Plans to redevelop the site of the former Bowen Homes public housing project on Atlanta‘s Westside got a major boost recently, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Atlanta Housing and the City of Atlanta a $40 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. 

The revitalization plan covers the 74-acre site of the homes, which were demolished in 2009, and the surrounding neighborhoods of Carey Park and a portion of Almond Park, as well as adjacent segments of the Donald Lee Hollowell and James Jackson parkways. 

The plan calls for more than 2,000 rental and ownership units, acres of improved greenspace, preservation of the natural environment and an improved street network supporting retail and community amenities around a central square. Collectively known as the Bowen Choice Neighborhood, the project will ultimately see the investment of more than $500 million along three avenues of revitalization: Housing, Neighborhood and People. 

The Housing portion comprises more than $300 million allocated for affordable housing via the redevelopment of the former Bowen Homes site.  

The Neighborhood portion, meanwhile, focuses on residential and commercial blight removal, neighborhood housing development, acquisition and clean-up of contaminated properties and public safety via an investment of more than $200 million.  

The People strategy is currently funded at $42 million and will develop programs to improve the health, education and economic lives of former Bowen residents and the Bowen Choice Neighborhood community.  

“Atlanta Housing and the City of Atlanta have demonstrated that we can leverage $40 million in Choice Neighborhood funds into more than $500 million to successfully transform the Bowen Choice Neighborhood,” Atlanta Housing President and CEO Eugene Jones said in a press release. “This grant will be transformational for the Bowen Choice Neighborhood, as public and private resources are combined to create new affordable housing, improve neighborhood amenities and provide new opportunities for current and former residents.”