to the core of campus than the majority of GSU’s student housing.
I don’t know that we need to concern ourselves much with the “local culture” of a downtown parking lot surrounded on three sides by other parking lots.
Landmark is based in Athens and they’ve done several projects in Atlanta already, hardly “outsiders”. If you think “student housing” needs to be directly on campus you’re oblivious to how housing works in actual college towns all across this country, where housing is as dispersed as the town it’s in. Further, GSU has buildings literally two tiny blocks away from this development off Forsyth with more buildings a really short walk away. Also, the Farley Poplar neighborhood has a good amount of residential already; catering to both students and non-students alike.
As a owner of a home downtown as well just a vested party in the smart planning of downtown I am seeing too many student housing towers downtown. And before people start the stone throwing I want to only ask anyone to drive past the present housing on Piedmont Av any night but especially weekends. These are young folks that all about the party and hang out, not the upkeep, and value of the property they live in. In NYC, and we all know this is not NY, but student housing isn’t spread all over Manhattan.
My best guess is the city only cares about the perceived growth in the souls/taxes, and not building a healthy patchwork of diverse residents. As for the developers, I’ll bet there is some sort of federal money/easy money for “student housing”. In the end game as downtown gets a commercial retail corridor, I wonder what kind of businesses will be supported by student money. I don’t remember most students to have money to burn.
These will be another failure for downtown, just like Underground/MARTA reconfiguration that was welcomed by the city back when Underground was actually holding its own. Then it was nuked by the city planning and seems to be where it’s heading before it’s even off the ground.
Did you prefer downtown 10 years ago?