BREAKING: Beltline cancels planned redevelopment of Murphy Crossing

Josh Green

Fri, 01/10/2025 – 14:38

One of the most closely watched and potentially consequential redevelopment projects around the 22-mile Atlanta Beltline loop will not be moving forward as planned.

Beltline officials confirmed today in a project update to Urbanize Atlanta the organization has issued a notice of termination for the sale of Murphy Crossing in Southwest Atlanta’s Oakland City.

The Beltline had intended to sell the 20-acre, formerly industrial site alongside the Westside Trail to Culdesac Inc., an Arizona-based firm known for innovative approaches to infill development that put walkability and community at the forefront.

Beltline leadership selected Culdesac and Atlanta-based Urban Oasis Development as finalists to remake the coveted but long-idle Murphy Crossing site in September 2022; the Beltline and Invest Atlanta Board officially approved the development team in March last year, ostensibly clearing the way for concrete planning and permitting to begin. Hopes for redevelopment were also heightened by fresh, more detailed renderings for a transit-connected Murphy Crossing that emerged last summer

The most detailed image released to date for Murphy Crossing’s potential scope and connectivity to the Beltline and MARTA. Culdesac; Urban Oasis Development; Atlanta Beltline Inc.

But negotiations for Murphy Crossing’s sale and redevelopment have been fraught with what Beltline leaders called “significant challenges” in an email to Urbanize today.

“Since 2022, tightening conditions in the capital markets arena for commercial real estate, particularly for mixed-use and multifamily developments, contributed to changes to the project and delays in pre-development activities,” the Atlanta Beltline Inc. update reads. “These delays and project changes, among other things, have prevented the parties from coming to final terms.”

The scope of Murphy Crossing’s latest redevelopment plans, prior to the contract termination, had potential to fundamentally change the area, which is connected to both a growing Beltline segment and east-west MARTA line. At last check, a potential six-phase buildout of Murphy Crossing could have seen more than 1,100 residential units and more than 180,000 square feet of commercial space built under I-Mix zoning. That classification allows for dense economic development—combining commercial, residential, and even jobs-producing industrial uses on a single property—in underserved neighborhoods around the city.

Murphy Crossing once operated as the Georgia Farmers Market and currently includes about a dozen warehouses and other buildings across its 20 acres.

Beltline officials in today’s announcement said they remain committed to redeveloping Murphy Crossing into more active, fruitful uses in Southwest Atlanta—but when that might begin to happen with construction wasn’t specified.

Beltline leaders plan to keep pushing forward planning, entitlement, and predevelopment work for Murphy Crossing as the development team changes. A stakeholder committee meeting for the property will held sometime in February to discuss next steps in the redevelopment process, per Beltline officials.

“We will continue to advance our work to realize a high-density, mixed-use, equitable development project on this site,” noted Beltline president and CEO Clyde Higgs, “that will meet the needs of our Oakland City, Adair Park, Capitol View, and Bush Mountain residents.”  

“Our priority is fulfilling our fiduciary responsibility to the public and delivering on the promises made throughout the many community engagement activities for this site,” added Dennis Richards, Jr., the Beltline’s vice president of housing policy and development. “[We’ll] continue with the planning and development of this site, and we look forward to sharing our next steps with the public in the coming weeks.”

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