Near standout Westside park, mixed-income development enters pipeline

Josh Green

Thu, 05/08/2025 – 10:44

A mixed-income proposal has entered the pipeline in Vine City that would continue the trends of infill development on the Westside and intown churches relinquishing property for more housing.

The 172 Vine St. project is a partnership between Atlanta-based developer Good Places and longstanding Vine City congregation Cosmopolitan AME Church. It would rise just west of downtown and about a block south of Rodney Cook Sr. Park, a scenic and functional 16-acre Westside greenspace that opened in summer 2021.

Plans for the 70-unit, mixed-income proposal call for building apartments on an underused parking lot and vacant land around the church.

Specifically, the ownership entity (Cosmopolitan Village Partners) plans to build 63 units as affordable housing, with the bulk of apartments reserved for tenants earning 60 percent of the area median income or less. (Seventeen units would be set aside for project-based Atlanta Housing vouchers.) The remaining seven apartments would go for market-rate, according to Invest Atlanta.

The century-old Cosmopolitan AME Church and its surrounding property, as seen in March. Google Maps

Broader context of the Vine City block south of Rodney Cook Sr. Park, with downtown hotels and The Benz shown at right. Google Maps

Perks of the community would include a fitness and business center, a community room, outdoor gazebo, laundry facilities, and in-home Energy Star appliances.

In addition to city parks, the project would be conveniently near MARTA rail and bus stations, a Fulton County health center, and pre-K to 8th grade STEM school Hollis Innovation Academy, per officials.

The development team is seeking a Westside TAD Ascension Fund grant of up to $2.5 million to help make the project viable, in addition to 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit financing, according to Invest Atlanta.

The Vine Street project is expected to cost $23.7 million overall.

Additional funding sources—more than $17 million—would include state and federal tax credit equity, according to Invest Atlanta.

Mix of conceptual apartment images included with Invest Atlanta’s 172 Vine St. NW breakdown. Invest Atlanta

Invest Atlanta

The timeline for construction calls for breaking ground in October 2026 and opening the rentals for tenants about 18 months later.

Another affordable housing build, the 105-unit Legacy at Vine City, opened just east of the proposed apartments in 2019, offering independent senior housing.

An institution in the neighborhood, Cosmopolitan AME Church—originally named Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church—moved to its current home on Vine Street back in 1907.

Over the following nearly 120 years, the church “has engaged its congregation and residents with a wide variety of programming, covering health and nutrition, literacy and education, personal empowerment, and senior programs,” notes a recent Invest Atlanta project breakdown. “The proposed project will also contribute to these continued efforts by bringing new community spaces to the church’s campus.”

Affordability mix proposed at the Vine Street project. Invest Atlanta