Assignment 9: Rosemary

The 520 Park Apartments in Grant Park are a common example of apartment complexes in Atlanta, especially in neighborhoods off of the Memorial/Boulevard/Moreland corridor like Kirkwood, Edgewood, Grant Park, and Little 5. The 520 Park apartment building is located directly across from Grant Park, giving it a garden apartment feel. A rectangular block mass and surrounded on both sides by residential, one-family houses, it can be conjectured that the building exists in a footprint previously occupied by another house. As photos 1 and 2 illustrate, the building's layout is arranged so that the apartments open perpendicular to the street. The arrangement was most likely adopted because it allowed for the most number of units in the least amount of space. It also helps shield residents from the street as well as shield the street from the apartment building (while not as ugly as some complexes, it certainly doesn't have the same aesthetic appeal as the New South Cottages, Victorians, and Bungalows that fill out the neighborhood). Besides facing the building away from the street, however, the building and parking lot is not gated or protected (as seen in picture #2), allowing anyone to approach each individual unit. The style of the building could be described as modern, although there are not a lot of stylistic details especially because the front facade is really the side of the building. The name of the complex could very well be original as the name of the street is Park Street, although it is obvious that the owner of the building has created a brand/logo out of the address, giving it more distinction. (See picture #1). Based on appearances, the building was probably built in the 1960s. At this time, Grant Park was somewhat down-and-out and the complex probably was an investment project to try and get more money out of the land.

The complex seems to serve a clientele of white 20-30 year olds, mostly single or couples ( I did see a few toys so there may be small families as well) who want to live in the Grant Park area but can't afford to rent or buy a house or are not sure if they want to invest time/money into owning a property. When first built, the clientele may have been different because the neighborhood was a lot rougher. Additionally, the apartments look like they are 1-2 bedrooms which would suit a single person or young couple well. The complex is well-maintained with a nice green space directly in front (basically a front yard) and a clean parking lot. Picture #3 shows the main amenity--Grant Park. (That is the view of the park looking out from the parking lot). Each unit has a balcony or a stoop as well but there are no shared amenities like a pool, workout room, etc. People who would like to live in such a complex seem like they would choose it because of its in-town neighborhood location that offers relative safety, little traffic, and green space in contrast to a large Post Apartment type complex that would be gated off from the surrounding neighborhood, have lots of traffic, and have little green space.