The Invest Atlanta Board has approved an additional $200,000 in Brownfield Loan Fund grants for Atomic Entertainment Development, LLC to clean up Pullman Yard, located on Rogers Street in northwest Atlanta. This brings the total loan from $950,000 to $1,150,000, which is funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Atomic Entertainment Development conducted multiple environmental site assessments and requested more funds to compensate for additional asbestos that was uncovered, an increase in cost of materials and the need to add two new sets of buildings to the project for clean-up. Previous assessments identified Asbestos Containing Material and Lead Based Paint in the site’s industrial buildings. 

The 27-acre Pullman Yard site in Kirkwood 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 the late 1980s and early 1990s, the site was severely underused. The State of Georgia acquired the site and, for the last 30 years, it has remained inactive. 

In 2017, Atomic Entertainment purchased the site, including the historically significant industrial buildings, associated small structures and paved areas through a public bid. It intends to remediate and redevelop the property for a mixed-used entertainment and arts district in five phases. The first phase will focus on remediating and redeveloping existing buildings for commercial uses, such as film production, office and mixed-income residential. Other areas of the property will be redeveloped into wellness facilities, dining and open and entertainment spaces. 

“This will become an excellent mixed-use entertainment and arts district,” says Nathan Regan, senior vice president of Economic Development for Invest Atlanta. “The site is decrepit at the moment, but the historical buildings will be beautiful once they are remediated.”