Even with tax breaks in limbo, huge Eastside Trail-bordering development moves forward

A potentially neighborhood-altering project proposed for the Beltline’s booming Eastside Trail is inching closer to realization.

Developer New City Properties, best known recently for the new “Beltline Kroger” and concrete office block above it, 725 Ponce, has secured permits to begin land development on 12 acres next to Historic Fourth Ward Park, according to What Now Atlanta.

The news comes on the heels of the developer’s decision to (at least temporarily) sideline its request for some $22.5 million in tax breaks from Invest Atlanta for the project at 760 Ralph McGill Boulevard.

Critics of the request argued that, with such prime real estate, a private development shouldn’t need any extra help to get built.

The project, expected to break ground in earnest early next year, promises 1,100 residences—some of which would be “affordable,” due to Atlanta’s inclusionary zoning laws—more than a million square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of retail offerings, and a 75-key boutique hotel.

New City is moving forward with merely utilities and infrastructure installations—almost $4 million worth, per WNA—but the progress could signal the developer is willing to see this project through without public assistance.

New City CEO Jim Irwin has said in the past that the tax breaks would be passed on to the development’s tenants as economic inducements.

He told Curbed Atlanta on Friday that Invest Atlanta is expected to review a revised request for the tax incentives next year.

This story was updated on December 20, 2019 at 2:23 p.m. to include a information provided by New City CEO Jim Irwin.