Proposed Residential Mixed-Use Adjacent CSX Rail Line Would Bring 108 Units To North Athens

Brett Nave of Studio BNA proposed to the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission during a session earlier this month a new 108-bedroom mixed-use development on the city’s northside. The planned development would rise on a currently-vacant plot of land triangulated by Barber Street, Tracy Street, and the still active, CSX rail line.

The proposal includes approximately 5,000 square feet of mixed-used “kiosk-style” amenity buildings to house startups and local businesses within the complex. The development would work around the drainage area in the center of land and plans to construct the apartment buildings alongside the three edges of the plot. With entrances on Barber and Tracy Streets, it is still unclear as to how traffic will be managed in the area. Although the Barber Street corridor is not a heavily used entrance into Downtown Athens, unlike Chase Street and North Avenue, the active CSX rail line was one of the two main points of concern during the meeting. 

Multiple members of the commission brought up the rail line’s lack of a guarded crossing between Tracy Street and Wynburn Avenue which is why passing trains continue to utilize their 90-150db horn 5-15 times per day. These concerns are not new to the members of the commission nor the residents of the area and is planned to be brought up with CSX in the near future. 

The second concern mentioned by the members of the commission was the active cement factory across the street which poses a health risk for the future residents of the development. However, similar to the concerns over the rail line, the members of the commission agreed that the concern was not directly linked to the construction of the development as the area is already home to hundreds of families and was not reasonable to place on the developers. 

Although specific details about the design were not discussed in-depth, the renderings provided by Studio BNA show two to three-story apartment buildings alongside Tracy Street at the CSX rail line with surface parking located throughout. Buvez, the French-inspired cafe/bar, and State the Label are already popular destinations for Athens residents and would likely appreciate the presence of potential new customers in their backyard. What Now Atlanta reached out to Buvez, State the Label, and Studio BNA for comment on the development.