Five years after The Works started opening like an adaptive-reuse bright spot during pandemic malaise, a veteran Atlanta developer has begun preparations to nearly triple the mixed-use district’s current size. 

Selig Enterprises filed paperwork this week with the State of Georgia indicating The Works could pack on roughly 2.2 million square feet of additional development over the next five years as part of its second phase. 

In terms of sheer space, that’s roughly the equivalent of Ponce City Market’s main building. 

Selig officials on Monday submitted a Development of Regional Impact filing with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, a state-level requirement for projects large enough to potentially impact local municipalities. It’s now under review.

That paperwork indicates The Work is gearing up for another 1 million square feet of residential development, with a target completion date of 2031. Joining that would be 1.2 million square feet of restaurant, office, and retail land uses, per the DRI filing.

An aerial showing the scope of phases one and two at The Works warehouse district. Courtesy of Selig

According to Selig reps, the phase-two expansion would come along Logan Circle and Chattahoochee Avenue as extension of The Works’ existing footprint. The developer has submitted a rezoning request to make that happen. 

Phase two “is currently in early planning stages, with no immediate construction timeline established at this time,” per a statement provided to Urbanize Atlanta. “Selig is working closely with the Upper Westside [Community Improvement District] and local neighborhood groups to gain insight and feedback throughout the process.”

Selig officials said in December phase two will span roughly 50 acres—much larger than the completed first phase’s 27 acres.  

Elsewhere around the district, a new $18-million parking deck designed by Smith Dalia Architects opened early last year. That joined another garage by the same firm (dare we say, an eye-catching structure) that opened as part of The Works’ first offerings in 2021. 

Selig, which has controlled buildings in the district for more than seven decades, initially announced plans for The Works in 2017. 

How one of the first The Works corridors came together between formerly empty warehouses, as seen in 2021. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

In related news from the immediate area, the multi-use Woodall Rail Trail debuted last year at The Works’ southern doorstep. 

That marked the first completed segment of the Silver Comet Connector, a paved trail link that will extend from the Beltline through Atlanta’s postindustrial Upper Westside district toward Cobb County, before connecting with the 61.5-mile Silver Comet’s Georgia component—and off to Alabama towns beyond that.

Another section of the Silver Comet Connector—SCC for short—is under construction now. That will connect the final two missing intown links in the SCC, called Segments 2 and 3.  

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