Ariel Place at Bowen breaks ground on 112 planned homes

A groundbreaking ceremony for Ariel Place at Bowen, a planned 112-home second phase of the former Bowen Homes redevelopment, took place in Atlanta on Oct. 8, 2026. The project had already been described as under construction in an Oct. 6 report by Groundbreak, so the ceremony did not mark the first reported start of construction.

WABE reported that the homes are planned as 34 subsidized, 35 affordable, 10 workforce and 33 market-rate units. Those categories total 112. WSB reported officials’ summary as 69 affordable and 10 workforce homes.

Dated records show different budget and unit figures

An Atlanta Housing committee presentation dated Feb. 10, 2026, listed a $50 million total construction budget and a $13.8 million Atlanta Housing investment for Bowen II. It listed 112 units, including 69 affordable and 10 workforce homes. Atlanta Housing’s FY 2025 annual report had described an earlier $43 million plan for 112 units, including 79 affordable homes.

These are figures from separate dated planning documents, not a confirmed final cost. The documents do not reconcile the budget amounts or explain how their unit-category figures relate to WABE’s later breakdown. In particular, the fact that 34 subsidized and 35 affordable homes add to 69 does not establish that the category definitions are the same.

Groundbreak’s Oct. 6 report forecast completion by Dec. 31, 2027. WABE and WSB coverage of the Oct. 8 ceremony and an Oct. 9 Axios report did not confirm whether that forecast remained in effect.

Former residents have a reported opportunity to return

Axios reported that former Bowen residents relocated with Atlanta Housing assistance before the development was demolished will have the first opportunity to return to authority-supported homes. Atlanta Housing survey results reported by Axios found that 36 of 42 participating former Bowen households expressed interest in returning; that figure describes the participating households, not all former residents.

The 74-acre former Bowen Homes site is in northwest Atlanta, near I-285 and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Bowen Homes was demolished in 2009. The first phase of the redevelopment is a separate 151-unit project; Atlanta Housing’s FY 2025 report lists 107 affordable units in that phase. WABE reported an estimate that Phase I would be completed by the end of 2026.

The broader redevelopment has different funding and unit totals from Ariel Place at Bowen. WABE reported that Atlanta Housing described a $40 million HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant supporting the Bowen development, alongside $10 million in city funding and more than $520 million in public-private investment. Atlanta Housing’s FY 2025 report counts 756 units, including 557 affordable, during the grant period. WABE described the broader plan as 2,000 homes, with 40% intended to be affordable.