This story has been updated.

DeKalb County, GA — MARTA held an open house on March 30 to showcase the transit-oriented development master plan for Indian Creek Station.

The plan includes 1,600 apartment units, retail, office space, a grocery, restaurants, a park plus festival space, and eight parking garages, all on the footprint of the existing parking lot. 

MARTA’s Director of Transit Oriented Development Debbie Frank said that Indian Creek is one of four stations for which MARTA has committed to producing master plans over the past two years. The other three are Kensington, HE Holmes, and Bankhead, all of which are further along in the process. 

Joshua Turner of WSP, who led the planning project, said that MARTA owns 64 acres at the site but that the tree canopy will be left as it is. The village concept is designed to be built in phases, and the first phase will include a parking deck for MARTA patrons that will replace the current parking spaces. Apartments and retail are also part of the initial phase.

MARTA General Manager Collie Greenwood described the project as part of a remedy for the history of underinvestment in DeKalb County communities.

Greenwood said that the planned development and the surrounding area will become more walkable and connected. A multi-use trail will connect the Kensington station to Indian Creek. 

Frank said the next step would be rezoning the parcel to a mixed-use high-density (MU-4) designation. After that, MARTA will seek private partners for the development phase, when the estimated cost will be determined. Frank also said that because MARTA has multiple projects at once, the agency tries to be intentional about timing and how it uses resources.

The event was held at Electric Owl Studios and was well-attended. Several speakers noted the over 200 attendees and DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson pointed to the size of the crowd as evidence of the community’s interest in the project.

“We know you are engaged,” Johnson said.

Resident Alicia Pugh said that community involvement in the decision-making was her main concern.

“Just making sure the community is thought about when the designs and overall plans are done,” Pugh said.

Another nearby resident, Lee Sampson, said most established cities have long since had extensive development tied to their rail stations.

“It’s about time. Indian Creek has been there about 25 years,” Sampson said.

City council members Augusta Woods and Tom Ramsey from nearby Pine Lake also attended. Both were in favor of the project and thought it would benefit Pine Lake residents.

Ramsey said that the planned restaurants and retail will draw Pine Lake residents. Woods is hopeful that the planned development in the area will work synergistically.

“I think it will tie in well with the Memorial Drive corridor project,” said Woods, adding that Pine Lake has its own commercial district that needs development, and she believes all of that will work together.

“It will change a lot of things,” Ramsey said. 

Here are two more images from the master plan:

Correction: An earlier version of this story provided an incorrect name of one of the MARTA stations. This story has been updated with the correct information. 

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