Atlanta Civic Center Redevelopment Finally Breaks Ground

After sitting vacant for more than a decade, redevelopment of the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center is officially underway.

Atlanta Housing and its development partners broke ground December 9 on the first phase of the 19-acre project in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward. The first building will include 148 affordable one-bedroom apartments for seniors, with housing expected to become available in 2027.

Who Will the Apartments Serve?

The first phase is 100% affordable senior housing.

Thirty apartments will be reserved for seniors earning up to 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI), while the remaining 118 will serve seniors earning below 60% AMI. That matters in an area where rising housing costs can make it difficult for older adults living on Social Security, retirement income or other fixed incomes to remain in the communities they know.

This Is Only Phase One

The larger Civic Center redevelopment is much bigger.

Plans for the full site call for approximately 1,500 mixed-income homes, including 590 affordable units, along with retail and office space, a hotel and other community uses. The redevelopment also includes plans to reimagine the Civic Center's performing arts space.

Atlanta Housing purchased the property in 2017 after the Civic Center closed in 2014. Years of redevelopment plans followed, but construction never started.

That is why this groundbreaking is significant. This time, dirt is moving.

Sources: Atlanta Housing, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta News First