The Pencil Lofts were one of the many construction projects being built around Atlanta just when the real estate market fell off a cliff.  And while it may be just one of many such projects, the future of this project has been particularly interesting, since it sits in a slot along Decatur Street in downtown Atlanta with many, MANY different influences in each direction.

To the east: the King Memorial MARTA Station.  To the west: Georgia State.  Across the street to the north, the old location of the Grady Homes, still under construction.  To the south, Memorial Drive.

As a result, it’s been interesting to observe the ongoing fate of this late-to-the-party, mixed-use project.  And though it’s hard to determine the current residential occupancy rate, two of the properties’ commercial locations were just recently occupied, with an Intown Market and a hair salon.

The Lofts finally seemed to be showing signs that it might be able to hold its own in a very transitional area.  Then last night, this happened…

Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a Georgia State student at the Pencil Factory apartments near downtown Atlanta.

Maxwell Fiandt was shot in the back of the head outside one of the loft apartments at the 349 Decatur St. building, authorities said late Wednesday night.

Currently Atlanta police are saying that they believe that Fiandt knew the people who killed him, and that he may have been selling them marijuana.  (Not that selling pot is all that unusual on ANY college campus, and it usually doesn’t end with someone being shot.)

And while that may make this gruesome crime a bit less frightening in the public eye than a completely random act of violence, it’s still a very troubling occurrence.  It certainly isn’t good PR for the area’s cornerstone development that’s looking to bring Georgia State’s revitalization of downtown Atlanta across the highway.