In the shadow of the Great Depression, the United States embarked on what was then seen as a bold social experiment: FDR’s Public Works Administration built the first federally-funded public housing project – Techwood Homes in Atlanta. Part of a  “slum clearance” effort, Techwood housed only white residents. Black Atlantans were provided public housing a few miles away in University Homes. Techwood initially housed about 600 families that earned less than $2,000 per year.

Techwood’s history mirrors that of many inner-city public housing complexes: an eventual demise into segregation (of African Americans by the 1970s), isolation, disrepair, and neglect. By 1993 one-third of the 1,195 units were vacant and 1,000 “emergency” work orders were waiting for action.

In 1994 McCormack Baron Salazar joined with local partners – the Atlanta Housing Authority and local developer The Integral Group – and began, in cooperation with residents and the business community, to bring hope to this neighborhood. The partnership invented another first in public housing history – the first public housing development with mixed incomes. Seemingly the type of neighborhood that should be an ideal, an economically integrated community had never been promoted or financed by the federal government.

With federal and private financing, with resident participation, and with the support of an entrepreneurial housing authority, the newly named Centennial Place became a model for urban community development. Over 900 families live in new garden apartments and townhomes. Some families make a few thousand dollars a year and some make more than $150,000. But you won’t know which by looking at their housing units. They live side by side in an attractive neighborhood of tree-lined streets. Two swimming pools and a fitness center in the development, and a new YMCA nearby, provide recreational opportunities. New commercial development is underway – being built with private investment. The neighborhood is ethnically and economically diverse.

But the pride of Centennial Place is its elementary school. Fueled by a fervent belief that public education must succeed if new urban communities are to succeed, McCormack Baron Salazar and its partners spurred the development of a new K-5 school for the neighborhood – one that would hold all children to equally high expectations. Georgia Tech and Coca-Cola joined the effort and provided funding and curriculum support. Today, Centennial Place Elementary is nationally recognized for its student achievement. The school won The Education Trust foundation’s “Dispelling the Myth” award in 2003 – proving that with the right environment and support, low-income and minority children can achieve. Children in public housing are exceeding standards as well as the children of Georgia Tech professors. In 2003, 98 percent of the school met or exceeded state standards in reading and 93 percent performed at that level in math.

The Centennial Place community is a model of urban development that will endure for future generations.