The long-dormant Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center property could finally see new construction activity in coming weeks after a decade of planning, cancelled developments, and renewed hope for revival.

Building permit paperwork filed Friday with Atlanta's Department of City Planning seeks to move forward with a new mixed-use building just north of the landmark cultural center along Piedmont Avenue, where Old Fourth Wad meets downtown.

According to Central Atlanta Progress’ investment tracker, the initial $40-million phase is scheduled to break ground later this month and deliver sometime in 2026. Atlanta Housing officials said in February, however, phase-one excavation work is more likely to begin this summer, with construction to follow later this year.

Paperwork filed with the city indicates the first building will be a mix of 148 affordable multifamily units and 1,642 square feet of retail space. A parking deck and surface parking are also included, but how many spaces are planned for vehicles isn’t specified.

Phase one plans call for constructing this mix of senior housing and retail north of the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center. Michaels Organization, Sophy Capital, Republic Family of Companies, via ADID

Atlanta Housing, which is spearheading redevelopment efforts, has said the first apartments will be one-bedroom senior housing units, rising on the northeast section of the Civic Center property, across the street from Renaissance Park. (See the bottom right section of the rendering below.) 

The rentals will each be roughly 600 square feet, and building amenities are set to include a roof deck, a plaza, and a café at street level, Atlanta Housing officials have said.

The general breakdown of expected Civic Center uses, as seen looking southwest, into downtown Atlanta. Atlanta Housing

Atlanta Housing announced in February it had secured Georgia 4 percent low-income housing tax credits to partially cover the cost of Civic Center redevelopment, while additional funding sources through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Invest Atlanta were being sought.

Other plans for initial redevelopment stages include turning the 1960s Performing Arts Center component into a renovated, state-of-the-art theater for multiple arts and culture uses. The development team is also working alongside Atlanta Public Schools to build a new school on site that would be used for performing arts, project leaders have said.

Renovating the historic PAC and building senior housing would mark the first step in a much larger redevelopment of the full property across nearly 19 acres, where a wave of housing and other uses—including a grocery store, shops, parks, and a hotel—is expected to rise in coming years.

Atlanta Housing in 2022 picked national developers The Republic Family of Companies (Washington D.C.-based) and The Michaels Organization (New Jersey-based), alongside Atlanta-based, minority-owned development firm Sophy Capital for the Civic Center redevelopment.

That marked the third time a development team has stepped up to tackle the job since the lights went out at the Civic Center in 2014.

In November, Atlanta Housing’s Board of Commissioners entered a Master Development Agreement, or MDA, with the developers' newly formed LLC called Atlanta Civic Center Partners to redevelop 4.36 acres of PAC structures and plaza space.

Atlanta Housing officials have said their goal is to be ready to showcase some aspects of the finished project for World Cup visitors in two years.

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