Redevelopment of Atlanta’s Civic Center has officially started after the property was sold nearly a decade ago. On Tuesday, officials broke ground on the forthcoming multi-phase, multi-use community near the city’s Old Fourth Ward.
Back in 2015, Atlanta’s city council put the property up for sale after its closure. The aging site was a financial strain, and was later sold to Atlanta Housing Authority for just over 30 million dollars in 2017.
Now, the property will deliver 148 affordable senior rental units in the first phase of redevelopment.
Rendering of the Civic Center redevelopment phase one, featuring 148 senior rental units by 2027. (Courtesy of Atlanta Downtown)
“This is sacred ground, sacred work. And we made a promise to the people of Atlanta to make this a city where everyone can live, grow , and retire with dignity, a city of opportunity for all. And we intend to keep it that way,” said Mayor Andre Dickens during the phase one groundbreaking.
Phase one’s price tag is about $60 million. However, the 19-acre former site of the Buttermilk Bottom neighborhood is also rich in history, according to Atlanta Housing President and CEO Terri Lee.
“Buttermilk Bottom was a working-class neighborhood for Black folks. Black folks had defined and built churches, had extended families, culture, joy and survival in the face of systemic disinvestment,” Lee said.
“Urban renewal erased what Buttermilk Bottom was – [it] completely destroyed homes, displaced families and people were pushed out.”
From the late 50s to the 70s, urban renewal was a program that modernized infrastructure throughout the country. However, the program specifically displaced and disadvantaged Black people and families, including those of Buttermilk Bottom.
Officials hope to restore a sense of community through the entire Civic Center redevelopment project, which will produce about 1,500 mixed-income housing units. Phase one is on track to be completed by 2027.
