MAC Applauds Passage of the Gulch Deal

Last night after hours of debate, the Atlanta City Council approved the proposal with developer CIM to revitalize the Gulch area Downtown. The Metro Atlanta Chamber applauds the Mayor and Atlanta City Council for taking the time to deliberate and pass such an impactful project. We also recognize this project would not be possible without the leadership by Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia General Assembly with the passage of HB342 in 2017.

This project will begin by raising the development up vertically to grade with the rest of downtown. Once the platforms are built, the new neighborhood will include 9 million square feet of office space, 1,000 residences, 1,500 hotel rooms and 1 million square feet of retail space. This development will be the largest since Peachtree Center in the 1960s.

In MAC’s support letter to the City Council in early October, Hala Moddelmog, President and CEO highlighted some of these key facts: 

• CIM will privately fund up to $700 million to build a platform that will provide the foundation for future development of the Gulch.
• CIM will contribute a total of $59 million in community benefits, including funds for job training, affordable housing and community redevelopment.
• Thirty-eight percent (38%) of project costs will be directed to women or minority-owned firms. Additionally, CIM will make a series of direct investments that will impact economic mobility, including: $12 million for a community development fund, $2 million in job training and $28 million for an affordable housing fund.

Four ordinances contained all the items of the deal. Two passed unanimously and two passed by a vote of 8-6.

For more coverage, read the AJC’s article here. See Mayor Bottoms’ press release here.