After more than a year and a half of sitting vacant in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, the former Atlanta Medical Center site is finally on the path toward redevelopment.
A lofty plan from the city would transform the hospital and surrounding blocks into a bustling community hub with parks, housing, retail shops and office space — but no specific plan for medical facilities at the site.
When Wellstar Health System closed the hospital abruptly in 2022, city leaders shut down any chance of revitalization through a series of zoning moratoriums, saying at the time that it was to “review the impact of the hospital’s closure.” The newest development freeze passed in June is set to expire in mid-October.
Community members have voiced broad support for recently released city plans that outline a potential future for the property. Although some worry that replacing the lost emergency medical services isn’t prioritized enough.
“The Atlanta Medical Center served so, so, so many people,” said Jon’Luk Young, associate organizer with the My Community, My Hospital Campaign at New Georgia Project. “Not just in the Old Fourth Ward area.”
The Department of City Planning visited on Monday with the area’s local neighborhood planning unit to present a years-long effort to revamp the facility and surrounding land into a bustling hotspot. A plan that is likely to evolve over time.
Those plans include up to 2.4 million square-feet of residential units, 120,000 square-feet of commercial and retail shops and 240,000 square-feet of offices space.
Credit: Courtesy of the Department of City Planning
Credit: Courtesy of the Department of City Planning
“We think that this could be an opportunity to do something a little bit more robust and bigger vision,” Winston Mitchell, with the department of planning, told members of the local neighborhood planning unit.
The massive undertaking offers the chance to connect the longtime hospital to Freedom Park Trail, Old Fourth Ward Park and the east side of the Beltline. The city notes that, eventually, pedestrian pathways could be extended west through the future Stitch over the connector, downtown and the west side of the Beltline.
The village-style development would convert hospital towers into housing while preserving historic elements of the former medical facility facade built in the 1920s, according to city plans. The former gymnasium would also be converted into a community recreation center.
Wellstar — which still owns the property — told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it supports the city’s vision for the site.
Council member Amir Farokhi has been a vocal opponent of the current moratorium on the site. He said the sweeping vision for a new community hub will hopefully attract developers who want to invest in what the city imagines.
“We want to see growth here,” Farokhi said. “This part of town and these parcels are prime for development given their proximity both to the Beltline and midtown and downtown. Hopefully market forces will embrace this vision to bring it — most of it — to life.”
But the ambitious goal to bring new life to the former medical center will come with a high price tag. The city estimates that demolition of existing structures alone could cost up to $25 million. The main hospital buildings ― all over 50 years old ― would be the biggest challenge to restore.
Credit: LBGPF2-004c, Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Photographic Collection, 1920-1976. Photographic Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
Credit: LBGPF2-004c, Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Photographic Collection, 1920-1976. Photographic Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
Regardless of what it will take to get redevelopment off the ground, community leaders say: the sooner the better.
During the second extension of the zoning moratorium on the property, Tom Boyle, president of Fourth Ward Neighbors, said the group sent a letter to the city urging elected officials to allow development to start.
“We just want to make sure that these large sites get developed quickly, because we know that vacant lots are not good for any neighborhood,” he said. “We are just very conscious of the Civic Center space and how long its take taken to develop that.”
“This parcel of land is a really, really important parcel — it’s in a crossroads of the city,” Boyle added. “So we’ve got to make sure that how it’s used is really appropriate, both for the advancement of the city and the betterment of the neighborhood.”
Filling health care gaps
The former hospital’s sudden shutdown ― which Wellstar Health System attributed to financial strain ― also left the city with only one remaining Level 1 trauma center.
The Atlanta Medical Center is located within the historically Black Old Fourth Ward district, where around 31% of the population lives in poverty. Neighboring facilities, like Grady Hospital, have extended their resources to absorb patients displaced by the closure.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens had harsh words for Wellstar after the center’s closure and described their decision to flee the property as a “nuclear option” that left a significant hole in health care services.
Advocates worry that the current plans for the site don’t include sufficient replacement for medical services the neighborhood — and surrounding communities — lost when the hospital closed.
Kierra Stanford, a lead organizer with New Georgia Project’s My Community, My Hospital campaign, said that residents lost emergency services, crucial pediatric care, primary care doctors and mental health resources when the hospital shuttered.
“Grady’s E.R. was already exacerbated when AMC was open — it was already around eight-hour wait times in the E.R.,” she said. “But I’ve heard stories of up to 24 hours waiting in the E.R. now that AMC is closed.”
The group is advocating for an emergency room or urgent care, children’s services and mental health supports to be included in the future development.
“Time and time again we’ve heard that (residents) want a full-service hospital,” she said.
The city is also currently using the former Athletic Club of the Atlanta Medical Center’s campus as a temporary emergency shelter for Atlantans experiencing homelessness, and it’s unclear where those vulnerable residents may be relocated.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Mitchell, with the planning department, said the city intends to incorporate some level of medical services into the redevelopment.
“Not a full service hospital or trauma center, but at the least outpatient services — whether it’s urgent care or general practice practitioners,” he said, adding that health care resources could be a condition that the city requires the future developer to fulfill.
Replacing lost health care services is also on the minds of Atlanta City Council members.
“My personal goal is to balance what is being discussed around medical needs — because that is desperately needed — but also the need for housing and not wasting this opportunity,” Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, who represents the area, said Monday. “We can’t force Wellstar to do anything. They are working with us — absolutely.”
“But I do not believe we’ll be able to hold this for another moratorium,” Bakhtiari added.
In a statement, Wellstar said that it supports the land-use plan proposed by the city that envisions a development with “affordable housing, residential properties, a health and wellbeing component, neighborhood-level retail, and commercial development.”
“We understand that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the property and ensure any plan for reuse serves the needs of Atlanta and incorporates input from residents of the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood,” said Matthew O’Connor, executive director of external communications for the nonprofit provider.
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