A downtown project that’s been called one of the largest redevelopments of its type in the U.S. is aiming to reach a key milestone this summer as designs are undergoing alternations. 

Project leaders behind a proposed mixed-use conversion of Georgia-Pacific Center, a downtown landmark for four decades, are aiming to break ground late this year—but a number of variables remain between here and there. 

Suzanne Maynard, head of real estate development-Atlanta for Georgia-Pacific, shared a number of project updates at Thursday’s the Future of Downtown panel. 

Most notable among them: 30 percent of more than 400 apartments at the 51-story tower conversion will be capped at rates deemed affordable for households earning between 50 and 80 percent of the Area Median Income, with a special focus on families, essential workers, teachers, nurses, hospitality employees, and younger corporate professionals, according to Maynard. 

Maynard says a “strong, active public-private partnership” will be required for the project to move forward. That means securing “city-approved public tools,” aligning assets Georgia-Pacific already owns, and finding the right capital partners. 

To the last point, Georgia-Pacific plans to take the project to the capital markets to secure debt and equity partners this summer. The company also continues to work with City of Atlanta officials to make the project viable, per Maynard.

Georgia-Pacific Center's south facade, with its distinctive stair-stepped design pointed east, as seen several years ago. Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

What Georgia-Pacific is bringing to the table, in the quest for public financial backing, is years of self-funded pre-development on site and the project’s physical assets: a 51-story skyscraper and the adjacent 6-acre block the company owns, as Maynard pointed out. 

One notable change is that Georgia-Pacific Center’s phase-one development now calls for 80,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment space. That’s reduced from roughly 125,000 square feet in initial plans.  

Elsewhere, the proposal calls for more than 400 apartments to be created from offices on the tower’s uppermost floors, resulting in some of the highest residential units offered across the Southeast, according to project reps. Other aspects would include a landscaped, MARTA-connected central plaza spanning about 1 acre and facing Peachtree Street along the Atlanta Streetcar line. 

Another component would see 600,000 square feet of Class A offices anchored by Georgia-Pacific and Koch Inc., with more than 2,100 parking spaces in the mix.

Georgia-Pacific, as of today, expects to host a groundbreaking at the 133 Peachtree St. property in late 2026, but “as with any project of this scale and complexity, these timelines are contingent on many moving parts,” officials relayed to Urbanize Atlanta in a statement.      

Ground-level conditions on the north side of the Georgia-Pacific tower today. Google Maps

Where planned restaurant, retail, and entertainment space could help inject life into Peachtree Street downtown, per initial renderings.Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific

Recent online permitting activity for the project, according to Maynard, was related to Georgia-Pacific’s refiling of an Atlanta Development Review Committee submission that reflects recent changes, which the city requires. 

“We remain in the planning and review phase, and while we’re continuing to make progress, the project has not yet received all necessary approvals to move into construction,” Maynard wrote in a statement. 

Standing 697 feet tall, the world headquarters of Atlanta-based pulp and paper giant Georgia-Pacific is now the seventh-tallest skyscraper in the city (surpassed last year by 1072 West Peachtree) and one of the most recognizable, with its pink granite exterior and dramatic, stair-stepped rear design and changeable lighting patterns facing east. The Class A office tower, totaling 1.3 million square feet today, was opened in 1982.

The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill firm originally designed the structure, with pink granite quarried in Marble Falls, Texas. 

Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

All plans detailed for Georgia-Pacific Center’s conversion so far are considered phase one, as enough space will be left for future development that could include a hotel, plus more retail and residences, according to officials. 

When the project was announced in September 2024, Christian Fischer, then Georgia-Pacific's president and CEO, said his company is “acutely aware of the need for more residential, shopping, dining, and entertainment options in our downtown neighborhood,” while Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called the proposal “transformative” and a significant step toward breathing new life into downtown.

Georgia-Pacific’s development today team includes Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio (architect of record), Healy Weatherholtz (retail broker), Kimley-Horn (civil engineering), Studio Saint (interior design), Transwestern (consulting and property management), Brasfield & Gorrie (pre-construction), and Studios (design architect).

In the gallery above, find more context and the latest available imagery for the Georgia-Pacific proposal. 

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