Vision for reborn Lakewood Heights school property starts to emerge
Josh Green
Thu, 06/26/2025 - 12:15
How a richly historic but crumbling Atlanta school property might be revitalized with injections of commercial and residential spaces is coming into clearer focus. And the vision—albeit in draft form—looks promising.
Following planning studies, design exercises, and a series of community meetings, a master plan has emerged that provides several options and a possible blueprint for how long-vacant Lakewood Heights Elementary School could be brought back to life south of downtown.
The 2.1-acre property at 335 Sawtell Ave. is highlighted by a 1932 school building (with wings added in the 1950s) that all plans identify as paramount for saving and restoring through adaptive-reuse development.
An aerial view over the intersection of Charleston and South Bend avenues with new on-street parking, apartments standing two and three stories, and the adaptively reused school. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development; designs, Zanetta Illustration
A map of historically significant Atlanta Public School properties, as compiled by Atlanta Preservation Center and APS.APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
Lakewood Heights’ NPU-Y recently approved rezoning plans for the school property that would allow for mixed-use revitalization, and an Atlanta City Council vote is expected soon. According to neighborhood sources, final designs for the school property’s redevelopment will be decided by the neighborhood, and a Request for Qualifications from developers could be issued as soon as next month. The site has been pinpointed by Atlanta Preservation Center as being of “major significance.”
The three structures on site today include the 1930s school and additions from the 1950s and 1990s.
Atlanta Public Schools, the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation, and city officials partnered with Atlanta-based design firm Historical Concepts, Lakewood Heights Community Association, and NPU-Y to pull together the master plan after a four-month public engagement process.
Broadly speaking, business owners and residents in the area emphasized the importance of keeping the old school while creating “high-quality retail, and quality mixed-income housing options including units for higher-income residents,” according to the report.
Four different design concepts were compiled. Housing would range between 35 and 55 units, while parking configurations, building arrangements, and programming would vary. Renderings indicate designs could lean toward a decidedly throwback look.
A draft concept for the corner of Charleston and Sawtell avenues shows a new commercial storefront, courtyard, and potential look of new townhomes, per the master plan. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development; designs, Zanetta Illustration
Four options for adaptive-reuse and new construction in Lakewood Heights compiled in a March report this year. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
Last fall, the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation—a nonprofit entity that aims to develop underused public land into mixed-income housing—announced the Lakewood Heights site was one of eight “surplus” school properties planned for conversion into community assets.
That initiative, an intergovernmental agreement with Atlanta Public Schools, includes more than 48 acres of total land and vacant or underused facilities across the city. Sites in West End and Lakewood Heights will see redevelopment first, officials said at the time.
The Lakewood school property has been shuttered and vacant since 2004. Three years ago, it was at risk of being demolished, but APS reconsidered and scrapped those plans, citing historical value.
Find more context and a closer look at how Lakewood Heights Elementary School could see renewed life, at last, in the gallery above.
The former Lakewood Heights Elementary School. Google Maps
APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
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335 Sawtell Ave. SE
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A map of historically significant Atlanta Public School properties, as compiled by Atlanta Preservation Center and APS.APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
The former Lakewood Heights Elementary School. Google Maps
Overview of the former Lakewood Heights Elementary School property today. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
A draft concept for the corner of Charleston and Sawtell avenues shows a new commercial storefront, courtyard, and potential look of new townhomes, per the master plan. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development; designs, Zanetta Illustration
An aerial view over the intersection of Charleston and South Bend avenues with new on-street parking, apartments standing two and three stories, and the adaptively reused school. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development; designs, Zanetta Illustration
Four options for adaptive-reuse and new construction in Lakewood Heights compiled in a March report this year. APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
APS/Housing Innovation Lab/Atlanta Urban Development
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Historic preservation, housing, “high-quality retail” at core of plans for vacant APS property
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Lakewood Heights
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