Quarry Yards is a
mixed-use development
Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
under construction in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. First proposed in 2018, the development would be located in the
Grove Park neighborhood, next to
Bankhead station,
Westside Reservoir Park, and
Proctor Street Greenway.
History
Plans for the development were unveiled by former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player
Mark Teixeira
Mark Charles Teixeira ( ; born April 11, 1980), nicknamed "Tex", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels of Anahe ...
on February 28, 2018. Teixeira was part of a development team that also included Urban Creek Partners and Pollack Shores Real Estate Group, which announced that they would be responsible for the development's residential portions. Initial plans for the development saw it covering approximately of land near
Bellwood Quarry, and would include 850 residences, a 300-room hotel, and over of office space. Construction was expected to start by the end of 2018. However, by September 2018, the expected start for construction had been moved back to the
second quarter of 2019. That same month, it was announced that the first phase of construction would cover at a cost of $400 million and would see the adaptive reuse of two preexisting buildings at the site. The first phase would see the creation of of office space and of retail.
By August 2019, the expected groundbreaking had again been pushed back to November of that year.
In July 2019, the developers elicited some controversy over a
brochure
A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...
created for the project that showed a group of only
white Americans
White Americans (sometimes also called Caucasian Americans) are Americans who identify as white people. In a more official sense, the United States Census Bureau, which collects demographic data on Americans, defines "white" as " person hav ...
in a conference room with "A Community Created For The New Atlanta" overlaid. The ad was criticized as a depiction of
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
, with
Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Keisha Lance Bottoms ( Lance; born January 18, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 60th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2018 to 2022. She was elected mayor in 2017. Before becoming mayor, she was a member of the Atla ...
stating that the brochure was "poorly executed." Following the controversy, the developers revised the brochure.
On September 1, 2020, Teixeira and the developers sold the development for $127 million. Teixeira announced that the new developers would likely incorporate more
affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...
into the project.
While the identity of the buyers was initially kept undisclosed, the buyers were eventually revealed to be affiliated with
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
but not with the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
.
Residents in the neighborhood expressed some surprise and concern over the sale and the intent of the new buyers with the property.
On February 11, 2021, Microsoft announced that they have purchased 90 acres at Quarry Yards and Quarry Hills, including committing 25% of the space to "the construction of affordable and empowered housing and other local community services and needs".
References
Further reading
*
External links
* {{Official website, http://quarryyards.com/
Buildings and structures in Atlanta
Midtown Atlanta
Mixed-use developments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Proposed buildings and structures in Georgia (U.S. state)