O4W / L5P / Candler Park

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Hey, O4W / L5P / Candler Park! This week: city council just sent a unanimous Beltline light rail resolution to the mayor's desk, demanding a real timeline by 2027, while developer Canvas Companies quietly scooped up the century-old North Highridge Apartments in Poncey-Highland with plans to preserve rather than raze. Add in Ponce City Market's 100th birthday, a wild weekend of Fall Fest and the 20th Atlanta Horror Film Festival, and you've got plenty to plan around.

- News — The Beltline rail push heads to the mayor's office, Canvas Companies saves a historic Poncey-Highland complex from the wrecking ball, and Ponce City Market marks a century of reinvention.
- Events — Candler Park's beloved Fall Fest and Freaky 5K anchor a jam-packed weekend alongside the 20th Atlanta Horror Film Festival, City Winery's stacked lineup, and a Beltline doggie crawl.
- Government — DeKalb commissioners weigh a data center health study and tens of millions in infrastructure spending while NPU-N sorts through zoning variances and festival permits.
- Construction — Tenant buildouts are multiplying along Highland and Ponce, a $625K primary suite addition is going up in Druid Hills, and traffic signal repairs dot Freedom Parkway and Ponce de Leon.

Let's dive in.

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NEWS

Beltline rail resolution heads to mayor, plus Canvas snaps up century-old Poncey-Highland apartments

Atlanta City Council sends Beltline rail resolution to mayor's office
The council voted unanimously to approve the resolution, introduced by Kelsea Bond with nine co-sponsors, urging the city, Atlanta Beltline Inc., and MARTA to present a light rail implementation plan and timeline by January 2027. Council member Byron Amos successfully amended the measure to strip language supporting use of Beltline Tax Allocation District funds for rail, arguing that money should instead go toward development on the Westside and Southwest Beltline corridor before the TAD sunsets in 2030.

Exclusive: Canvas Companies acquires century-old North Highridge Apartments in Poncey-Highland
Canvas Companies, owned by Michael Garber and Benjamin McLoughlin, bought the four-building complex at North Avenue and North Highland Avenue from developer Thomas Carmichael for an undisclosed sum, with current tenants expected to stay through their leases. Records show the apartments have been rented out since 1921, when they sat near three streetcar lines, a dry cleaner, a grocery store and several churches.

Ponce City Market celebrates a rough, resilient 100 years
Built in just seven months and opened in 1926 as a Sears, Roebuck & Co. distribution and retail center, the roughly 2-mile-from-downtown location was initially mocked as "Sears' Folly" before expansions in 1929 and the 1940s grew it to more than 2.1 million square feet. Sears left in 1990, the city used it as City Hall East until maintenance costs became too high, and developer Jamestown transformed it into today's mixed-use Ponce City Market starting in 2011.

Shedding light on 3 recent construction failures along Atlanta Beltline
A stairway connecting the newly completed Southside Trail to Grant Street and The Beacon was fully ripped out in August after the Beltline's engineer of record flagged "cosmetic and dimensional deficiencies," with contractor Reeves Young expected to finish corrections by late October. Beltline officials said no cost estimates are yet available for that project or two other recent fixes involving a Ponce de Leon Avenue ramp on the Eastside Trail and issues in South Buckhead, though contractors are contractually responsible for covering correction costs.

Meet the Inman Park Ducks Who Marched in a Perfect Line Straight Into an Atlanta Boutique
This is a fun one: if you don’t know already, meet Inman Park's well-known neighborhood ducks, that veered from their usual walking route and filed single-file directly into a local boutique's storefront.

Atlanta's Tiny Doors give viewers whimsical glimpse at city's history and culture
Artist Karen Anderson Singer's six-inch Tiny Doors ATL installations appear across the city as well as in Kennesaw, Buckhead and Decatur, with each commissioned piece intentionally left closed so viewers can imagine what lies behind it. Ahead of the FIFA Men's World Cup, Singer created five new doors for a "Tiny Doors of Downtown" project stretching from Mitchell Street to State Farm Arena, drawing on the history of sites like the old Hotel Row.

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Horror film fest opens and City Winery stacks a full week

Monday, September 28
- Santiago Cruz | City Winery Atlanta
- Atlanta Run Club: Monday Night Runs | Ponce City Market
- Empowered Movement with Clarity Fitness | Imman Quarter

Tuesday, September 29
- Georgia Recovers in Communities | Historic Fourth Ward Park Splash Pad
- Slothrust: The Dystopian Theatre Tour | The Masquerade
- Reverend Horton Heat at The EARL | The EARL
- Melanie Amaro - A Whitney Houston Tribute | City Winery Atlanta

Wednesday, September 30
- Story Time | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- Brett Dennen | City Winery Atlanta

Thursday, October 1
- 20th Annual Atlanta Horror Film Festival | 7 Stages
- Six Foot Blonde | Soul Village
- Angel Du$t and Agnostic Front | The Masquerade
- Ready For The World at the City Winery Atlanta | City Winery Atlanta

Sunday, October 4
- Lambrini Girls | Variety Playhouse
- Fall Fest 5K and Fun Run | Candler Park
- Barks & Bites: Beltline Doggie Crawl | Krog Street Market
- Family Nature Walk | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- IAN MAKSIN in ATLANTA GA: "SONGS OF THE VAGABOND CELLO" | Neighborhood Church

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DeKalb weighs data center study and big infrastructure spending as NPU-N tackles zoning variances

Note: our information comes from posted meetings documents (agendas and minutes when available) — latest source document hyperlinked to each meeting.

Past Week Roundup

NPU-N
NPU-N's September 24 agenda covered a mix of zoning requests and community votes, though minutes haven't been posted yet so outcomes aren't final. Two residential variance requests stood out: one homeowner asked to boost lot coverage well above the standard cap, and another wants to shrink both side and front setbacks to build closer to the street and neighboring lots. Residents were also set to vote on a summer 2027 special event permit and to adopt the NPU's 2027 bylaws ahead of the city's deadline. A nearby festival application and an alcohol license change for a theater in adjacent NPU-M were also up for review and comment given their proximity to the boundary.

DeKalb County Board of Commissioners
DeKalb commissioners took up two big meetings this week, both still awaiting published minutes. At the special called session, the board considered requiring an independent health and environmental study before lifting the county's data center moratorium, alongside major infrastructure spending: a $3.2 million sidewalk design contract for Flat Shoals Parkway, a $4.1 million contract to extend the Michelle Obama Trail, a $15.85 million countywide paving deal, and acceptance of nearly $17.9 million in state loan funds for the Shoal Creek sewer project. At the zoning meeting, the agenda featured a wave of rezoning requests to convert office and single-family parcels into townhomes and multifamily housing across several districts, plus a placemaking plan for the Embry Hills-Presidential Parkway corridor and a petition to rename a street in the County Line community. None of these items have confirmed outcomes yet since only agendas are available.

Atlanta City Council
As covered in today's news section, the full council approved the Beltline rail resolution with Byron Amos's amendment stripping TAD funding language, sending it to the mayor's office. Minutes for the September 21 full council meeting itself hadn't posted at the time of this roundup, so other agenda outcomes remain unconfirmed. At the Committee on Council, members voted 5-0 to recommend former council president Felicia Moore for a seat on the city's Ethics Board, and unanimously backed two reappointments to the Atlanta Commission on Women along with a Piedmont Park security appointee to the Special Event Technical Advisory Group. The committee held several bigger items in place, including proposed rule changes to public comment order at council meetings, a charter amendment requiring named bill sponsors, an independent investigation into contracts tied to Foris Webb III, and a push to station certified officers at recreation center polling sites. None of those held items have a resolution yet, so expect them to resurface in future meetings.

Notable Neighborhood Mentions

Atlanta NPU
- 1105 Euclid Ave NE — A special event permit application for the Southern Fried Queer Pride 2027 Festival is on the agenda for neighborhood consideration.
- Historic Fourth Ward Park (680 Dallas St) — A special event permit application for the Atlanta Hip Hop Day Festival is being proposed for community review.
- Dad's Garage Theatre (569 Ezzard St SE) — An application for a change of agent on the theatre's alcohol license is on the agenda for neighborhood review.

Atlanta City Council
- 687 Angier Ave NE — A proposed rezoning from conditional mixed residential commercial and light industrial to standard mixed residential commercial was discussed.
- 707 Angier Ave NE — A proposed rezoning to standard mixed residential commercial along the BeltLine corridor was discussed.
- 918 Austin Ave NE — A special use permit application to allow outdoor dining and drinking within 1,000 feet of single-family residential districts was discussed.

Meetings This Week
- Atlanta City Council — Zoning Committee | Sep-28, 11:00 AM | key topics: self-storage special use permit rules, Glenn Street industrial-to-mixed-use rezoning, Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard mixed-use development, citywide zoning ordinance overhaul
- Atlanta City Council — Public Safety & Legal Administration Committee | Sep-28, 1:00 PM | key topics: Atlanta City Detention Center sale and lease proposals, vehicle booting fee adjustments, surveillance technology oversight safeguards, drug-free commercial zones study
- Atlanta NPU — NPU-M | Sep-28, 6:15 PM | key topics: Decatur Street high-density mixed-use rezoning, downtown nightclub alcohol license, Historic Fourth Ward Park festival permits, 2027 NPU-M bylaws
- DeKalb County Board of Commissioners — Board of Commissioners | Sep-29, 9:00 AM | key topics: data center zoning definitions and regulations, street drifting and unauthorized camping penalties, Flat Shoals Parkway sidewalk design contract, 10-year watershed capital plan
- Atlanta City Council — City Utilities Committee | Sep-29, 10:00 AM | key topics: water bill usage spike adjustment protections, wastewater storage tank funding, Atlanta Memorial Park grant matching funds, MARTA stop trash cleanup
- Atlanta City Council — Community Development/Human Services Committee | Sep-29, 1:30 PM | key topics: Hamilton E. Holmes parkland acquisition, Memorial Drive Greenway expansion purchase, tree protection standards, federal residential lead hazard grant
- Atlanta City Council — Transportation Committee | Sep-30, 10:00 AM | key topics: Centennial Yards Complete Streets grant funding, traffic signal property acquisition and condemnation authority, public street right-of-way abandonments, airport contracts
- Atlanta City Council — Finance/Executive Committee | Sep-30, 1:30 PM | key topics: Atlanta City Detention Center intergovernmental conveyance, Glynn Drive DeKalb annexations, park improvement funding in Morningside and Virginia-Highland, data center tax compliance rules
- Fulton County Board of Commissioners — Board of Commissioners | Sep-30, 6:00 PM | key topics: FY 2026 General Fund millage rate public hearing, 2027 employee healthcare contract renewal, medical and pharmacy premium rates

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Tenant buildouts multiply on Highland and Ponce, plus a $625K Druid Hills suite addition

Permits

- 725 Ponce de Leon Ave NE — New plumbing installation and a fire alarm system overhaul, both filed for the same commercial space. Looks like a tenant buildout is underway. Expect some equipment noise if you're nearby.
- 1165 McLendon Ave NE — New vent hood going in. That's a telltale sign of restaurant kitchen work, so keep an eye out for a food business prepping to open.
- 405 N Angier Ave NE — Georgia Power is running metered service for a new Realm kiosk on the Beltline. Small footprint, but it signals more Beltline infrastructure creeping into O4W.
- 378 Clifton Rd NE — A hair salon is converting to a graphic design business. No construction involved, just a change of use, but it's one more sign of turnover along that stretch.
- Oxford Rd (residential) — $625,000 second-story primary suite addition on an existing home. That's a serious investment and a sign of continued high-end renovation activity in Druid Hills.
- 1784 N Decatur Rd NE — Crews are pulling out an old air-cooled chiller and replacing it with a new one. Commercial HVAC work like this usually means rooftop equipment noise for a few days.
- 309 N Highland Ave NE — Electrical work adding six lights, five mini-splits, and a dozen outlets. That's a substantial buildout, likely prepping a retail or restaurant space for its next tenant.
- 619 Edgewood Ave SE — A second-generation office space is getting reconfigured for a new tenant layout. Nothing structural, but it points to fresh occupancy coming to that building soon.
- 484 N Highland Ave NE — Fire alarm work in the common area of an existing apartment building. Routine life-safety upgrade, nothing to worry about.

Road Work

Under Construction
- SR 42/Us 23 @ SR 154 & @ Arkwright Place — The project includes intersection improvement work. Work is on SR 42 / Moreland Avenue. GDOT lists Fulton as affected county.
- SR 8 & SR 8 We from SR 3 to SR 42 — This project, selected by the District Maintenance Office, is the resurfacing of SR 8 to improve the roadways current low OCI score. GDOT lists Fulton as affected county.
- SR 154 @ 7 Locs in Dekalb & 1 Loc in Fulton - Vru — The proposed project proposes to add one mid-block pedestrian (ped) crossing, one Right-In-Right-Out (RIRO) and one Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) between Hill Street and Pearl Street. Work is on SR 154 / Memorial Drive. GDOT lists DeKalb, Fulton as affected counties.
- I-75 @ Ralph Mcgill Blvd & @ Baker Street - Tunnel Lighting — The purpose of this project is to upgrade the existing tunnel lighting from HPS to energy-efficient LED fixtures. GDOT lists Fulton as affected county.
- I-20 from Capitol Ave to Flat Shoals Road - Lighting — The purpose of this project is to upgrade the existing lighting systems, along this corridor, from HPS to energy-efficient LED fixtures. GDOT lists DeKalb, Fulton as affected counties.

Service Requests
- Traffic Signal Repairs — 7 reports on Freedom Parkway, Ponce de Leon Ave at Charles Allen/Parkway Dr, Ponce de Leon Ave at Oakdale Rd, John Lewis Freedom Pkwy at N Ave, Austin Ave at Euclid Ave, and two other spots, plus 3 emergency-level repairs on Martin Luther King Dr, Elizabeth St at Austin Ave, and Memorial Dr at Eva Davis Way. Most are already in progress or closed.
- Potholes — 6 reports clustered on Parkway Dr NE, Blvd at Auburn Ave, Blvd at Irwin St, and Blvd Pl NE. Crews are working most of these, though one turned up no problem found.
- Downed Trees — 5 reports on Irwin St NE, S Ponce de Leon Ave, Ponce de Leon Ave at Clifton Rd, and Virgil St NE. Most are already closed out.
- Right of Way Litter Removal — Wabash Ave NE and Parkway Dr NE at N Ave NE, both in progress.
- Right of Way Visibility/Overgrowth — Pine St NE and Jackson St NE, both in progress.

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Until next week,
O4W / L5P / Candler Park Busybody

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O4W / L5P / Candler Park: Beltline rail resolution heads to mayor and Candler Park Fall Festival returns