Project set to start construction

Developer Trammell Crow Residential has begun site work for its Avondale Estates mixed-use development on East College Ave. between Hillyer Ave and Maple St. It’s already demolished all six buildings within the 4.3 acres. Construction, including laying the foundation for the project called Alexan Gateway, should commence in the next two months.

Alexan will feature 270 apartments — 70 percent studio or one-bedroom and 30 percent two-bedroom — and 7,100 square feet of retail. Trammell Crow Residential Development Associate Justin Adams told the AJC the apartments should open late summer in 2020.

This project, controversial during its gestation, was approved last August by Avondale’s Board of Mayor and Commissioners despite nearly unanimous opposition from the city’s Planning & Zoning Board and Architectural Review Board.

The primary complaint was Alexan’s footprint is two large — nearly three times bigger than what Avondale’s zoning calls for — and that there are too many apartments and not enough retail.

But Trammell Crow made significant last-minute adjustments:

■ It cut the apartments from the original 281, or to 68.6 units per acre, although the city’s zoning calls for only 40 units per acre.

■ Retail was increased from the original 5,000 square feet.

■ The overall footprint was cut by 2,000 square feet, although it’s still 94,500, while the city’s zoning calls for only 30,000 square feet.

Trammell Crow also added a public courtyard facing Hillyer, wider sidewalks on East College and a road behind the development linking Hillyer with Maple.

Trammell Crow purchased the property from longtime area landowner Joe Gargiulo for $6.9 million.