Development work on projects in and around the Midway Woods neighborhood have been in the news lately. Here’s an update on some of those projects.

BLUE SKY: 

Trash dumping, gun shots, drug trafficking and more. Midway Woods neighbors are too familiar with the appalling conditions of the Blue Sky property at 3106 Memorial Drive and Oldfield Road between Memorial Drive and Catherine Street. The Blue Sky Condominium property has been a blight on our community for over a decade.

Blue Sky was built in 1965 as an apartment complex, but was later broken up and sold as individual condos. But it was abandoned in 2009 due to mortgage fraud, and, in 2012, the property went into the County’s hands and was subsequently poorly managed and maintained.

Our neighbors have become increasingly concerned about the situation at Blue Sky. Channel 11 ran a recent news report on those concerns. But there is light at the end of the tunnel! 

You may have noticed recent work being done on the Blue Sky property. We got in touch with 

Stan Sugarman and Stryant Construction, who have acquired ownership of Blue Sky, for an update on the situation. Styrant started working with the county in 2018 to get the abandoned apartments/condos at Blue Sky redeveloped. 

Redevelopment progress at that property was held up as Styrant worked to acquire all 144 units that make up Blue Sky. Limited sewage capacity in Dekalb County has also held up progress.

Stan Sugarman who is now overseeing the BlueSky project at Stryant informed the Midway Wood Association that the county has no sewer capacity for new residential projects, so they are now working with the structure that currently exists. i.e. a gated apartment complex.

“The new plan will be for 144 units (38 one-bedrooms, 72 two-bedrooms, 34 three-bedrooms), said Stan. “We are looking at adding a dog park, a playground area and walking trails along with a laundry room in phase 1. Phase 2 is on Memorial and would add a work out area, lounge and small pool (though this requires Dekalb providing sewer capacity).

“Our project is going to target 120%-80% of the Atlanta area average median income (AMI). That is considered the market rate which falls between luxury (120% AMI and above,) which is the typical project being built in Decatur, and mixed income (below 80%) which is usually subsidized through a housing authority and Federal/State tax credit allocations. The term in vogue now is the ‘missing middle housing.’ Inside the perimeter there are very few projects being built to target that AMI level, so it is an underserved market.

“Our current plan is to get the property in decent shape while we work with Dekalb County on permits. Our plan is to replace the roofs within the next two weeks and then work on abating the asbestos in the units. The state requires 30 days notice to provide for the time to do spot checks for air quality and worksite conditions. We will also be doing fence replacements around the property in order to provide better security during construction”

LEGACY PARK AND THE SOUTH HOUSING PROJECT:

The Decaturish website reported that, on March 2, the Decatur City Commission decided to move forward with purchasing seven acres of land and refinancing a larger portion of Legacy Park to develop the South Housing Village.

In 2017, the city bought the former United Methodist Children’s Home 77-acre campus and turned that property into Legacy Park. The Children’s Home was established in 1873 to care for children orphaned during the Civil War.

According to Decatur Next, the project, which was identified in broad strokes during the Legacy Park community planning process, will replace a collection of four duplex units and two single family homes in the southeastern corner of Legacy Park. 

Current plans call for 132 new units spread across a clustered assembly of three-story stacked flat apartment buildings and two-story duplexes. Community spaces including a community center, outdoor recreation space and community gardens are also planned. The plan also calls for 120 parking spaces in a parking lot and 22 on-street parking spaces.

The affordable housing will be for a range of incomes from 30% to 80% of the area median income. Teachers, police officers, firefighters, and grocery store workers are individuals who would qualify to live in the affordable housing development.

Adjustments to the site orientation will allow for preservation of the pine forest area fronting South Columbia Drive.

As reported by Decaturish, the March 2nd Decatur City Commission meeting where the plan to move forward was approved included a 90-minute session where members of the public were able to ask questions and voice their concerns. Reasons such as an increase in traffic, a need for more greenspace, a need for a feasibility study and concerns for concentrating affordable housing in one area were all cited during that commentary period.

Current efforts by the Decatur Housing Authority are necessary to secure the Federal housing tax credits necessary to complete the project. These tax credits are part of a competitive process with other municipalities and providers. There is no guarantee they’ll be awarded. But if they are, DHA is presently projecting this timeline:

More information:

We’re hoping to schedule a Midway Woods neighborhood meeting later this year to include an update on Blue Sky and other projects around the neighborhood. Look for more details about that meeting coming soon!