Officials: Tax break for project in red-hot O4W not tied to grocery store
Josh Green
Wed, 08/06/2025 - 16:28
Observant development watchers of Atlanta have raised concerns that tax breaks granted to a mixed-use project in one of the city’s hottest real estate zones were contingent on the building including a grocery store that is no longer happening.
That’s not the case, according to developers and government officials who approved the multi-million-dollar tax incentive in Old Fourth Ward.
“We can definitively say that we will not be receiving any benefits that were tied to the grocery component,” said Ben Yorker, a Northwood Ravin development partner, of the project now called The Bowery at Old Fourth Ward, which his company is building in partnership with Fuqua Development.
Develop Fulton (formerly the Development Authority of Fulton County) in 2023 approved the development team's request for $5.7 million in tax savings across 10 years for the three-building project that will consume nearly a full block. The Bowery recently started demolition work at the southeast corner of Boulevard’s intersection with Highland Avenue, just east of downtown.
Developers confirmed last week to Urbanize Atlanta the grocery store component many residents in the area had been banking on—reportedly a Publix, as of two years ago—had been nixed. Yorker said Wellstar’s sudden closure of nearby Atlanta Medical Center, which cost the area jobs and significant daytime population, along with the city’s subsequent clampdown on property rezoning, had scared away potential grocery tenants.
The Bowery at Old Fourth Ward's first new rendering showing finalized plans for townhomes (left), retail, and apartments along Highland Avenue. Courtesy of Northwood Ravin/Fuqua Development
Kwanza Hall, Develop Fulton chairman, acknowledged that the hospital closure “significantly impacted the viability of that [grocery] portion of the development,” but he feels The Bowery project “still has the potential to create meaningful local impact.” Hall said Develop Fulton incentives tied to specific development components such as grocery stores are forfeited when those aspects aren’t built, but according to Yorker, that doesn’t apply in The Bowery’s case.
“This project exemplifies both the promise and the challenges of revitalization,” Hall wrote in a statement to Urbanize Atlanta. “It’s a reminder that even with approved incentives, market conditions can shift and affect a project's composition… We will continue to coordinate with the development team to ensure the best outcomes for the community.”
Yorker balked at publicly disclosing what the grocery’s replacement might be, as plans have not been finalized.
“Though it did not work out to incorporate a grocer, we’re confident we can incorporate other meaningful features that the surrounding neighborhood will enjoy,” Yorker wrote in an email. “Our view is that our properties are most successful when the communities around them flourish.”
An early look at the proposal's scope as it relates to Tribute Lofts, pictured at right. Submitted
Rough boundaries of the Old Fourth Ward property in question, where Highland Avenue meets Boulevard, just north of the neighborhood dog park. Google Maps
Finalized plans for The Bowery call for a 273-unit apartment building and two townhome blocks with 12 units total. Roughly 10,000 square feet of retail with patio spaces will operate at street level.
Another 2,000 square feet of retail or incubator space will be placed so that it faces a popular dog park next door, Freedom Barkway. The project’s 400-space parking deck will include 17 spaces reserved for dog park patrons.
Once demolition and other pre-development work finishes, Yorker said construction should be ready to start in late fall this year.
Developers forecast the full project will open in early or mid-2028.
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The Bowery at Old Fourth Ward's first new rendering showing finalized plans for townhomes (left), retail, and apartments along Highland Avenue. Courtesy of Northwood Ravin/Fuqua Development
An early look at the proposal's scope as it relates to Tribute Lofts, pictured at right. Submitted
Looking southwest, initial images of Fuqua Development's proposal distributed three years ago are shown next to John Lewis Freedom Parkway. Plans have been refined since. Submitted
Tentative breakdown of the Fuqua proposal as submitted to the city in 2022. Fuqua Development/Office of Zoning and Development
Prior to demolition work this month, the idle 3-acre site and shuttered Desperate Housewares Atlanta furniture store, seen here in 2024. Google Maps
An earlier rendering illustrating how the project will transform one corner of the Highland Avenue-Boulevard intersection. (Highland Avenue frontage is at left.) Northwood Ravin/Fuqua Development; 2023
Rough boundaries of the Old Fourth Ward property in question, where Highland Avenue meets Boulevard, just north of the neighborhood dog park. Google Maps
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Closure of nearby hospital “significantly impacted viability” of grocer at The Bowery, Develop Fulton acknowledges
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