New report highlights controversy surrounding CIM Group redevelopment project in Atlanta

A new report from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) examines the controversy surrounding the ongoing Centennial Yards redevelopment project led by LA-based private equity firm The CIM Group. With initial estimates for the project in the $5 billion range, the city of Atlanta offered CIM nearly $2 billion in sales and property tax breaks to redevelop the Gulch, a 40-acre area of land in downtown Atlanta. In exchange, CIM promised the city affordable housing, various public enhancement projects, and construction contracts that emphasized diversity and equity.

The CIM Group has been accused of furthering gentrification and the displacement of low-income communities of color, labor issues and the exploitation of workers, dangerous construction and irresponsible development decisions, and issues with public pension funds that have invested in CIM. According to tenants of the CIM-owned Southern Towers, a 2,300 unit apartment complex in Alexandria, Virginia, they were subjected to mass eviction filings during the eviction moratorium; unaddressed mold issues; maintenance request issues; inconsistent billing; and significant rent hikes that made living at Southern Towers no longer a viable option for many.

CIM’s vision for its redevelopment of the Gulch included “900,000 square feet of retail space, 2.8 million square feet of residential housing, 1.7 million square feet of hospitality venues, along with a 300,000 square foot Data Center and 6,000 parking stalls.” The firm also promised in both 2018, and in 2021 to make 20% of their housing units affordable. In exchange for the promised affordable housing units, the City of Atlanta offered CIM a 20-year property tax exemption along with allowing the developer to keep “all of its city and state sales taxes for 30 years.”

In 2025, however, CIM appears to be backing out of their promise, stating that the firm’s first apartment tower on the site, which contains 304 units, will not feature any affordable housing. Instead of building those units, the firm will have to pay the City of Atlanta an “in-lieu” fee of $8.5 million, which some critics regard as insufficient.

“If the city is choosing to collaborate with corporations, it should work with corporations that do not have a past history of tenant mistreatment such as CIM,” said K Agbebiyi, Senior Housing Campaigner at PESP and author of the report. “Additionally, the city should maintain enforcement mechanisms that do not incentivize corporations to fail to follow through with their stated agreements. In the case of the Centennial Yards redevelopment, the city has essentially short-changed itself in order to work with a private equity firm with a troubling reputation.”