A new development for small businesses and startups will be constructed at Atlanta’s westernmost MARTA station, officials announced recently.
Fourteen repurposed shipping containers will provide about 6,500 square feet of affordable retail and office space at H.E. Holmes MARTA Station, according to a press release. Mayor Kasim Reed, Invest Atlanta and MARTA presented The iVillage at MLK project at the MARTA station on Dec. 18.
The venture is part of a larger effort to transform Westside neighborhoods. In 2016, Atlanta was awarded a $10 million federal grant to help improve the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive corridor.
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Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, said she’s looking forward to the day when the site is filled with local entrepreneurs.
“One day, we hope to see many of the businesses launched take root up and down the MLK Corridor,” Klementich said.
H.E. Holmes, which has a bus route to Six Flags Over Georgia during the park's seasonal operating hours, opened in Decemeber 1979. Plans for iVillage include a giant chess set surrounded by benches and lawn and deck areas to host public events.
Applications for those interested in leasing space should be available in January here. Organizers are looking for a "mix of tenants that meet community needs, provide attractive amenities around the station, and foster innovation," according to a spokesman, but more specific criteria was not provided.
The project, which may be completed in April 2019, will be located adjacent to the transit station on the site’s MLK Drive side. It will occupy a parking area that has been out of use for some time, so no existing parking spaces will be lost, the spokesman said.
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