Atlantic Station, Atlanta, Georgia

I have always been amazed by what was done with this project. It sat vacant for years, quite the eye sore driving down 75 South, it took a lot of forward thinking to do what they did.

Atlantic Station, Atlanta, Georgia: A Sustainable Brownfield Revitalization Best Practice by Christopher De Sousa and Lily-Ann D’Souza(2013) as a best practice in brownfield revitalization, Atlantic Station is example of sustainable post-industrial redevelopment. The master-planned transformation of an under-utilized steel mill into a mixed-use, transit-oriented community offers a case study of brownfield redevelopment to manage growth sustainably. The case study, however, also underscores the challenges that complicate large-scale urban renewal projects, while offering lessons that other cities considering brownfield redevelopment can benefit from.The story of Atlantic Station’s development begins with the decline of the Atlantic Steel Company. Established in 1901 as the Atlanta Hoop Company, the mill specialized in the manufacture of wagon wheels and cotton bale equipment. By the 1920s, production expanded to include “nails, barbed wire, plough shears and galvanized steel” and was reflected in the company’s new name, Atlantic Steel. When production peaked in the 1950s, more than 2,300 people were employed at the mill, manufacturing 750,000 tons of steel products a year. In 1979, the mill was purchased by Ivaco Inc., a steel manufacturer based in Montreal, Canada. Atlantic Steel was subsequently forced to scale back its operations as the domestic steel industry collapsed in response to foreign competition in the early 1980s. The de-industrialization of the mill continued into the 1990s. By 1997, only 400 people were employed by the Atlantic Steel Company. Operations ceased the following year.