The Waluhaje has reopened as Heritage Village at West Lake, putting a former Black-owned hotel, apartment complex and jazz ballroom back into use with 102 one-bedroom apartments and a public health clinic. The Oct. 29, 2026, ribbon cutting marked the return of a landmark at 239 West Lake Ave. NW in West Lake.
For neighbors, the distinction is access: the clinic welcomes the public, including walk-ins. The apartments are reserved for households earning no more than 30 percent of Area Median Income, and all 102 are backed by Atlanta Housing HomeFlex project-based vouchers. They are reached through a waiting list process, not an open-market listing. No rents have been published.
Twenty-four of the apartments are set aside for single adults ages 18 to 24 aging out of foster care. The project also offers onsite job and life skills training and an entrepreneurial incubator.
How the housing waiting list works
All 102 apartments are filled from a list, which means the income cap is one part of eligibility and not a promise of an available apartment. For scale, our earlier reporting put 30 percent AMI at roughly $24,750 for a single adult. Treat that as a rough gauge only: actual limits vary by household size, program and unit.
Co-developers Columbia Residential and QuestCDC have not published rents, a leasing office contact or application instructions, so the waiting list question has to go to them directly.
Columbia's waiting list page, last modified March 31, 2026, says site-based openings are posted at least a week before they begin, but it does not list Heritage Village. Columbia also warns that no one can pay to skip an affordable housing waiting list and that it will never request money through cash apps.
The clinic and ballroom have different access
Mercy Care at Heritage Village is operating inside the building as a Federally Qualified Health Center. Its clinic listing gives hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with primary care, behavioral health and psychiatry. Walk-ins are welcome, though walk-in hours may vary. For appointments, call 678-843-8600.
The restored 150-person ballroom retains its historic stage. QuestCDC says it can be rented for special events, although rates and booking details are not posted. That gives neighbors another way to use the building beyond its apartments and clinic.
A landmark returned to everyday use
Opened in 1951 under developer Walter H. "Chief" Aiken, the Waluhaje served Black patrons and residents during segregation. It was listed in the Green Book, and its ballroom hosted top jazz musicians.
The property sold in 1967 and became Atlanta Job Corps headquarters. It sat vacant after Job Corps ceased operations there in 2017. Columbia and Quest acquired it in 2018, beginning an eight-year path to reopening. Their advertised Spring 2026 target became an October ribbon cutting; Columbia's project page still carries the earlier target.
The roughly $35.7 million rehabilitation also establishes a long-term land arrangement. At the 2024 financial closing, Atlanta Housing bought the 6.8-acre site outright and ground-leased it to a Quest nonprofit affiliate for 75 years. Remaining land has potential for future phases, not a confirmed next development.
Heritage Village belongs to QuestCDC's Westside Housing Trifecta initiative. Quest Residences @ Grove Park, serving residents 55 and older, opened April 7, 2025. That completed community provides a nearby precedent for Quest's housing-plus-services approach, rather than leaving Heritage Village as an isolated concept.
I see the value here in a historic building serving daily needs again: housing, health care and a place to gather. Preserving the ballroom matters, and so does making the building useful beyond remembering its past.
