Atlanta Beautiful Homes category interest

One of the iconic office buildings of the Atlanta skyline could open its doors as a place for people to live. Georgia-Pacific says it’ll repurpose its tower on Peachtree Street into residential units. It’s one of the latest efforts to redevelop downtown Atlanta.

That intrigues people who live and work downtown. "I think it’s a good idea," said Atlanta resident, Charles Ford. "It would be great to bring residential space back to the Peachtree corridor."

The 51-story skyscraper houses the paper giant. The company would convert its upper floors into 400 apartments and retrofit the lower floors into 125,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and entertainment space. Georgia-Pacific would retain a portion of the 600,000-square-feet of office space and the rest will be leased.

"We need to bring more activity back to the downtown district," Ford said, adding the proposal could help inject new life into a dormant downtown. "Adding commercial space, adding more bodies, adding more mobility to this area would be more beneficial to the greater community."

"It’s a great space, great location, walking distance from not only Piedmont Park, but downtown, Five Points," said Calvin Newell, who lives downtown. "There need to be more apartment buildings; there need to be more commercial buildings."

The 697-foot building stands in Atlanta City Council member Amir Farokhi’s District 2.

"That mixed use will serve the center city well," Farokhi said. "Any major metropolitan needs a vibrant downtown."

It’s one of the latest projects aimed at revitalizing downtown Atlanta. Developers launched a $5-billion plan to revamp the gulch. Another group is converting the old CNN Center into an office and retail complex. "All these projects going along at the same time is great news for downtown Atlanta," Farokhi said.

Farokhi says the Georgia-Pacific proposal could be a catalyst for economic growth. "It’s one of our marquee buildings, and it’s going to be great for Peachtree Street and downtown," Farokhi said.

Georgia-Pacific was unavailable to speak on camera. A spokesperson says it isn’t clear yet how much the development would cost, how it would be financed or how much, if any, would be dedicated to affordable housing.

Mayor Andre Dickens put out a statement, saying the project could bring "new life" to downtown.