Invest Atlanta-backed Vine City redevelopment centers on new Morris Brown student hub and 100-room hotel

A long-vacant campus edge is slated for housing, hospitality, and community-serving space

A major redevelopment proposal is advancing for a prominent Vine City site tied to Morris Brown College, with plans that combine a new student-centered facility with a hotel, mixed-income housing, and street-level uses aimed at reactivating a corridor near the Atlanta University Center.

The concept focuses on replacing or repurposing the former Morris Brown student center—often referred to as the Hickman Student Center—along with other long-empty structures on an approximately 7.5- to 8-acre assemblage in Vine City. The property has been held by Atlanta’s economic development agency since it was acquired in 2014, after years in which buildings on the site sat largely unused.

What the plan includes

The current program under discussion includes four core elements:

• a new Morris Brown College student center or academic-oriented facility intended to support campus life and programming;
• a 100-room hotel proposed as a hospitality anchor and economic driver;
• approximately 200 mixed-income residential units;
• additional ground-floor space envisioned for retail and nonprofit or community-serving uses.

Project details and schedules remain preliminary. Public updates to date indicate that procurement decisions were completed in late 2025, while design development and a construction timeline are still pending further planning work.

Development team and public role

The redevelopment is being advanced through a public selection process overseen by Invest Atlanta. Reporting on the deal indicates the development and residential components involve multiple partners, including Prestwick-affiliated companies and nonprofit housing participation through Mercy Housing, alongside other collaborators named in public briefings.

Invest Atlanta’s involvement positions the project within broader Westside redevelopment strategies that have relied on public land assembly and layered financing tools to attract private investment while setting affordability and community-benefit expectations.

Context: investment pressure and neighborhood expectations

Vine City has been the focus of sustained redevelopment attention in the years since major public and private investments reshaped areas around the Westside and downtown stadium district. The neighborhood’s historic significance and proximity to the Atlanta University Center have made reuse of dormant institutional properties a recurring planning priority.

Residents and stakeholders have framed the latest proposal as a test of whether new development can bring services, housing options, and activity without severing ties to the community’s history and existing households.

Next steps are expected to include additional design disclosures, community engagement, and the start of formal permitting as the development team refines the scope, financing structure, and phasing.