A year after breaking ground, the block-sized Old Fourth Ward development formerly known as City Lights North Block has a new name: The Wren at 640.
The renaming came from Michael Friedman, lead designer at Atlanta-based Geheber Lewis Architects, along with revised renderings showing how the 633 Parkway Drive project will sit between North Avenue and Ponce de Leon Avenue, roughly four blocks west of Ponce City Market. The building is reaching maximum height now.
Plans call for 187 apartments across a wide range of sizes, with every unit capped at rates deemed affordable. The $78.9 million project is reserved for tenants earning 60 percent of the Area Median Income or less, according to Invest Atlanta, and is supported by a Housing Assistance Payment Contract with HUD - meaning residents will not pay more than 30 percent of their income toward rent.
Listed rents start at $1,400 a month for 536-square-foot studios. The bulk of the building - 84 units - will be two-bedrooms asking $2,150 for 975 square feet. A single four-bedroom apartment will be offered at $2,900 for 1,302 square feet.
The Wren at 640 is the fifth phase of City Lights, Massachusetts developer Wingate's master-planned redevelopment of Bedford Pines, a cluster of HUD Section 8 buildings along and near Boulevard. Part of the project fronts Boulevard near Ponce de Leon Avenue, replacing a row of low-rise housing demolished several years ago along with more recent teardowns. The Views at O4W, a cove of modern townhomes built before and during the pandemic, stands across the street to the west.
Amenities are pitched at residents rather than at marketing: an after-school program, a business center with computers, a community room, a fitness center, laundry on each floor, and a private courtyard. Project officials also cite transit access as a selling point.
The construction timeline runs about 18 months, putting completion later this year. Another piece of the broader master plan, Wingate's Boulevard North, has already risen about a block away. Once The Wren finishes, only City Lights South will remain - and demolition and infrastructure work there is fully underway.
Original reporting by Josh Green for Urbanize Atlanta, published February 2026.
