Atlanta's Bowen Homes redevelopment builds on its legacy
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Members of the Bowen family stand with Atlanta Housing president and CEO Terri Lee. Photo: Thomas Wheatley/Axios
Atlanta's public housing authority is tapping Bowen Homes' history to guide the site's mixed-use redevelopment.
Why it matters: Atlanta Housing officials on Thursday said Ariel Place at Bowen signals that the 2,000-unit redevelopment is intended to represent more than just apartments and townhomes.
Driving the news: Mayor Andre Dickens, housing officials and the project's private developer partners broke ground Thursday on the 74-acre community's second phase: 112 housing units alongside 151 nearly finished apartments.
Catch up quick: Completed in March 1964, the complex was built partly to house people displaced by the demolition of the Buttermilk Bottom community to make room for the Atlanta Civic Center.
- The collection of low-slung buildings off what today is called Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway became home to thousands of people before its demolition in 2009.
- Notable residents included boxer Evander Holyfield, rapper Shawty Lo and civic leaders such as Shirley Hightower.
What they're saying: Brenda Holiday, who moved from Decatur to Bowen Homes with her five children around 2002, told Axios that the tight-knit community gave her family stability during a difficult period.
- "Me and my kids, I was like, thank you, Bowen Homes. … I don't know where I would be."
Flashback: Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen was a civic leader who taught history and English under Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute and later music at Clark University. She was married to one of the original development's namesakes.
- "Today, we are proud to say that Ariel's name will be spoken by the families who have the opportunity to live here," Atlanta Housing CEO Terri Lee said.
- "Her story will be learned about by the children who grow here and her legacy will become a part of the place that they call home."
Zoom in: The groundbreaking included members of the Bowen family and former residents who helped Atlanta Housing plan the community's transformation.
- Former Bowen residents who were part of an Atlanta Housing-assisted relocation prior to the complex's demolition get the first opportunity to return to authority-supported units.
- 36 out of 42 former Bowen households who participated in an Atlanta Housing research survey expressed an interest in returning to the community, Atlanta Housing said. Holiday told Axios she would live there again.
The big picture: Plans for the redevelopment, which has a total of 12 phases, include a new school, a protected forest and amenities including a grocery store.
- Planned trails and sidewalks will connect residents to a future segment of the Proctor Creek Greenway and, by extension, the Chattahoochee RiverLands project.