City, Private Developer Plan $340M Mixed-Use Venture

ATLANTA-The largest redevelopment project ever attempted by the five year-old Atlanta Housing Authority is scheduled to break ground this week on the 343-acre vacant former Perry Homes project site five miles from Downtown.

The $340 million West Highlands golf course community will have 1,000 homes, 700 apartments, an undetermined amount of retail, a charter school, library and YMCA. The course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, will be built atop a former landfill location.

Noel Khalil of locally based Columbia Residential is the lead private developer doing the Intown joint venture with the city. Steve Brock of Brock Built is among several developers participating in the project which is expected to draw new residents from outlying affluent communities such as Buckhead and Vinings, according to city planners.

Brock and Khalil couldn’t be reached at GlobeSt.com’s publication deadline. But city staffers tell GlobeSt.com the West Highlands project is regarded as highly as the planned Atlantic Station enterprise in Midtown. Both ventures hope to generate new business interest in previously neglected areas of the city.

The Authority has $35 million in federal housing funds for the public housing component of West Highlands. City council is studying a proposal from the AHA and the developers to use tax financing to raise $22 million for roads, sewers and utilities.

The city agency plans to allocate 228 apartments for public housing tenants. The Authority has a successful track record in transforming orphaned housing projects into vibrant mixed-income communities. Among the projects are Villages at East Lake golf course community and the mixed-income complexes of Carver and Techwood.