From a highly competitive pool of 40 submissions across the state, a distinguished jury of 15 professionals in development, finance, planning, urban design, and architecture has selected 15 finalists. These projects represent the future of Georgia’s built environment and we’re proud to celebrate their vision, impact, and leadership.
Assembly
Owner: Gray TV
Developer: The Gipson Company
Architect: Smith Dalia Architects
Interior Designer: Hendrick
General Contractor: Bailey Construction, Joe N Guy Company
Landscape Architects & Master Planners: HGOR
Structural Engineering: PES
Assembly Studios is a 53-acre redevelopment at the site of the former General Motors automobile factory in Doraville, including 1 million+ square feet of high-tech production facilities, furnished offices, and versatile mill spaces that streamline filming logistics. Studio architecture aims to remedy potential blight of walled-off production facilities by creating a barrier from filmable, functional outward-facing facades that integrate with the adjacent uses. Beyond the studio, there is a park with a pond that doubles as stormwater drainage, a rail trail, public parking with shuttles to transit stations, a 140-foot LED tower, and art. Future phases will include hospitality and residential offerings. To eliminate financing hurdles and delays for critical infrastructure, Gray TV self-funded the initial development and sold back assets to the City of Doraville and Assembly CID through tax exempt bond financing.
The Avenue at Oakland City
Owner: Atlanta Land Trust, Inc.
Developer: Atlanta Land Trust, Inc.
Architect: Xmetrical
Interior Designer: N/A
General Contractor: Intown Builders
Development Manager: Intown Builder
Water & Sewer Contractor: Mizutek, Inc.
The Avenue is a 36-townhome development providing affordable for-sale housing within walking distance of the Oakland City MARTA Station and the BeltLine Westside Trail. The Historic District-approved design features five, two-story, multifamily buildings with front porches and alternating principal roof forms of front-facing gables and shed roofs. Significant infrastructure upgrades eliminate flooding on the site from combined sewer overflows. Developers also installed new water and sewer infrastructure under Tucker Avenue and repaved the street.
The Atlanta Land Trust (ALT), in partnership with Intown Builders, developed the project on a 1.7-acre parcel donated by Enterprise Community Partners. It required a creative financing structure comprised of sixteen separate public, private, and philanthropic sources of funds amounting to the $12.4 million project cost. ALT’s community land trust model ensures 29 of the townhomes are permanently affordable to homebuyers with incomes at 65%, 80% and 100% of the area median income.
Aya Tower
Owner: Vecino Group
Developer: Vecino Group
Architect: Vecino Design
Interior Designer: 305 Brand Co.
General Contractor: Vecino Construction
Development Manager: East Point Housing Authority
Water & Sewer Contractor: Living Walls
Aya Tower is a service-enriched, 88-unit affordable housing community in East Point that revitalized a vacant, blighted senior housing property formerly known as “Nelms House,” which happens to be the tallest structure in East Point. The developers, engaged local partnerships to create a fabric of support for residents with a variety of health, skills and coaching services. Amenities include a large community room, business center, fitness room, outdoor patio, shared laundry, and substantial public art. The building was redesigned and built under the 2018 Georgia State Minimum Standard Building Code as a IB type building, with business and residential occupancy types. Redevelopment included reconstruction of a dilapidated retaining wall along the adjacent roadway.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Arthur M. Blank Hospital
Owner: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Developer: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Architect: ESa – Architect of Record; Page – Associate Architect for Design Interior Designer
Interior Designer: ESa Page – Interior Design; Page – Furniture and Patient Tower
General Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie – Hospital; JE Dunn – Clinic, CUP, Parking Decks & Site
Landscape Architect: HGOR
MEP Engineer: WSP
Structural Engineer: Walter P Moore
Civil Engineer: Lowe Engineers
Program Management: DaVinci Development Collaborative / Winstead
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital is a 2-million-square-foot facility at the intersection of North Druid Hills Road and I-85, design of the 19-story, 446-bed hospital was inspired by the healing power of nature. It provides comprehensive pediatric specialties, the only Level I pediatric trauma center in Georgia, infusion center, PICU, NICU, advanced ORs and diagnostic equipment, as well as labs working to advance innovative cellular therapies. Automated Mobile Robots and their dedicated elevators handle movement of supplies, medication, and food to reduce wait times and improve throughput. A Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment indicates a 12% reduction in embodied carbon.
Organization of the site, vehicle access, wayfinding and other design solutions create a healing environment and a healthy workplace. The 76-acre campus master plan preserved more than 20 acres of green space and added miles of walking trails connecting buildings and the community. Children’s committed to over $40 million for traffic and infrastructure improvements, around the campus.
Citizen Old Fourth Ward (O4W)
Owner: Columbia Ventures
Developer: Columbia Ventures
Architect: KJA Architecture
Interior Designer: Focus Design
General Contractor: Evergreen Construction Group
Civil Engineer: Flippo Civil Design
Citizen O4W is 114 apartments – 15% of which are dedicated workforce housing – and roughly 14,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The site was one of the last undeveloped sites on the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, and the final element in the Studioplex master plan, meaning an existing parking deck accommodates all residents and patrons. Design traverses three grade levels: the Beltline, existing Studioplex infrastructure, and a flying connection to the Edgewood Street Bridge. The entry plaza and monumental steps leading to the BeltLine are a response to the building’s need to span infrastructural easements for emergency vehicle access and an existing sewer line.
The Goat Farm
Owner: TriBridge Residential
Developer: TriBridge Residential
Architect: Niles Bolton Associates
Interior Designer: Square Feet Studio
General Contractor: TriBridge Residential Construction
Development Partners: The Goat Farm Arts Center and The Fountain Companies
Architect & Planner: Bureau V
Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn
Landscape Architect: Perkins & Will
The Goat Farm is an 11-acre creative compound in West Midtown, where a 19th-century industrial complex has served as a cultural institution and haven for Atlanta artists for decades. The recently completed first phase includes 209 newly constructed 1- and 2-bedroom apartments, as well as 40+ art studios, and an event space – across historic and new structures. Future phases of redevelopment will include intimate spaces for focused creation, offices, a boutique hotel, a restaurant, updates to the existing Goodson Hall, and the brand-new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, set to deliver in 2026. The master plan expands a “patchwork quilt” of landscape/hardscape/green infrastructure materiality on the ground, while newly built structures mix with the historic in homage to its industrial identity. The ownership team has committed ongoing financial support to an arts fund that supports permanent galleries, installations, and pop-up shows, as well as over 100 annual events, exhibitions, and performances.
Highside Market
Developer: The Cotton Companies
Architect: Studio BGP, Square Feet Studio
General Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC
Additional Partners: Hillworks Studio and Historic Columbus Foundation
Highside Market is a transformative 1.8-acre adaptive reuse development on a Columbus historic site that was an auto service shop in the 1950s and 1960s. It’s now 55,000 square feet of retail, food & beverage, office, community space, creative studios, and wellness offerings. The three-building property integrates historic architecture with contemporary new-builds, as well as 7,200 square feet of flexible outdoor spaces and a pedestrian-friendly streetscape including integrated bus stops and seamless access to the Dragonfly Trail. Redevelopment required innovative stormwater management, as well as careful coordination with GDOT and local agencies. A $2.5 million Tax Allocation District grant (only the second ever in Columbus) closed financial gaps to enable infrastructure and right-of-way upgrades, public access enhancements, multimodal transportation features, stormwater drainage systems, underground water containment, and LEED-aligned sustainable landscaping. It hosts a diverse calendar of events that champion the arts, education, and equity.
Ion at College Park
Owner: Good Places
Developer: Good Places, KNGDM Group, Tapestry and CSMI
Architect: EightVillage, Foley Design
Interior Designer: Dayle Bennett
General Contractor: Koed LLC
Master Planning: Cooper Carry and GA Tech Flourishing Communities Collaborative
Community Engagement: EightVillage
Program Partner: PushPush Arts
Financing: Citizens Trust Bank, LISC, The Reinvestment Fund, RBC, Chase
The Ion at College Park is a $30 million mixed-use, mixed-income development on College Park’s Main Street corridor. It’s comprised of the adaptive reuse of a 125-year-old church into affordably priced 16 affordable work/live condominiums, art studios and creator spaces, a café, gallery and black box theatre in just 15,000 square feet, as well as a newly constructed four-story building offering 60 residential units, some of which are reserved for individuals earning 50% and 60% of the area median income. Ion offers nutrition training, financial literacy programs, and wellness events and several of Ion’s work/live condos are part of Atlanta’s first rent-to-buy program, creating an alternate pathway to ownership for working families. Development utilized a combination of complex financing structures, including Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, private impact investors, and Community Development Financial Institutions funders. The City of College Park contributed subsidized land for parking and a street easement for additional low-cost street parking.
James A. Carlos Family Community Nutrition Center
Owner: Open Hand
Architect: Terminus Design Group
General Contractor: Moeller Purcell Construction Company
Owner’s Rep: Bryant Construction Management Group
Structural Engineer: PM&A
Electrical & Plumbing Engineer: Darren Clayton, Mechanical
Refrigeration Consultant: Refrigerated Warehousing, Inc.
Kitchen Consultant: Camacho
The James A. Carlos Family Community Nutrition Center is a 43,000-square-foot, adaptive reuse project in Grove Park and the new headquarters of Open Hand Atlanta – an organization founded in 1988 to deliver home cooked meals to neighbors living with HIV/AIDS that has grown into the largest provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition education in the Southeast. In addition to administrative offices and multipurpose rooms for training and collaboration, it includes food storage, state-of-the-art kitchens for medically tailored meal production and a teaching kitchen for nutrition education and a culinary training program.
It has double the warehouse space, 75% more cold storage, and 8 times more loading docks than Open Hand’s previous facility. This nearly triples meal production capacity and enables service to 17,000 low-income individuals each year, up from the previous 5,000. The center was made possible through new markets tax credits and Open Hand’s largest-ever capital campaign, which raised $19.5 million including major gifts from Truist, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, James M. Cox Foundation and others.
Krog District
Owner: Asana Partners
Developer: N/A
Architect: ASD|SKY
Interior Designer: ASD|SKY
General Contractor: Balfour Beatty
Landscape Architect: Core Landscape
Civil Engineer: Bohler Engineering
MEP Engineer: Salas O’Brien
Structural Engineer: SHEAR Structural
The Krog District is a mixed-use property located along the Atlanta BeltLine that includes two new, mixed-use buildings, a structured parking garage, and copious public space as well as the adaptive reuse of the historic Stoveworks – a conversion of outdated loft offices into retail spaces. It incorporates the pre-existing Krog Street Market, several previously underutilized parcels, and nearly 1,000 feet of BeltLine frontage. Where there were disconnected and/or underutilized parcels, now there are enhanced and activated BeltLine connections, extensive indoor/outdoor gathering spaces including a covered, pedestrian, retail paseo, multiple pocket parks, patios, and “breadcrumb” wayfinding. The five-year redevelopment plan utilized by-right zoning to expedite the project’s timeline.
The Melody
Owner: Partners for Home / Hope Atlanta
Developer: Atlantica Properties
Architect: The Beck Group
Interior Designer: The Beck Group
General Contractor: The Beck Group
Engineers: BMarko Structures, Kimley-Horn, SHEAR Structural, Hammond & Associates and Coffman Engineers
The Melody is Atlanta’s first multifamily shipping container development – transforming 20 shipping containers into 40 studio apartments. The pioneering project is reducing the unhoused population and redefining rapid housing delivery. Each 160-square-foot, fully furnished unit includes a private ADA-accessible bathroom, kitchenette, and sleeping area. A community garden, dog park, laundry facilities, and on-site staff offices all employ trauma-informed design to actively support the long-term health and stability of residents. Structures were prefabricated off-site, so site work and structural assembly happened concurrently. In addition, the city enabled expedited permitting and inspection processes, often delivering same-day feedback. Construction was completed in just 16 weeks.
The Melody offers on-site wraparound services, including case management and behavioral health support, as well as immediate access to public transportation and healthcare. Since opening, 43 individuals have found permanent supportive housing here—many over the age of 50, with complex medical needs.
Midland Greenway & TAD
Owner: City of Gainesville
Developer: Norhaven Partners; Terwilliger Pappas
Architect: Dynamik Design
General Contractor: Fortune Johnson and Summit Contracting Group
The Midland Greenway in Gainesville is a transformational urban revitalization effort to create a walkable greenway on a 300-acre former CSX rail corridor in downtown. Spearheaded by the City’s investment in master planning, creation of Gainesville’s first Tax Allocation District, land acquisition and infrastructure delivery, it has paved the way for over $175 million in adjacent private development. Though it’s already resulted in a thriving neighborhood with trails, green space, thousands of square feet of commercial space, and over 600 new residential units, Gainesville continues investment in Midland, adding a dog park, renovating the northernmost segment, funding stormwater management via pond systems and natural landscaping, and more.
Phoebe Putney Living & Learning Center
Owner: Phoebe Putney Health System
Developer: Phoebe Putney Health System
Architect: DAG Architects, Inc.
Interior Designer: HLGstudio
General Contractor: Pellicano Construction
MEP Engineer: Jordan & Skala Engineer
Civil Engineer: Lanier Engineering, Inc.
Landscape Architect: Jonathan Vines
Phoebe Putney Hospital System teamed with Albany Technical College Nursing School to convert the 122,000-square-foot, abandoned Lee County High School into The Living & Learning Center. It contains a 46,000-square-foot nursing school with classrooms, lecture halls, simulation labs, as well as substantial break-out spaces, study rooms and student lounges … because unstructured learning immediately following a classroom session improves retention. It also has two secure residential floors totaling 80 market-rate dormitory apartments in studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts.
The concept supports on-campus living which is shown to increase chances of finishing degrees. It also addresses a shortage of registered nurses and the high cost of travelling nurses in rural areas. The Living & Learning Center is located across the street from the main hospital entrance. An adjacent street was closed to cars, making the Center a pedestrian connector between the hospital and the staff and student recreation facility, which lies immediately behind the Center. It also streamlines access to the Albany trail system along the Flint River.
Ralph David House
Owner: Motel Atlanta LLC
Developer: Stryant
Architect: Terminus Design Group
General Contractor: Stryant Construction
Lenders: Invest Atlanta and Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta
Financing Partners: City of Atlanta, Partners for Home and Atlanta Housing
The Ralph David House is the adaptive reuse of the circa 1960s Atlanta Motel in Reynoldstown, comprised of 56 permanently supportive studio apartments, a lounge, kitchen, and counseling offices for people suffering from chronic homelessness. Rents – inclusive of utilities and internet, are set at 30% of the tenant’s income.
A public private partnership acquired the historic hotel, which was originally a Marks Inn motel – a chain that was founded by a Georgia Tech professor. It was also the last of Atlanta’s roadside motels to survive construction of the interstate system. Rental assistance is provided by Atlanta Housing and supportive services from Fulton County.
The Works
Owner: Selig Enterprises
Developer: Selig Enterprises
Architect: Smith Dalia, RJTR, Squarefoot Studios, Terminus Design Group
General Contractor: Dakota, Brasfield & Gorrie
Additional Partners: GID, Kimley Horn, Site Solutions, Shear Structural, TSW, Flippo Civil Design, The Wilbert Group
The Works is a multi-phase, planned mixed-use development in Upper Westside converting 1 million square feet of historic brick warehouses into retail, entertainment, offices, residences, hotel and green space – doubling density on the 80-acre industrial site. The completed, 27-acre, first phase realized 184,000 square feet of retail including a 31-stall food hall, 125,000 square feet of fully leased office space, 306 residential units, a 547-space parking deck and pedestrian connection to the Woodall Rail Trail with new traffic light and crosswalk. Over six acres of outdoor gathering space includes a one-acre park with seating, play structures for kids and a stage for live music. Designs preserve character of the buildings by restoring the more than 400 windows, exposed brick walls and original flooring while incorporating new materials and fixtures that reflect the original design. The need to include residential units at The Works inspired Atlanta’s Department of City Planning to establish the I-MIX zoning designation that protects industrial buildings while allowing dense development in underutilized areas.
