At site of Atlanta’s last housing project, redevelopment set to move forward

Josh Green

Tue, 03/04/2025 – 08:18

A formal groundbreaking is scheduled Wednesday for the first phase of redevelopment at the long-abandoned Bowen Homes site, a $63.6-million initiative set to produce 151 new units.

Backed largely by federal funding secured in 2023, the Bowen Homes project calls for a mixed-income community with several new buildings and a greenspace component—and for much more development later.

Back in 2009, Bowen Homes became the last of Atlanta’s housing projects to be razed, and the site has been vacant since. The 74 acres in question are located just inside the Interstate 285 Perimeter, near the intersection of James Jackson Parkway and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.

Dignitaries including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Housing president and CEO Terri Lee, Invest Atlanta CEO Dr. Eloisa Klementich, and HUD Southeast deputy regional administrator Tiffany Cobb are scheduled to attend the Wednesday groundbreaking ceremony, officials said this week.

The acreage in question in relation to Interstate 285, at left, and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Google Maps

Of the 151 apartments planned for the initial phase, 48 will be reserved for households earning 30 percent of the area median income, while 49 will be capped at 60 percent AMI. The rest will rent at market-rate, according to Invest Atlanta.

Other aspects of the redevelopment call for a Community Resources Center and Innovation Hub that will offer Bowen Homes’ residents job-training opportunities and affordable commercial space, per officials.

Planned look of two buildings totaling 114 units in Bowen Homes’ initial phase. McCormack Baron Salazar, via Invest Atlanta

By 2008, the 650 apartments spread across 102 buildings had devolved into a sore spot of crime and a magnet for the drug trade—typifying the ills of the American public housing experiment. According to Atlanta Housing, Bowen Homes experienced 168 violent crimes in just a six-month period that year, including five murders.

But signs of hope for the property have come in more recent years.

An Atlanta Housing presentation from 2021 showing the former Bowen Homes site in relation to housing deemed in good condition (green) and poor condition (red), with color-coded variations between. Atlanta Housing

Atlanta Housing and officials with Dickens’ administration formally applied in early 2023 for a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant.

In the summer of that year, HUD announced a $40 million federal grant to kickstart Atlanta’s Bowen Choice Neighborhood program, a revitalization effort for the former Bowen Homes and surrounding Westside properties.

The HUD grant aims to help the City of Atlanta eventually transform the bones of Bowen Homes into more than 2,000 housing units for renters and homebuyers, officials have said.

The project’s considerable scope calls for rebuilding the Bowen Homes site and next-door neighborhood Carey Park, along with a section of Almond Park.

The 74-acre site’s proximity to Westside neighborhoods. Atlanta Housing

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At site of Atlanta’s last housing project, redevelopment set to move forward

Josh Green

Tue, 03/04/2025 – 08:18

For the first time since demolition 15 years ago, the site of Atlanta’s last major family housing project is expected to be teeming with life—and promises of new attainable living options—this week. A formal groundbreaking is scheduled Wednesday for the first phase of redevelopment at the long-abandoned Bowen Homes site, a $63.6-million initiative set to produce 151 new units. Backed largely by federal funding secured in 2023, the Bowen Homes project calls for a mixed-income community with several new buildings and a greenspace component—and for much more development later. Back in 2009, Bowen Homes became the last of Atlanta’s housing projects to be razed, and the site has been vacant since. The 74 acres in question are located just inside the Interstate 285 Perimeter, near the intersection of James Jackson Parkway and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.Dignitaries including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Housing president and CEO Terri Lee, Invest Atlanta CEO Dr. Eloisa Klementich, and HUD Southeast deputy regional administrator Tiffany Cobb are scheduled to attend the Wednesday groundbreaking ceremony, officials said this week.

The acreage in question in relation to Interstate 285, at left, and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Google Maps

Invest Atlanta leaders have predicted the project will transform the surrounding Brookview Heights neighborhood and revitalize “a historically neglected and environmentally stressed area… into a place of natural, social, and economic regeneration,” according to a project update last year. Of the 151 apartments planned for the initial phase, 48 will be reserved for households earning 30 percent of the area median income, while 49 will be capped at 60 percent AMI. The rest will rent at market-rate, according to Invest Atlanta.Other aspects of the redevelopment call for a Community Resources Center and Innovation Hub that will offer Bowen Homes’ residents job-training opportunities and affordable commercial space, per officials.

Planned look of two buildings totaling 114 units in Bowen Homes’ initial phase. McCormack Baron Salazar, via Invest Atlanta

Bowen Homes was built in the early 1960s as a model multifamily community in what was then considered Atlanta’s western suburbs, counting its own library, school, and eventually some 4,000 residents.By 2008, the 650 apartments spread across 102 buildings had devolved into a sore spot of crime and a magnet for the drug trade—typifying the ills of the American public housing experiment. According to Atlanta Housing, Bowen Homes experienced 168 violent crimes in just a six-month period that year, including five murders.But signs of hope for the property have come in more recent years.

In late 2022, Atlanta Housing selected a redevelopment team called Bowen District Developers—led by The Benoit Group and McCormack Baron Salazar real estate companies—to bring the area back to life.Atlanta Housing and officials with Dickens’ administration formally applied in early 2023 for a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. In the summer of that year, HUD announced a $40 million federal grant to kickstart Atlanta’s Bowen Choice Neighborhood program, a revitalization effort for the former Bowen Homes and surrounding Westside properties. The HUD grant aims to help the City of Atlanta eventually transform the bones of Bowen Homes into more than 2,000 housing units for renters and homebuyers, officials have said. The project’s considerable scope calls for rebuilding the Bowen Homes site and next-door neighborhood Carey Park, along with a section of Almond Park.

The 74-acre site’s proximity to Westside neighborhoods. Atlanta Housing

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