Atlanta Through the Archives

AHA Gains Control of Atlanta Civic Center; Plans for Mixed-Use

Summary

The Atlanta Civic Center opened in 1968 as a center for cultural arts and community events. Since the late 70s, it has hosted concerts, musicals, and ceremonies. Weingarten Realty purchased the site with the hopes of turning the Civic Center into a 650-unit mixed housing apartment complex with a grocery store, but were unsuccessful and gave up efforts in 2016.

Site ownership transferred to the Atlanta Housing Authority in 2017, and in August of 2021 the AHA issued a Request for Qualifications to turn the housing into a “true mixed-use” community with both affordable and market rate housing, hotels, and retail office space. The purpose of the RFQ is for the AHA to identify private developers to assist with the project. However, similar procurements for projects were pursued in 2011 and 2014, so likelihood for the project’s funding and completion is still undetermined.

SOURCES:

Green, Josh. “Atlanta Civic Center redevelopment is officially back in play.” Urbanize Atlanta. https://urbanize.city/atlanta/post/atlanta-civic-center-development-old-fourth-ward-downtown.

“Civic Center: Request for Qualifications for Real Estate Developers.” Atlanta Housing Authority. https://www.atlantahousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2022-0021_AHA-CivicCenter_RFQ-Final-08-31-21.pdf.