Old Fourth Ward Residents Push Back on Proposed High-Rise Development

ATLANTA — A proposed 42-story mixed-use tower in the Old Fourth Ward has ignited fierce opposition from residents and preservation advocates who say the development would permanently alter the character of one of Atlanta's most historically significant neighborhoods and cast a literal shadow over the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

The project, proposed by Miami-based developer Coastal Ridge Partners, would rise at the corner of Auburn Avenue and Boulevard — two blocks from Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King preached, and directly adjacent to the National Park Service property that draws more than 800,000 visitors annually.

Coastal Ridge's plans call for 380 luxury apartments, 45,000 square feet of retail, a 180-room boutique hotel, and a rooftop observation deck. The company says the project would generate $4.2 million in annual tax revenue for the city and create 320 permanent jobs.

But the Old Fourth Ward Neighborhood Association, the Historic District Development Corporation, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have all filed formal objections with the Atlanta City Council's Zoning Review Board, arguing that the tower's scale is incompatible with the neighborhood's historic fabric and that its shadow would fall across the King birth home and the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for much of the year.

“This is not just a neighborhood issue — this is a national heritage issue," said Carolyn Tucker, executive director of the Historic District Development Corpora”

"This is not just a neighborhood issue — this is a national heritage issue," said Carolyn Tucker, executive director of the Historic District Development Corporation. "You cannot put a 42-story luxury tower next to one of the most sacred sites in American history and call it progress."

Coastal Ridge has offered several concessions in response to community pressure, including reducing the tower's height from the originally proposed 52 stories, setting aside 15 percent of apartments as affordable units, and funding a $2 million streetscape improvement along Auburn Avenue. The company says it has also commissioned a shadow study showing that the tower's impact on the King site would be minimal.

The National Park Service has not taken an official position but has requested additional consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act — a process that could delay or significantly alter the project.

The Zoning Review Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposal next month. City Council member Antonio Lewis, whose district includes Old Fourth Ward, said he would not support the project in its current form. "The community has spoken clearly," Lewis said. "Scale matters. History matters. This tower, as proposed, is wrong for this place."