Plans by the Atlanta Mission to centralize services on a single Westside Beltline campus are facing pushback by area residents — and the district’s councilmember.
The homelessness services provider wants to consolidate existing facilities to provide support and shelter on a portion of the 15-acre property. There are also plans for affordable housing on the remaining portion. But Councilmember Byron Amos believes the Westside already carries a disproportionate amount of social services that he’d like to see spread throughout Atlanta.
“This site was our economic opportunity,” said Amos, who pointed to similar warehouses being adapted into commercial space elsewhere on the Beltline.
In February, Amos detailed some of his concerns in a letter to the property owner, Allen Morris Company. Amos says he has yet to receive a response, but also has not reached out again since then.
A spokesperson for the Atlanta Mission declined an interview request regarding the Westside site and instead sent a statement noting that community engagement is still ongoing.