The Atlanta City Council has approved The Gulch redevelopment project, which aims to transform a 40-acre abandoned area with a railroad track in the middle of it into a multimillion dollar mixed-use community.
At turns divisive and controversial, The Gulch project symbolized a struggle between two Atlantas, one that wants to hurl the city into a 21st century masterpiece of urban planning and technology and the other, which wants to nudge itself along, paying proper homage to its history and heritage along the way.
Atlanta OKs The Gulch Project
The chatter around The Gulch project proves that either side is willing to give much ground.
Laden inside the deal, city officials secured a $28 million affordable housing trust fund which will ensure that future dwellings will not be out of reach of people making the living wage.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms lauded the council’s affirmative vote, saying that she was thankful to those who “have worked tirelessly over several months to bring this historic redevelopment plan- the single largest development in our city in nearly 50 years- to fruition.”
“We have established a new model for leveraging land development to achieve both economic growth and community good. Never in the history of our city has a single development deal been negotiated in a way that will have such far-reaching, generational impact,” she said in a written statement.
The project would see Norfolk Southern, a Virginia-based railroad company, move its headquarters to Atlanta, taking hundreds of jobs from the northern state. Atlanta on the other hand, stands to gain 25,000 jobs in the overall project, according to figures provided by the city.
“The Gulch redevelopment will not only physically bridge the gap between the east and westsides of Atlanta, bringing economic vitality to a long-undeveloped part of downtown, but also affordable housing, workforce training, enhanced public safety, and job opportunities throughout the city,” said Mayor Bottoms. “I am grateful for the approval by the Atlanta City Council and look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure that as our city grows and prospers, our communities are not left behind.”
Among the naysayers were those who said that the council didn’t do enough to facilitate public discussion. Others said the project amounted to little more than a sweetheart deal for CIM, the development company making grandiose promises.
