The Invest Atlanta Board of Directors approved a loan of up to $950,000 from the Brownfield Clean-up Revolving Loan Fund that will finance the environmental remediation of the Pullman Yard site.
Once the clean-up is complete, Atomic Entertainment will begin work on renovating the historic Pullman Yard into a mixed-use entertainment district with a film stages, hotel, office space, restaurants, retail, greenspace, and live performance space.
Atomic Entertainment purchased the site in the Kirkwood neighborhood from the Georgia Building Authority in 2017. The $125 million project will create approximately 260 new jobs, including many in the film and entertainment industry, and generate $179.8 million in economic impact.
The 27-acre site was the site of an active manufacturing facility starting in 1904. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Pullman Rail Car Company operated a repair and storage yard at the site. By late 1980s and early 1990s, the site was severely underused, and for the last 30 years it has been inactive.
The BCRLF will provide clean-up of the contaminated sites. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed and approved the clean plan.
The City of Atlanta’s Brownfields Program started in 1996. Since then, the City has managed several programs and initiatives aimed at identifying, assessing and remediating brownfield sites throughout the city. Invest Atlanta oversees the Brownfield RLF program, and the board has recently approved loans for cleanup in the Southwest Atlanta BeltLine Trail corridor, as well as on properties located along Moores Mill Road NW and Cascade Avenue SW.
A brownfield is a real property whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Examples include former industrial sites, gas stations, dry cleaning establishments, and other industrial uses. Atlantic Station and the Atlanta BeltLine are two examples of successful brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects in the City of Atlanta.
In June of 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $500,000 in supplemental funding to assist the City of Atlanta in cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties. The EPA provided a total of $15.7 million in funding to 33 other existing Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grantees, helping Atlanta and other communities around the country carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects.