In the heart of Atlanta’s West Midtown, a seven-story multifamily building is rising on a steep 3-acre site along Huff Road, bringing 250 luxury apartments to the historic Blandtown neighborhood. Novel Blandtown, the latest intown project from Charlotte-based Crescent Communities, is entering the home stretch of construction and is scheduled to open in early 2027.
Novel Blandtown 250-Unit Luxury Project Nears Completion on Huff Road in Atlanta
Marketed as an “exceptional addition” to the area, the development replaces a former PDI Kitchen, Bath, and Lighting showroom at 1095 and 1121 Huff Road NW, along with an adjacent vacant lot, and underscores the ongoing densification of a corridor long defined by industrial uses.
Project Overview and Design
Designed by Atlanta architecture firm Niles Bolton Associates, Novel Blandtown responds to the site’s challenging topography with a terraced massing that steps from a five-story light-timber wrap structure to a seven-story, five-over-two mid-rise fronting Huff Road. The design is described as Bauhaus-inspired, with bold material contrasts and an interplay of vertical and horizontal elements that give the building a strong urban character while preserving space for the neighborhood’s mature tree canopy.
The project includes approximately 220,000 square feet of leasable space and roughly 12,500 square feet of amenities. A six-story pre-cast parking deck with 322 spaces sits beneath a clubhouse and pool, carefully concealed from street view. Additional features include rooftop spaces for gathering, an urban plaza with dynamic hardscaping and a grassy knoll (serving as a placeholder for a future 4,700-square-foot one-story retail building topped with a patio), and about 50 bicycle parking spaces. Japanese investor materials from the project’s 2024 announcement also reference a rooftop lounge, courtyard wood deck, and outdoor movie screen, targeting active young professionals seeking a live-work-play lifestyle.
To comply with the Beltline’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, 10 percent of the apartments will be reserved for households earning 60 percent of area median income or less. Units range from studios to two-bedrooms and feature high-end finishes typical of Crescent’s NOVEL brand, which focuses on elevated urban multifamily living.
Construction Timeline and Partners
Construction began around November 2024. By early 2026, the parking deck was complete and framing was well underway, according to updates from general contractor Fortune-Johnson LLC. As of early November 2026, the project is rounding into final shape roughly two years after demolition and groundwork started. Japanese partners Sumitomo Forestry and Chuo-Nittochi (through a joint venture structure with Crescent) have been involved since the project’s formal announcement, reflecting growing international capital interest in Atlanta’s multifamily market. The official project website notes the early 2027 opening while construction continues.
Crescent Communities already has a significant presence in the immediate area. Its Novel West Midtown community (about 340 units) opened in 2023 just north of Huff Road on Fairmont Avenue and also includes a 10 percent affordable set-aside under Beltline rules. The firm’s Georgia managing director, Eric Liebendorfer, has overseen a broader Atlanta expansion that includes both urban NOVEL projects and suburban RENDER and HARMON communities.
Neighborhood Context
Blandtown, centered along Huff Road between Howell Mill Road and Marietta Boulevard, has a layered history. In 1872, Samuel Bland, a Black landowner, purchased land in the area shortly after the Civil War; the neighborhood that grew around it became one of Atlanta’s earliest prominent African American communities, eventually supporting more than 200 homes, churches, and businesses. It was home to a broadcasting tower for WERD, the nation’s first Black-owned radio station. A 1956 rezoning to heavy industrial use—widely viewed as a racially motivated effort to disrupt Black residential clusters and dilute voting power—led to a sharp decline. By the late 20th century, the area was dominated by warehouses and industrial buildings.
Over the past decade, the neighborhood has undergone rapid redevelopment as part of the broader Upper Westside and West Midtown boom. Proximity to the Atlanta Beltline has been a major catalyst: a section of the Westside Trail opened nearby in 2022, and the Northwest Trail segment toward Buckhead opened more recently, with further expansion underway. Other nearby projects include Empire Communities’ multi-block Longreen development and various townhome and mixed-use efforts. Infrastructure work continues on Huff Road itself, including plans for improved sidewalks, multimodal connections, and partial widening to address congestion.
Crescent is also involved in larger redevelopment plans for the nearby Lumberyards warehouse district, which could add hundreds more apartments and enhanced Beltline-oriented retail and outdoor space.
Significance
Novel Blandtown exemplifies several concurrent trends in Atlanta real estate: continued Beltline-driven densification in formerly industrial Westside neighborhoods, strong demand for Class A multifamily housing among younger residents, adaptive responses to challenging sites, and the inclusion of modest affordable set-asides under local ordinances. As construction wraps up and the community opens in early 2027, it will add both market-rate and workforce housing options while contributing to the ongoing physical and demographic evolution of Blandtown—one of Atlanta’s more historically significant yet rapidly changing neighborhoods.
For the latest project updates, the developer maintains a site at novelblandtown.com. Local coverage of construction progress and neighborhood context has appeared regularly on Urbanize Atlanta.
