Images: Construction of Old Fourth Ward's 'Bowery' full speed ahead

After four years in the pre-development pipeline, a mixed-use project is barreling ahead with construction on a gateway corner in Old Fourth Ward. 

Spread across 3.3 total acres, site work is well underway for The Bowery at Old Fourth Ward, which is set to include nearly 300 new homes and commercial space at the southeast corner of Boulevard’s intersection with Highland Avenue, just east of downtown. 

The neighborhood’s popular dog park in the area—Freedom Barkway Dog Park—is outside the boundaries of construction and will remain in place. 

The Bowery, a joint venture between Fuqua Development and Northwood Ravin, calls for a 273-unit apartment building and two townhome blocks with 12 units total. Roughly 10,000 square feet of retail with patio spaces will also operate at street level, project officials have said. 

Elsewhere, another 2,000 square feet of retail or incubator space will be placed so that it faces the dog park next door. (The project’s 400-space parking deck will include 17 spaces reserved for dog park patrons, according to plans.)

Northwood Ravin officials told Urbanize Atlanta in February, as the project’s groundbreaking was drawing near, they were preparing to start marketing the commercial portions for ground‑level retail and micro‑retail spaces. We’ve checked with development officials for updates on tenant signings and the project’s ETA, and this story will be updated with any additional info that comes. 

Fuqua and Northwood Ravin closed on the 3.3-acre site in summer 2023, paying about $4 million per acre. 

Also in 2023, Develop Fulton (formerly the Development Authority of Fulton County) approved the development team’s request for $5.7 million in tax savings across 10 years for the three-building project that’s consuming nearly a full block. 

At the time, The Bowery was expected to include a large grocery option for the neighborhood—reportedly a Publix. 

But according to Northwood Ravin, Wellstar’s sudden closure of nearby Atlanta Medical Center, which cost the area jobs and significant daytime population, along with the city’s subsequent clampdown on hospital property rezoning, later scared away potential grocery tenants.  

Residents in the area voiced concerns last summer The Bowery’s tax breaks were contingent on the inclusion of a grocery store. But Develop Fulton officials and developers have maintained that was never the case. 

Earlier developer projections put The Bowery’s construction start at fall 2025, prior to delays. At last check, the project was expected to open sometime in 2028. 

Find more context and images in the gallery above. 

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