A half-dozen years after redevelopment concepts initially emerged, plans for converting a warehouse complex in Southwest Atlanta into more active uses are showing signs of life, with a timeline for completion now in place.
Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, is expected to approve $3 million in Beltline Tax Allocation District increment financing to help start phase-one construction of Oakland Exchange, an adaptive-reuse project in Oakland City near the Beltline’s Westside Trail.
At last check in May, Atlanta-based developers Urban Realty Partners had hoped to start construction by the end of 2024 on the initial phase of Oakland Exchange, a planned transformation of the former Cut Rate Box warehouse complex that dates to the early 1990s.
The 1088 Murphy Ave. property is located immediately west of the Beltline’s Murphy Crossing redevelopment site, about a block from the Westside Trail. It had previously been used as box warehouses since the early 1970s; former redevelopment plans (originally dubbed “The Murphy”) came to light in spring 2019.
Overview of Oakland Exchange’s two early 1900s warehouse buildings remade with active uses. Oakland Exchange/Urban Realty Partners
According to Invest Atlanta, current plans call for breaking ground on Oakland Exchange’s first phase—to include 126 housing units, 32 of them deemed affordable—this year, followed by an estimated 14 months of construction.
The phase-one component, expected to cost $53 million overall, is scheduled to open in 2026, per recent Invest Atlanta paperwork.
Envisioned as a new gateway to the Beltline, the development will include loft apartments, office, and retail space: specifically, 12,737 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and 3,240 square feet of additional retail space located in an outbuilding and containers along a forthcoming Beltline spur, according to recent Invest Atlanta documentation.
Amenities call for a picnic area, central laundry, fitness room, and other features.
The majority of phase-one Oakland Exchange units (94 total) would rent at market-rate, ranging from $1,410 monthly for studios to $2,283 for two-bedrooms.
Seven studio units would be capped at 60 percent of the Area Median Income (that’s $1,050 monthly for 413 square feet), while the other 25 would be capped at 80 percent AMI (between $1,358 and $1,857 for spaces ranging from 413-square-foot studios to 794-square-foot two-bedroom options), according to Invest Atlanta.
Last year, Urban Realty partnered with Kronberg Urbanists + Architects and Praxis3 to design what’s described as a “multifaceted destination for residents, office and retail users, and community members” that will eventually span 5 acres, including vacant land adjacent to warehouses. Stream Realty Partners was also hired to lease the project.
The brick buildings in question stand three and four stories along a MARTA line, where an infill station is planned to possibly take shape in coming years as a transit connection to the Beltline. Eventually, plans call for more than 200 residential lofts, plus 60,000 square feet of offices and 8,000 square feet of retail at Oakland Exchange.
Current conditions around the century-old former warehouse property in Oakland City. Invest Atlanta
Context of Oakland Exchange’s Beltline proximity and other investments in the general area, as shown last year. Oakland Exchange/Urban Realty Partners
Other sizable developments nearby have recently made headlines.
A stone’s throw away in Capitol View, just south of the Oakland Exchange site, plans for a 25-acre, potentially billion-dollar new district with more than 4,000 housing units overall have come to light in recent weeks.
Earlier this year, Atlanta Beltline Inc. parted ways with selected developers Culdesac and Urban Oasis Development for the vacant, 20-acre Murphy Crossing property. Beltline leadership now plan to take the reins on planning and development and break ground on the initial phase at Murphy Crossing sometime in 2026.
Meanwhile, just south of Murphy Crossing on Woodrow Street, another concept unveiled in 2022 for 7 dormant acres has yet to move forward. That project has called for a village’s worth of new housing—301 apartments and 25 townhomes—alongside roughly 20,000 square feet of commercial space in two buildings. When asked for a construction update recently, project leaders declined comment.
Find more Oakland Exchange context and imagery in the gallery above.
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