NorSouth, HADC Break Ground on New Senior Community

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

The NorSouth Cos., a development, construction and management company that specializes in environmentally sensitive, affordable communities for independent senior living, partnered with the Housing Authority of DeKalb County for its newest project, Hearthside Brookleigh. The $15.7 million senior living community consists of 121 apartments and serves as Phase III of a new six-phase, mixed-use development. The public/private partnership plans a mixed-use, mixed-income community for the site, as a response to the increasing demand for affordable homes for independent seniors.

Set in north DeKalb County, the 56-acre Brookleigh site, just north of Brookhaven and adjacent to Blackburn Park, is the location of the former Johnson Ferry East public housing project; the Housing Authority of DeKalb County owns the land.

The current phase will feature 121 one- and two-bedroom apartments with spacious kitchens, balconies and direct entry from the outside for the ground-floor residences. Large walk-in closets, pantries in the kitchen, Energy Star appliances, microwaves and washer/dryer hook-ups will also be included. Amenities include private gardens, a residents’ lounge and media room, a fitness center, a sunroom and a bocce ball court. The amenity-rich, affordable apartment community is geared for seniors age 62 or older and will welcome its first residents in early 2012.

Upon completion, the six-phase Brookleigh property will include apartments for independent seniors, a new retail village, luxury mid-rise apartments and high-end single-family homes and condominiums. It will be conveniently located within the PATH Foundation multipurpose trail that runs through the site, connecting it to Blackburn Park, Murphy Candler Park and other destinations throughout metro Atlanta.

Remaining consistent with its green building principles, NorSouth is constructing Hearthside Brookleigh to EarthCraft House Multifamily standards, including energy-efficient appliances and lighting fixtures, indoor air-quality improvements, a rainwater harvest system and more. NorSouth removed the mature trees during the demolition of the old public buildings and plans on re-planting them in Brookleigh’s new park.