After years of plans sputtering and stalling, developers say real activity at The Bowery in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward is finally about to begin. Project partners report that site work is scheduled to start "in the coming weeks" on the three-building, block-filling development at the corner of Boulevard and Highland. The mixed-use project is set to bring nearly 300 new homes, ground-floor retail, and a multi-level parking garage that locals have watched sit empty for months.
Project Details
According to Urbanize Atlanta, finalized plans call for a 273-unit apartment building plus 12 townhomes and roughly 10,000 square feet of street-level retail. Another 2,000 square feet is reserved for retail or incubator space facing the adjacent Freedom Barkway dog park. The site plan also includes a roughly 400-space garage, with 17 parking spots specifically set aside for dog-park visitors. Project representatives say they are preparing to market the ground-level retail and micro-retail spaces as work begins, and developers told the outlet they expect the full project to open in 2028.
In 2023, the Development Authority of Fulton County approved about $5.7 million in tax savings for The Bowery, a gap-filling incentive that developers said was necessary to make the financing work, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Early plans also called for 15 percent of the apartments to be reserved at rates affordable to households making roughly 80 percent of the area median income, a key part of the public benefit package. The authority's vote drew criticism from residents and civic leaders who questioned providing public incentives for projects in already hot real estate corridors.
When the deal was moving through local review, the development team was reportedly courting a large grocery anchor. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that Publix had been eyed for the site, the kind of neighborhood draw many residents expected to replace the shuttered commercial properties at the corner.
That grocery plan later fell apart. Developers say the loss of daytime population after Wellstar closed nearby Atlanta Medical Center, combined with the city's tighter stance on rezoning, scared off potential tenants, according to reporting by Urbanize Atlanta. Project partners and Develop Fulton officials have since stressed that the tax break was not contingent on landing a grocer and that other retail concepts could still occupy the street-level spaces. Earlier projections had construction starting last fall, but that timeline slipped into early 2026.
Timeline And What Neighbors Will See
With the lot now cleared and prepped, nearby residents should begin to notice site crews and staging as the team shifts from demolition to foundation work. Leasing for the retail bays is expected to target both neighborhood-scale operators and small incubator-style concepts. The full development is still aimed to open in early or mid-2028.
Tax Incentives And Local Pushback
The Bowery's tax abatement remains a central point of contention for critics who argue that public subsidies in booming intown neighborhoods often do not come with matching public benefits. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution documented community pushback when the incentive was first approved, and that debate is likely to surface again as tenants are announced and shovels finally hit the ground.
What to watch next: retail leasing announcements, any fresh moves on a potential grocery anchor, and visible construction activity on the Boulevard and Highland corner.
