Initial plans for redeveloping the old Bull’s Head Plaza and other nearby properties envision a dense urban village with nearly 800 apartments.
A public meeting is set for 6 p.m. Monday at the St. Mary’s Campus.
“What the ultimate final project looks like, you know, we will see,” said Dennis Pemberton, executive managing director with Atlanta-based Dawson Co. “But it will certainly be a major, major impact to the Bull's Head community.”
This is a project that has been in the works for two decades or more. The city selected Dawson to lead the latest push back in 2021. The multi-year project will remake a 12-acre area around West Main and Genesee streets. The project is seen as a gateway to downtown while bridging the Bull’s Head and 19th Ward neighborhoods.
"This has been a long time coming," said City Council member LaShay Harris, whose south district encompasses the development area.
Project costs are estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars, all told – starting with construction of a new ESL branch and demolition of Bull’s Head Plaza this spring.
What comes next could include:
- 789 apartments and town houses, with a yet-undetermined set-aside of affordable units.
- 34,000 square feet of street-level retail – focused around the West Main and Genesee streets intersection.
- 34,000 square feet of office space.
Officials are talking to a potential anchor tenant, described as working in urban agriculture. It’s a national firm, they say — not a grocery or other retail operation — that only employs people with disabilities.
There also is a new parking garage, and the potential for underground parking. And, over at 160 Clifton St., a plan is emerging to create something of a workforce development center while adding three floors to an existing building. One of the project partners, US Ceiling Corp, would relocate its offices there from Henrietta.
Melissa James-Geska is the company president, and part of the development team.
“I literally grew up on the corner of Arnett Boulevard and Sherwood (Avenue),” she said. “The 19th Ward has always been near and dear to me. And so for me, this is a very personal journey.”
The initial concept shows nearly a dozen new buildings in all, rising four or even five stories. A major street redesign is in the works that will extend Genesee Street, reroute Brown Street and eliminate or dead-end two other neighborhood streets.
The closest thing this side of the city has seen to what's being proposed — in terms of size and scope of investment — is the Brooks Landing development. That was more than a decade ago, farther south on Genesee Street. And that, too, was years in the making.
But as Brooks Landing moved toward construction, neighbors voiced concern about traffic, impact on property values and a sense that the process was moving too quickly to have input.
"I think there were lessons learned," said Harris, who was president of the 19th Ward Community Association at the time. "Doing things fast, trying to push things through is not good either — because there are things that get missed."
At Bull's Head, she said, "it's slow for a reason. We've been very intentional about process."
The public meeting is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at St. Mary’s Campus, 89 Genesee St., in the first-floor meeting room. Free parking is available in the St. Mary’s campus parking garage.
(Click here for Zoom meeting link; Meeting ID: 835 3206 6081; Passcode: 278525).
“This is an opportunity to give people a chance to see where we are, what we've done, and what the vision is,” Pemberton said, while adding that the project timeline – showing the bulk of work getting underway in 2026 – could change. "This is still, you know, somewhat early in the process.”
