ATLANTA--(THE BUILDER'S DAILY | ARCHITECTURE) – In development initiatives to build infill missing-middle housing, zoning regulations on setbacks, lot sizes, height restrictions, building codes, and construction costs can pile up as barriers that slow project timelines to a crawl.

However, an infill 17-unit missing middle housing development in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood lept over all those time barriers with a design that took two weeks rather than as many months. At the same time, the project came through with lowered costs and an increase in the number of units to boot.

How did the project bend time and cost curves as it navigated its way to reality?

Artificial intelligence.

Atlanta-based Cove Architecture, backed by $25 million in funding sources that include actor Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition, deployed AI platforms developed in-house to do the townhome project.

Using AI, the firm determined quickly that 15 units would work on the site. However, two additional units could be added because it was located in a redeveloping area in Atlanta.

"With 15, it barely penciled," Sandeep Ahuja, Cove’s CEO and co-founder, said. "With 17, it penciled.”