When Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ office last week announced that tech giant Microsoft will donate 22.5 acres of vacant Westside land to the city, it was billed as a big win for the administration’s goal to build and preserve 20,000 affordable housing units across town by 2030.
“This contribution will both bolster our efforts to provide affordable housing and enrich community resources that are essential to the wellbeing of our residents,” Dickens said in a Nov. 3 press release.
Microsoft is expected to transfer the land in Grove Park to the city of Atlanta by the summer of 2026. It is part of a 90-acre parcel, Quarry Yards, that Microsoft bought in 2021 for a new corporate campus — a project it has indefinitely paused.
But the city’s nonprofit development arm, the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation (AUD), is years away from calling construction crews to the site, which sits vacant just south of Shirley Clarke Franklin Park (formerly known as Westside Reservoir Park), said AUD chief executive John Majors.
Atlanta Civic Circle asked Majors how the city plans to develop the former industrial site — and what it will take to turn empty land into affordable housing.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Atlanta Civic Circle: Help us understand the big picture. What kind of opportunity does this 22.5-acre property present? Will it be a mixed-use complex, strictly housing? What questions must the city and AUD answer to determine the site’s potential?
John Majors: AUD’s focus is on accelerating the delivery of affordable housing and supporting the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative. [This Dickens administration proposal would require extending the life of Atlanta’s eight tax allocation districts (TADs) to 2055.]
As such a large parcel, this donation represents various opportunities — mixed-income housing, commercial/retail opportunities, community spaces. All are possibilities at this point.
The plan is to go through the procurement process to select an experienced developer to work with the city of Atlanta and the Grove Park community to craft a development plan that both legacy residents and potential new residents can buy into.
Does AUD anticipate that the site will need significant environmental remediation? How much of the 22.5 acres is developable?
Because Microsoft provided AUD with previously performed Environmental Site Assessments, we have some indication of the environmental status of the site. The site was previously enrolled in the Georgia Brownfield Program, but no action plan has been completed.
AUD will conduct its own testing to assess the site, but we have reason to believe that a significant portion of the donated parcel, with some remediation, is suitable for development. At this point we are not able to say exactly how much of the property will be developed, nor the exact remediation plan.
What does the timeline look like from identifying development partners to delivery? How many residential units does AUD aim to build — and how soon could shovels hit the dirt?
We could reasonably expect to issue a Request for Qualification for a development partner in Q4 2026 and have a development partner selected by Q2 2027. That could yield shovels in the ground in 2028.
This is a VERY broad stroke for a development timeline. The number of units is highly dependent on the development plan, but 400 to 500 residential units are conceivable.
Who’s at the table for a big project like this? Specific neighborhood groups? Atlanta Housing for rent-subsidized housing? Who else?
Community engagement and input is a critically important component of all the work that AUD does. AUD has developed and maintains strong working relationships with the other public entities working on affordable housing development and supporting the [Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative].
Further, AUD has established relationships with strong, experienced private development partners. All of that being said, the specific determination of partners has not been made yet, but what is certain is that significant community input will be essential to the success of any project built on the site.
What funding sources will the city consider to finance the affordable housing component? And what rental or purchase price points are project leaders targeting for housing?
We have not yet identified specifically which funding sources will be deployed for the development of the site. But a development project of this magnitude requires multiple sources of funding. So currently no source is completely off the table.
How does this site’s revitalization fit into the broader framework of the Dickens administration’s affordable housing push?
Grove Park is an incredibly important part of both history and the future of Atlanta — and a core focus area of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative. This donation [from Microsoft] will help accelerate the emergence of a vibrant, inclusive community. It will provide the essential space needed for thoughtfully planned housing, services, and public amenities.
With this land secured, local leaders and community stakeholders can prioritize affordable homes, design walkable streets and green spaces, and leverage that for continued investments in transit, schools, and community services. Most importantly, it gives the selected developers and legacy residents an opportunity to create a place that reflects community priorities and equity goals, ensuring the new neighborhood supports long-term stability and shared prosperity.
This is cool, more affordable housing is always a good thing but will they expand the green line into this development so it’s transit oriented?
Ok. DEVELOP NOW AND DESTROY THE WATER TABLE!! THATS WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO ANYWAY!!
Small pockets of potential “affordable” housing, years down the line, is hardly much of a response to the enormous issue of Atlantans being squeezed by spiraling, exorbitant rental prices. There needs to be some really strong laws and regulations addressing corporations buying up and controlling large swaths of homes and rental complexes, as well as the issue of “extended stay hotels”, ie. slums.
Like everything else, when industries are controlled by a handful of big players, prices go through the roof! Weakened and rescinded anti-trust/monopoly laws have flipped this country’s economics on its head. Instead of a growing economy lifting all boats, our nation’s wealth has been sucked up into the pockets of the very small number of ultra-rich and big corporations.
When people working full time, or even multiple jobs, and still can’t make ends meet, something is very wrong. And a development like the one above, with hopes of providing even some “affordable housing”, come along, we shouldn’t even pretend this addresses the underlying issue.