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Artists and artisans sell their work from Studioplex

Atlanta

Bringing the Sweetness Back to Auburn Avenue

Fortune magazine once heralded Atlanta's Auburn Avenue as "the richest Negro Street in the world." And it wasn't rich only in economic terms. Until the early 1960s, "Sweet Auburn" was a cultural center for African Americans, widely considered the "Harlem of the South." On any given night, the sounds of B. B. King, Aretha Franklin, or Gladys Knight wafted from clubs.

But with desegregation, Sweet Auburn came upon rough times. As upwardly mobile families moved to more affluent neighborhoods, the once-bustling community began to resemble a slum, beaten down by crime, drugs, homelessness, and disinvestment.

In 1980, a few residents made up their minds to revitalize the blocks surrounding the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the Historic District Development Corporation was born. With the help of public and private sector funds, including loans and grants from Living Cities working through the Enterprise Foundation, the Corporation has rebuilt 15 full blocks.

One standout accomplishment was the creation of the $18.3 million Studioplex, a mixed-income residential and commercial arts community developed to lure artists and entrepreneurs back to Sweet Auburn

Studioplex is an adaptive reuse of a 100-year old cotton warehouse structure that has been updated to meet today's high-tech requirements. The renovation transformed the warehouse into 17 large commercial office spaces, in addition to 112 residential lofts and 24 gallery spaces. More than half of Studioplex's tenants are artists, and about one-fifth of the lofts have been set aside for those earning less than $23,000.

The Corporation has also built and renovated more than 100 single-family homes as well as a 58-unit low-incoome apartment complex in the Historic District following guidelines for historic communities which come from the City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission. HDDC in conjunction with the City established the boundaries for the MLK, Jr. Historic District to protect the original structures and ensure that all new construction would be in keeping with the charm and grace of the original architecture. But clearly the efforts have been worth it, as middle-class families have begun to move back to the neighborhood, mixing well with the older lower-income residents.