The city of Atlanta recently released an update on a project set to transform the downtown area widely known as the “The Gulch.”
For fifty years, the site that was once a rail yard has been chronically underdeveloped, according to a press release.
With the city’s assistance, the CIM Group has committed to bringing millions of square feet in mixed-use development to The Gulch. The company will invest billions of its own dollars to revitalize thirteen blocks of unused land that will change the face of downtown Atlanta.
“At roughly the equivalent of thirty football fields, this will be the largest development of its kind in Atlanta’s history and in the entire Southeast,” said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Bond money generated for the project could reach upwards of a billion dollars and would primarily come from two sources: the Westside Tax Allocation District; and the Enterprise Zone Bond.
Last year, the State Legislature passed HB342, which stipulates that any urban redevelopment project in excess of 400-million dollars can qualify for a sales tax exemption. The EZ bonds would allow CIM to use roughly five-cents of the City’s 8.9-cent sales tax to help fund the project. Eighty percent of that money is from the State of Georgia’s share of the sales tax; the remaining 20% is from Fulton County’s Local Option Sales Tax. Atlanta’s Municipal Option Sales Tax would remain untouched.
With the approval of the Atlanta City Council, the lifespan of the Westside TAD would be extended ten years to 2048, to help pay off the City’s commitment to the development.
The City does not pledge any portion of its General Funds toward the project.
Once The Gulch project is online, 20 percent of the TAD bond proceeds generated within its boundaries will be applied toward other projects in the neighborhoods within the Empowerment Zone and West of the Empowerment Zone.
Also, not less than 20% of the development will be reserved for affordable housing, with a minimum of 200 units, bringing The Gulch project in line with our City’s vision of One Atlanta, which ensures that none of our residents gets left behind by Atlanta’s good fortune.
Information: atlantaga.gov
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