CHNDC is actually a novel concept, and it has a surprising track record during its short existence.  Were it not for the direct intervention of CHNDC,

• the City of Atlanta would have constructed a large parking deck where City Plaza now stands,
• the Atlanta Board of Education would have oriented its new headquarters toward Pryor Street,
• Hope House would not have been developed and certainly not at its current location,
• the City would have not located its new public safety complex next to the Garnett MARTA Station, and
• the remainder of the block where Trinity has its sanctuary would not have been redeveloped.

Hope House

In the early and mid-1990’s the parking lot adjacent to Trinity United Methodist Church was overrun with homelessness, creating both an untenable visual blight and unsanitary conditions.  CHNDC worked with the City of Atlanta to find a site on the block to develop a 70-bed supportive housing facility.  With the support and cooperation of Mayor Shirley Franklin and Councilwoman Debi Starnes, CHNDC assisted in sourcing seed capital for the facility and serves as the sandwich lessor/lessee in a complicated ground lease between the Downtown Development Authority and the Developer, Progressive Redevelopment, Inc.

Public Safety Complex

When the City looked to locate a new public safety complex next to City Hall, CHNDC helped to persuade the City to look at sites more easily accessed by the considerable traffic generated and have easy transit availability.  CHNDC helped the City find the site adjacent to the underutilized Garnett Marta Station and provided the expertise (through Board members) for land acquisition.

City Hall Parking Deck

While parking needs around City Hall were increasing with the development of the Atlanta Public Schools headquarters, a new Municipal Courts building and City Hall itself, CHNDC pro-actively created a plan for the City providing for future development at the strategic and important corner of Trinity and Central, future retail on Central, and potential development on top of the structure. The first phase is a parking deck with 836 spaces, and future phases contemplate residential, office, and retail space along with a pocket park.  The parking deck was designed to be minimally obtrusive to the Capitol Hill area by fitting into the topography of the site and rising only slightly above street level on Washington Avenue.   CHNDC then contracted to coordinate the design and construction of the facility, managing its the delivery to the City in 2008.

Depot Plaza

CHNDC created a financially feasible plan for the underutilized land around the old World of Coke site, owned by the State of Georgia.  The plan, designed by the architectural firm of Perkins + Will and costed out in partnership with Balfour Beatty Construction, included student housing for Georgia State University with parking underneath, street level retail, a State History Museum, and a hotel and conference center.  Though rejected by the GSU, the plan has stimulated considerable planning by Central Atlanta Progress.