Some buildings carry a whole lot of history, and the one at 239 West Lake Avenue NW on Atlanta's Westside is one of them. It started out as the Waluhaje Hotel, and now, after years of work, it's ready for a new chapter as 102 affordable apartments.
Quest Community Development Corporation, known as QuestCDC, has scheduled a ribbon-cutting for Heritage Village @ West Lake on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the property, according to the group's announcement. Mayor Andre Dickens, City Councilman Byron Amos and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams are among the speakers listed, along with leaders from Atlanta Housing, the Urban League of Greater Atlanta and Mercy Care. The event is open to the public.
The timing means something to QuestCDC, too. The group is marking 25 years of community development work in Atlanta. "As we mark 25 years of impact, Heritage Village @ West Lake is a powerful example of what's possible when partners come together around a shared vision for equitable growth," said Leonard L. Adams Jr., QuestCDC's founder and CEO.
A building with a story
The building went up in 1951 as the Waluhaje Hotel and Apartment Complex. In a 2024 announcement, Atlanta Housing said it served Black guests and residents during the Jim Crow era and had a large ballroom that hosted many top jazz musicians. In 1967 the property was sold and became the headquarters for Atlanta Job Corps, which ran residential, education and job training programs there until it shut down in 2017. A joint venture of Columbia Residential and Quest bought the site the next year.
Now it's been rehabbed into Heritage Village. QuestCDC says all 102 apartments are one-bedroom units, and the building is close to the West Lake MARTA station and Westside Park. Columbia Residential is QuestCDC's co-developer.
"This project represents more than new housing — it represents renewed opportunity for our Westside community," Adams said of the building.
Atlanta Housing's Terri M. Lee put the history front and center when the financing closed in 2024. "This site is steeped in Atlanta's rich history of music, culture, and civil rights," she said.
According to Atlanta Housing, Heritage Village is 100% affordable and serves households earning no more than 30% of the area median income. Some units are reserved for veterans, young adults aging out of foster care and people facing homelessness. The plan also includes a community health clinic. The Urban League of Greater Atlanta and Mercy Care are partnering with QuestCDC to connect residents with wellness resources and job opportunities.
The money came from a long list of places, which is typical for a deal like this. Atlanta Housing put the cost at about $35.7 million and said it was the agency's first development financed with New Markets Tax Credits. The financing included a loan of more than $4.3 million from Atlanta Housing, about $9.8 million in net New Markets Tax Credit financing, and about $25.6 million in loans and grants from Invest Atlanta, Westside Future Fund, Partners for Home, Together ATL and Georgia Investment in Housing. Atlanta Housing also bought the 6.8-acre site for about $5 million and leased it for 75 years to a nonprofit affiliate of Quest.
Atlanta Housing said the rest of that 6.8-acre property could be developed in future phases.
The rehab angle
For contractors, this is a textbook adaptive-reuse job: taking a 1950s building that served as a hotel and then a job training center, and making it work as modern apartments. Columbia Residential has described the project as turning the building into five stories of homes.
Anybody who has done this kind of work knows the challenge. You're fitting 102 kitchens and bathrooms into a structure that wasn't laid out for them, bringing systems up to today's codes, and doing it in a way that respects a building with real history behind it.
We couldn't find a public source naming the general contractor on the project.
Why it matters for Contractors
Heritage Village shows that old buildings on Atlanta's Westside can be turned into housing when the financing lines up, and a $35.7 million rehab is a lot of work for demolition crews, MEP subs, framers, drywall hangers, flooring installers, painters and finish carpenters. Adaptive reuse rewards contractors who are comfortable with surprises behind the walls and with tracking costs carefully against a tight budget. With Atlanta Housing noting room for future phases on the remaining land, this site may have more work ahead. If you want to be part of whatever comes next, get to know QuestCDC and Columbia Residential, who are developing Heritage Village as part of what QuestCDC calls its Westside Housing Trifecta.