City-owned parking lot Downtown could be redeveloped for affordable housing

A city-owned parking lot used by the Atlanta Department of Corrections could soon be redeveloped for affordable housing.

The Atlanta City Council on Nov. 7 approved an ordinance to sell the South Downtown parking lot at 184 Forsyth Ave. SW to Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, for $1.

As the owner of the nearly one-acre lot, Invest Atlanta would then have the authority to issue request for proposals for the sale or lease and development of the property and execute a redevelopment agreement with a successful bidder.

The ordinance, sponsored by Councilmember Jason Dozier, is part of the city’s initiative “to meet increasing demand for affordable housing and activate underused space in the downtown corridor for improvement of uses.”

“The property is well-situated to provide mixed-income housing in a transit-rich area and ensure publicly owned land is used to meet the broad needs of the city,” according to the ordinance.

The parking lot is about one block away from the Garnett MARTA station.

South Downtown is undergoing a revival with major mixed-use projects by developers Newport RE, CIM Group’s $5 billion Centennial Yards project on the property once known as The Gulch, and a planned redevelopment of Underground Atlanta.