A high-rise project backed by public funding that’s designed to inject relatively attainable housing into some of downtown Atlanta’s most vibrant blocks once again won’t break ground in the timeframe its developers had predicted. 

Nearly five years after initially unveiling the project, New Jersey-based RBH Group had scheduled an Oct. 20 groundbreaking on a 457,500-square-foot tower called Teachers Village, planned to rise more than 30 stories near Centennial Olympic Park. 

That groundbreaking date came and went last week with no heavy equipment or ceremony on site, which worried some neighbors hoping for progress and economic activity in the area. “Our condo building is a block away, so we’re interested in this project,” a reader wrote to Urbanize Atlanta. “Always great to see more residents downtown.” 

RBH Group spokesperson Lonnie Soury tells Urbanize details of the project are still being finalized, delaying construction again. It still calls for a unique, affordability component geared toward educators.

“[We] now expect to break ground later in the first quarter” of 2026, Soury wrote via email.  

The mixed-use project would see 424 apartments total—a significant housing influx for the area—with none of them rented at market rate, or prices dictated by the open market, developers have said. 

The southeast corner of the Cone Street site, looking toward Centennial Olympic Park. Google Maps

Totality of Teachers Village's Walton Street facade, according to updated renderings. S9 Architecture

In 2021, Invest Atlanta approved a $4-million Tax Allocation District grant and $26 million in tax-exempt bond financing to support construction of the portion of the project meant for teachers. At the time, Invest Atlanta leaders pointed to RBH’s success in developing other Teachers Village projects in Newark and Hartford, Conn. that addressed a need for workforce housing.

Initial designs for the project emerged in early 2021. An earlier timeline called for breaking ground in 2024, but that didn’t materialize, either. 

According to designers S9 Architecture and a building permit application filed in 2023, the tower will stand 33 stories. (RBH officials more recently told 11Alive news the floor count will be 31.) The bulk of the tower—227 units—will be reserved for independent living seniors. The remaining 197 apartments will be considered workforce housing, per developers. 

A revised look at the Teachers Village project's planned retail space where Ted Turner Drive, at left, meets Walton Street.S9 Architecture

Glimpse at planned Teachers Village interior common spaces. S9 Architecture

Ten percent of the units, or 23 homes, will be earmarked for renters who make no more than 80 percent of the area median income. The rest will be rented at below 120 percent AMI, project reps previously told Urbanize Atlanta. Deeply discounted rental housing, in other words, this is not. 

The goal is nonetheless to fill a void of workforce housing downtown and create “a model for shared, intergenerational living where residents share social responsibility and live purposeful lives,” per RBH’s marketing materials.

RBH has described the 375-foot-tall downtown proposal as a first for Georgia, in that all apartments would be marketed to teachers, other school employees, and seniors in Atlanta as relatively affordable living options. 

The range of expected rents has not been specified. 

Teachers Village would replace a surface parking lot on the .92-acre property. A parking garage currently on site will remain standing, per filings with the City of Atlanta Office of Buildings.

The site is bounded by Cone Street, Ted Turner Drive, and Walton Street downtown, a block from Centennial Olympic Park in the Fairlie-Poplar Historic District.

Roughly 23,000 square feet of retail fronting Walton Street is also in the works across two stories, aimed at adding vibrancy to the district with restaurants and shops. Plans also call for 371 parking spaces.

Overview of the 98 Cone Street/0 Walton Street site and its proximity to Centennial Olympic Park. Google Maps

How the project would front Walton Street. RBH Group; designs, S9 Architecture

According to earlier Special Administrative Permit filings, plans call for topping the building with a rooftop swimming pool and sun deck, while other outdoor amenities would include landscaped terraces above the new parking podium. The minimum 43 bike parking spaces required would be included in eight racks.

The higher floors would be reserved for apartments geared toward teachers, while lower floors would see the senior independent living units. Those two variations of rentals would be accessed through separate lobbies at ground level, according to SAP filings.

Should it move forward, the Teachers Village tower would join two other residential high-rises that claimed former parking lots and low-rise structures nearby in recent years. The site is roughly a block from a 32-story student housing tower by Landmark Properties and AECOM-Canyon Partners that opened in 2023. Also within a block, the 22-story Margaritaville resort condo building by Wyndham Destinations opened with 200 suites and two floors of retail three years ago.

As of August, RBH’s construction schedule called for delivering Teachers Village in 2027. But given the project’s scope, completion within two years appears to be in jeopardy now. 

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