People in NW Atlanta will soon enjoy new greenspace, spectacular views

ATLANTA — After years of work, residents and business owners have struck a deal with the Atlanta Department of Watershed to create a large greenspace in an area exploding with new apartments.

There are 4 ½ acres at the corner of Northside Drive and 17th Street that have sat empty and overgrown for decades, but as Channel 2's Craig Lucie found out, that will soon change.

For more than 100 years, the land around the Atlanta Water Works Reservoir was a public greenspace.

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Before the Olympics came to town, the city erected chain-link fences for security reasons around the water. But not the land at the corner of 17th Street and Northside Drive.

“It’s 4 ½ acres, and it’s unfenced,” said Elizabeth Hollister, who is the executive director of Upper Westside Community District.

Unfenced, but unused.

It took years for Elizabeth Hollister and other local groups and leaders to strike a memorandum of understanding with Atlanta Department of Watershed Management to make the area a welcoming greenspace.

The first phase of the project will be to clean up all the debris -- like downed tree limbs -- and trim the trees.

An area known as the hilltop will have mulch trails and benches so people can enjoy the view of Midtown and Downtown Atlanta.

Lea Lacey is trying to rent out units at the new Accent Waterworks apartments and says the new greenspace will help.

“This is going to be a new attraction to us selling here,” Lacey said.

Hollister told Lucie they are still working on getting the fences taken down around the reservoir, and right now they want your input.

“I think it will be heavily used because of density in the area with the apartments coming up, office buildings and retail,” Hollister said.

They need your input on what you would like to see in the new greenspace besides benches and trail.

CLICK HERE to visit their Facebook page and weigh in.

Cox Media Group