A construction timeline has emerged for an adaptive-reuse project that’s expected to help boost Atlanta’s chronically homeless population while preserving an architectural landmark with deep societal importance.
Plans call for turning the 111-year-old Odd Fellows Building at 250 Auburn Avenue into a range of stable housing and the headquarters of Georgia Works, a donor-funded nonprofit that helps homeless men transition into more productive members of society.
According to Invest Atlanta, another component of the renovation would include four retail spaces at street level with below-market leasing rates, an effort to increase Auburn Avenue’s vibrancy and help local businesses.
Current condition of the 1912 landmark building where Auburn Avenue meets Bell Street. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta
Georgia Works currently operates at the Gateway Center on Pryor Street, housing its program participants in converted jail facilities.
Alongside state and city-level agencies, the nonprofit is partnering with developer DSM Real Estate Partners on the Odd Fellows Building rehabilitation. The project is estimated to cost $13.3 million overall, with the bulk of funding sourced from grants.
The building is located at the northwest corner of Auburn Avenue and Bell Street, about a block west of the Connector, near the historic Sweet Auburn district.
With its Jacobean revival architecture and façade adorned with unique terra cotta figures, the main Odd Fellows structure opened in 1912, followed by an annex with an auditorium the next year. The complex became an important landmark for Black Atlanta society in subsequent decades, hosting dances and myriad social functions. It underwent an extensive renovation in the 1980s but has more recently slipped into disrepair.
Expected look of the Odd Fellows Building’s facade after renovations. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta
Early this year, Georgia Works purchased the tower portion of…
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