Atlanta BeltLine

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The Atlanta BeltLine is a comprehensive transportation and economic development effort and one of the nation's largest urban redevelopment programs. By transforming Atlanta's mostly abandoned freight rail corridors, the completed BeltLine will ultimately include at least a 33-mile trail network and about 22-miles of transit. The project is projected to generate $10 billion in total economic growth within the City of Atlanta, much of which will support ongoing project costs through a Tax Allocation District (TAD) (Georgia's state term for tax increment financing [TIF]). When the TAD was created in 2005, properties around the proposed BeltLine generated limited tax revenue. To spur economic development, the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, and Atlanta Public Schools agreed to create a TAD on parcels surrounding this BeltLine's rail corridor. As investment increases around the BeltLine, this TAD generates tax revenue to support ongoing project delivery. From 2005 to 2017, the Atlanta BeltLine TAD has generated $325 million. Alongside TAD revenue, the City of Atlanta, private investment and philanthropic contributions, county, regional, state and federal grants, and public-private partnerships are also funding the completion of the BeltLine. Ballot referenda in 2016 allocated nine-tenths of a penny for transit and transportation projects within the City of Atlanta, a portion of which will fund some BeltLine transit, access, and the remaining right-of-way for the entirety of the 22-mile loop. The full trail network and transit system is currently planned to be completed by 2030 and will ultimately connect 45 neighborhoods in Atlanta.

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