Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read April 2023 — DeKalb County is on track to get a lot more housing after local officials approved a MARTA rezoning request.
The move aims to convert 1,900 surface parking spaces into a community hub along the Blue line’s Kensington Station. The county, alongside much of the rest of Atlanta, has long been at work implementing transit-oriented development projects to increase the region’s housing stock.
“We are grateful for the support of the DeKalb County Commission and this vital rezoning designation,” said MARTA General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood in a press release. “We are now ready to solicit developers to work with MARTA and DeKalb to turn the undeveloped and underused property around the rail station into a community hub with affordable housing and neighborhood amenities.”
The 35-acre area has been rezoned to very high density mixed-use, and the current master plan includes affordable senior and workforce housing alongside a new headquarters for the Housing Authority of Dekalb County. The project is the latest in a long line of TOD projects around metro Atlanta, with work already underway at various stages of planning and construction around Arts Center, Indian Creek, H.E. Holmes and a number of other stations. More recently, the city of Brookhaven is also working on the development of a new city hall on the site of MARTA’s long-term parking space at Brookhaven Station – a move that may revive a TOD project in the area that had long been considered dead, according to the Saporta Report.
The next steps for Kensington include soliciting developers interested in building out the project. According to current master plan concepts, between 1,400 and 1,600 units are depicted, with 20% set aside for affordable housing for up to 80% of the area median income (AMI).
“We have worked alongside MARTA in developing this TOD master plan and it is exciting to help achieve this milestone,” said DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry. “This type of development with convenient access to transit builds strong, connected communities.”
The move further solidifies the work DeKalb County officials have done to provide additional housing options at a time when prices continue to escalate and inventory remains low, making housing increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families to attain.
“The Kensington TOD will provide affordable housing and other amenities while reflecting the diversity and spirit of our county and serve as a catalyst for the planned revitalization of Memorial Drive,” Commissioner Steve Bradshaw also said in the release,
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