Better for Businesses: Rail on the BeltLine
Fourth Ward’s towers by New City Properties
They’re connected by a skybridge in front of the future streetcar stop on the BeltLine right across from New Realm Brewery. These towers house commercial tenants including restaurants and offices. On the right is the new HQ location of Mailchimp. Four of the 7 towers are built. Image Credit: BeltLine Rail Now 2023.
One of the largest property owners on the Eastside Trail, Jim Irwin of New City Properties, is supportive of light rail on the BeltLine. Irwin, owner of the 11-tower Fourth Ward project springing up adjacent to the Eastside Trail, sees light rail as integral to helping get workers to and from the businesses along the Eastside Trail. Recently, Irwin elaborated on his thoughts during a panel discussion on adaptive re-use put on by BisNow, an online business journal.
New City Properties is weeks away from opening Forth, a 196-room boutique hotel in the Fourth Ward project along the Eastside BeltLine. Irwin said rail along the pedestrian path would benefit lower-wage workers with jobs at projects along the BeltLine who can’t afford to live in the area.
“The lack of transit has made it a chore for the firm to hire the 350 staffers it needs,” Irwin said.
“We’re actually having to build infrastructure in the building to allow people to eat and [shower] … because of how long it will take people to get to work…So it’s really about how we run the city and how we make it easy and affordable for people who can’t necessarily live in these projects to get to work.”
Others on the panel advocated for light rail on the BeltLine, including Lee + White’s Anne-Michael Stutsman, who pointed out that “rail is a key way to cohesively connect the various developments springing up along the BeltLine, as those projects are 'pocketed right now.'"
Forth Hotel by New City Properties
It contains 196 rooms and is the first hotel to open on the BeltLine. Image Credit: BeltLine Rail Now 2023.
The light rail stop at the Fourth Ward complex is one of three on the BeltLine that are part of the MARTA Streetcar East (SCE) Extension currently in design and slated for construction in 2025.
BeltLine Rail Now has advocated publicly and in stakeholder engagement with MARTA and HDR, the firm hired by MARTA to design the SCE, for grass tracks and a better streetcar vehicle that will make the project fit the greenway design of the BeltLine as envisioned by Atlanta BeltLine Inc. planners. The SCE connection to and from MARTA’s Peachtree Center Station will provide access to the MARTA heavy rail network via its red and gold lines.
It's interesting to note New City and Jamestown, the Ponce City Market owner, operate private shuttle buses for their tenants, residents and workers to and from the North Avenue MARTA station every fifteen minutes. Yet, light rail isn't necessary on the Eastside Trail?
New City Properties understands that without all 22-miles of light rail, the Beltline will never fulfill its full potential of connecting Atlanta and ensuring businesses prosper.
Rendering showing dual grass tracks and streetcar looking north between Ralph McGill and Ponce City Market stops. IMAGE: Atlanta BeltLine Inc. 2023.
