After engagement with the Druid Hills Community, Emory University has cleared another hurdle to constructing their planned Graduate School Housing at Haygood Triangle with approval by Neighborhood Planning Unit-F on Monday. Emory’s request to rezone the assemblage of properties and amend the Comprehensive Development Plan were both approved by the NPU, with 39 in favor and 2 opposed and 28 in favor and 1 opposed, respectively.
Emory’s planned three building, 1,000 bed, Graduate School Housing complex has been met with some trepidation from neighbors who fear the project will bring congestion and negatively effect Druid Hill’s character. However the project designers have been working closely with the community to limit the impacts. In a virtual public meeting in June, hosted by David Payne, Associate Vice President for Planning and Engagement at Emory University, emphasized that the housing would be “ideal for students without cars” and cited the project’s close proximity to campus, very limited parking and access to transit as reasons why the complex would not cause serious car congestion issues.
The vote by NPU-F was made with the condition that the school would continue to address Druid Hills Civic Association’s concerns about scaling, massing and greenspace, traffic congestion and safety, parking, trees, construction, stormwater management, and facility use. In a statement to What Now Atlanta, Debbie Skopczynski, Chair of NPU-F, said that the “to their credit, both the Druid Hills Civic Association (DHCA) and Emory worked closely and amicably together to work through their concerns. As a result, the new plans and increased landscaping will soften the visual impact on North Decatur Road.”
The complex is composed of three residential buildings up to seven stories high, with 800 residential units, or 1,000 beds, built in two phases. It also includes a six-story parking structure with 275 parking spaces for students “willing to pay a premium” to park near their apartment. It is located on Haygood Triangle, which currently is the site of to several single-family homes and a shared-use path which will be demolished for the project. the path will be replaced by expanded sidewalks along edges of the property and limited access roads through the grounds.
The project will now go before the Zoning Review Board, with a hearing set for October 7 or 14, 2021. Emory hopes to complete the first phase of the project by 2024 and the second by 2027, according to the project’s Georgia Community Affairs Development of Regional Impact Application.
