But the Garden Hills Civic Association lost its bid for a restraining order in state Circuit Court against construction of the first phase of the project. That phase consists of two one-million-sf office towers, which MARTA will lease to BellSouth Corp. Now the residents are appealing the Circuit Court ruling.

Garden Hills last year was involved, along with area neighborhoods, in mediation with office developer Carter & Associates. The other neighborhoods ultimately supported the plan, but Garden Hills decided to file suit because it could not get the developer to lower the number of planned 10,000 parking spaces.

Attorneys for the neighborhood contend that, under its charter, MARTA may not lease its property for a commercial enterprise. They further hold that MARTA did not follow competitive bidding regulations in choosing Carter & Associates to develop the office towers. The court is expected to rule on the issue in February.