A local residential developer is taking over a large development site in Southeast Atlanta from a national multifamily giant, with plans to build hundreds of apartments and single-family houses.

Empire Communities has filed plans with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for a new residential project at 1296 Moreland Ave., just south of the East Atlanta Village and near the intersection of Custer Avenue. Empire plans to develop 681 residential units and 12K SF of retail to replace the largely empty shopping center on the site owned by Stream Realty Partners.

Stream partner Ben Hautt confirmed that Empire was pursuing the project on Stream's Moreland Avenue site, which would consist of apartments and single-family homes. Officials with Empire didn't respond to requests for comment.

Empire builds apartments, townhouses and, through its Empire Rental Living division, build-to-rent single-family houses, a subset of the residential industry that has been gaining a lot of momentum in recent months.

Empire isn't the first developer to make a go of this parcel. Last year, Phoenix-based Alliance Residential filed Development of Regional Impact plans to build what it was calling Broadstone at Moreland, a 32-acre project with more than 400 apartment units and 200 townhouses, as well as 11K SF of retail, WhatNowAtlanta previously reported. Hautt told Bisnow that Stream is no longer moving forward with Alliance on the site.

Other Empire projects in Metro Atlanta include the Buckley townhouse project in Buckhead near Chastain Park, the Crosby in West Midtown, townhouses at Halcyon mixed-use project in Alpharetta and Lovetree in Summerhill.

The developer also is planning a 34-acre project called Empire Zephyr off Boulevard in the Chosewood Park neighborhood near the Atlanta BeltLine, just 1.5 miles from its Moreland tract, according to its website.

Empire plans to complete the Moreland Avenue project by 2024, according to its DRI filing.