Presented By Neil Hediger Real Estate

Hey, O4W / L5P / Candler Park! This week: a once-troubled spec house gets a dream-home makeover, an upside-down parade is coming to flip October on its head, and Beltline officials just dropped a $3.5 billion light-rail proposal worth paying attention to. Add in weekend storm cleanup, a new sushi omakase spot at Ponce City Market, and a packed events calendar, and there's plenty to catch up on.

- News — A flawed O4W spec house gets a jaw-dropping renovation, a wacky upside-down parade lands this October, and Beltline officials unveil a $3.5 billion transit vision.
- Business — Chef Sean Park's NoriFish is bringing Tokyo-sourced sushi and an omakase hand roll menu to Ponce City Market's food hall.
- Events — Hamilton hits the Fox, City Winery stacks a week of live acts, and Dad's Garage serves up a murder mystery.
- Government — Fulton funds 55 affordable units and jail elevator upgrades, DeKalb's Planning Commission weighs a batch of nearby rezonings, and APS advances plans to turn surplus school sites into affordable housing.
- Construction — A major HVAC buildout on Auburn Avenue hints at a big new tenant, EV chargers are going in on Fort Street, and a new Arnold Street duplex nears completion.

Let's dive in.

NEWS

A top-to-bottom renovation turns a problematic spec house into a couple's dream home
A couple successfully transformed a flawed, three-year-old spec house in Atlanta's historic Old Fourth Ward into a light-filled custom home featuring an expansive rooftop deck. The project showcases how intown homeowners are creatively rethinking modern infill properties to better blend personal style with neighborhood character.

The wonderfully wacky 'Where the Weird Things Are' upside down parade is taking over O4W this October — here's what you need to know
The eccentric "Where the Weird Things Are" upside-down parade is heading to the Old Fourth Ward this October for an evening of artistic spectacle. The interactive gathering flips traditional parades on their head, inviting neighborhood residents to wander through stationary displays of performers, giant puppets, and local art installations.

Workshops offered ahead of annual Atlanta Beltline Parade
Community lantern-making workshops are now underway across the city ahead of the 15th annual Atlanta Beltline Lantern Parade scheduled for September 19. Beltline neighbors and families can learn how to craft illuminated art pieces and giant puppets to take part in the beloved annual evening procession.

Metro Atlanta cleans up after severe storms snap trees, cause outages
Utility crews spent Sunday clearing snapped trees and restoring electricity across intown neighborhoods (including Inman Park) after severe weekend thunderstorms moved through the city. At the height of the storm, roughly 5,000 Georgia Power customers experienced outages as fallen limbs brought down power lines and obstructed local streets.

Beltline officials propose $3.5 billion light-rail system for Atlanta
Atlanta Beltline officials released final recommendations for the Beltline Transit Study, proposing a $3.5 billion light-rail system to connect neighborhoods across the city. The plan identifies preferred route alignments intended to improve travel times, access to major medical centers, and integration with the wider regional transit network.

Atlanta Public Schools moves into next phase of redistricting plan
Atlanta Public Schools is moving forward with the next phase of its comprehensive district-wide redistricting initiative. The planning process aims to balance facility capacity and enrollment numbers, with potential boundary changes that could affect families across the city.

BUSINESS

NoriFish opening at Ponce City Market with new hand roll omakase menu — Chef Sean Park's sushi concept is joining Ponce City Market's Central Food Hall, offering an omakase-style hand roll menu built on seafood sourced from Tokyo.

EVENTS | Presented by

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Tuesday, September 8
- Bella Kay | Variety Playhouse
- Stella Cole | City Winery Atlanta
- Hamilton (Touring) | Fox Theatre

Wednesday, September 9
- The Wylie Event Exchange | The Wylie Hotel
- Story Time | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- The Samples | City Winery Atlanta
- Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - North America 26 | The Masquerade
- Scattrbrain Album Listening Party Presented by Mainline | STEREO
- Big Hair, Big Heart | Sweet Auburn BBQ
- Croz Boyce at The EARL | The EARL

Thursday, September 10
- The Wellermen | Aisle 5
- No Alibi Murder Mystery | Dad's Garage
- D.L. Hughley | City Winery Atlanta
- Atlanta Beltline Thursday Run Club | New Realm Brewing Co.
- Penny Lane - The All Girl Beatles Tribute | City Winery Atlanta

Friday, September 11
- Fernbank After Dark: Forensics | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- ROAD TRIP! | Dad's Garage
- Kota the Friend | City Winery Atlanta
- SUCKAPUNCH: Drag Wrestling | The Masquerade

Saturday, September 12
- 2026 Beloved Community International Expo | The King Center
- Patrick Warburton | Variety Playhouse
- Boots & Bourbon | New Realm Brewing
- Mainline Music Fest: SCATTRBRAIN, CDSM | Aisle 5
- Bfit Body Pilates (Formerly Pilates on Ponce) | Thomas Taylor Memorial Skatepark
- Tennessee Vols at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football | Bobby Dodd Stadium

Sunday, September 13
- Morning Hike | Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- Barks & Bites: Beltline Doggie Crawl | Krog Street Market
- SETTLE + Sound with Shelby Adina | Full Circle Studio
- Celebrate with Plant Sale | LikeMinds
- A Sweet Taste of Broadway: 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE by Cirque du Soleil Pops Up at King of Pops | Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail
- Die Laughing Comedy @ New Realm Brewing | New Realm Brewing
- Ron Pope with special guest Zach Berkman at City Winery | City Winery Atlanta

GOVERNMENT | Presented by

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

Past Week Roundup

Fulton County Board of Commissioners
Commissioners approved funding for 55 new affordable housing units split between single-family homes and multifamily apartments, a meaningful step toward addressing the county's housing crunch. They also signed off on a $4.42 million contract to modernize nine elevators at the Fulton County Jail, a project that will take about 560 days to complete. Two intergovernmental agreements sent over $1.7 million toward water main relocations in Roswell and Milton to support road and trail work in those cities. The board rounded out the meeting by approving the 2026 Budget Soundings and a $1.2 million grant-funded rental assistance deal with the Urban League of Greater Atlanta. None of these items directly touch the O4W, L5P, or Candler Park area, but they show where county dollars are flowing this year.

DeKalb County Planning Commission
DeKalb's Planning Commission took up a stack of rezoning requests that could reshape several corridors, including a proposal to convert commercial land into medium-density housing and another to expand an existing subdivision with new single-family homes using conservation design standards. The commission also considered a townhome community that would replace office-zoned land, plus a countywide placemaking strategy for the Embry Hills and Presidential Parkway area meant to guide future zoning and streetscape decisions there. Smaller items included two proposed daycare centers, a restaurant drive-through request, and a special permit for beer and wine sales. None of these sit within the O4W, L5P, or Candler Park footprint, but they're worth watching if you track how DeKalb handles infill housing and commercial conversions nearby.

Atlanta Board of Education
The school board moved forward on turning surplus APS properties into affordable housing, approving a ground lease for the former Lakewood Heights School site along with agreements covering four more district-owned parcels, all developed in partnership with the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation. The board also approved a real estate exchange and a new Joint Use Agreement with the city's Parks and Recreation Department, which should open up more shared access to recreational facilities on school property. On the policy side, the board gave final approval to new rules governing how the district repurposes underused facilities and how students use technology and AI tools in the classroom. As covered in today's news section, this ties into the broader redistricting process APS has underway, and these property decisions will shape how that plays out for families across the city.

Meetings This Week
- Atlanta City Council — Committee on Council | Sep-08, 11:30 AM | key topics: speaker queue order for public comment, police staffing at recreation center polling sites, civility pledge for councilmembers
- Atlanta City Council | Sep-08, 1:00 PM | key topics: mixed-use rezonings on Logan Circle and Chattahoochee Avenue, consumer rules for private parking lots, police fleet master lease, pedestrian crosswalks and school zones
- DeKalb County Board of Commissioners — Committee of the Whole | Sep-10, 9:00 AM

CONSTRUCTION

Permits
- 978 N Ave NE — Highland School is replacing loft doors. Minor cosmetic work, but expect some short-term staging near the building.
- 639 Glen Iris Dr NE — Tenant build-out permit issued for plumbing work. Another sign of new business activity moving into the corridor.
- 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave NE — Commercial HVAC permit issued to swap three rooftop units like for like. Routine equipment replacement, nothing structural.
- 309 Edgewood Ave SE — New overhead electrical service going in for the Outfront Media billboard at this address. Expect a utility crew on site briefly.
- 661 Auburn Ave NE — Big HVAC job here: 15 tons of new ductwork plus three 5-ton split systems. This points to a serious buildout, likely for a new commercial tenant.
- 83 Fort St NE — Electrical permit filed to install EV charging stations. Add this to the growing list of EV infrastructure popping up around the area.
- 1124 DeKalb Ave NE — Multi-family alteration permit ready to issue for a bathroom addition to a ground-level bonus room. Small-scale interior work, no exterior disruption expected.
- 863 Ponce de Leon Ave NE — A pre-existing restaurant space is getting cosmetic renovations and a repurpose. No mechanical or plumbing changes planned, so watch for a new concept moving into this spot soon.
- 414 Arnold St NE — New duplex construction pushing toward a Certificate of Occupancy for Unit B, complete with covered front and rear porches. Another sign of infill housing filling out this block.
- 215 N Ave NE — Fire pump controller replacement, issued and straightforward. Standard life-safety maintenance, no impact on the street.

Road Work

Under Construction
- SR 42 / Moreland Avenue @ SR 154 & Arkwright Place — Crews are converting the intersection of SR 42 / Moreland Avenue and Arkwright Place into a right-in/right-out setup. A new median will block left turns and through movements at Arkwright Place.
- SR 8 Resurfacing (SR 3 to SR 42) — GDOT's District Maintenance Office is repaving this stretch of SR 8 to fix its low pavement quality score.
- SR 154 / Memorial Drive Pedestrian Improvements — This project spans DeKalb and Fulton counties and adds a mid-block pedestrian crossing, a right-in/right-out, and a restricted crossing U-turn between Hill Street and Pearl Street on SR 154 / Memorial Drive.
- I-75 Tunnel Lighting at Ralph McGill Blvd & Baker Street — Crews are swapping out old high-pressure sodium tunnel lights for energy-efficient LED fixtures. The work may also include new conduit and wiring.

Service Requests
- Traffic Signal Repairs — Crews handled four non-emergency fixes at Ralph McGill Blvd & Central Park Pl, DeKalb Ave & McClendon/Rocky Ford Rd, Ponce de Leon Ave & Clifton Rd, and Clifton Rd NE, plus two emergency Level 1 repairs at Moreland Ave & N Ave and Ponce de Leon Ave & Clifton Rd. Most are already closed out.
- Potholes — You'll find reports on Candler Park Dr NE, DeKalb Ave NE, Bishop Way, and Glen Iris Dr & Angier Ave. One's already fixed, and the rest are in progress.
- Downed Trees — Crews are working through reports on John Wesley Dobbs Ave, Piedmont Ave NE, and Alta Ave NE.
- Overgrowth/Visibility Issues — Reports came in for Howell St NE and Jackson St NE. One's resolved, one's still in progress.
- Litter Removal — A request for the Battery Pl NE & DeKalb Ave NE area is in progress.

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Until next week,
O4W / L5P / Candler Park Busybody

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