Rebirth finally on tap for former Peachtree-Pine shelter, adjacent building

Josh Green

Tue, 07/08/2025 – 12:35

Emory University announced plans Monday to create more than 50 apartments for its healthcare employees across the street from Emory University Hospital Midtown by way of adaptive-reuse development for two existing buildings. Both are more than 100 years old, and Emory has brought in historic preservation experts to assist.

Those structures include the longtime former shelter at 477 Peachtree St., which Emory bought in 2018 and now plans to restore its Peachtree Street façade. Emory completed an internal clean-up and abatement of the building earlier this year to prep for its conversion to housing, per officials.

The former Peachtree-Pine shelter’s Peachtree Street facade today. Emory University

Next door, Emory also plans to convert (and partially demolish) a building it purchased in 2019 at 489 Peachtree St.

That structure, the Peasant Building, is in such poor condition the rear half will have to be cleaved off, a move that will allow for windows and natural light for some apartments at the former shelter next door, according to Emory.

Emory filed Monday for a Special Administrative Permit with the city as a necessary step to move redevelopment forward. Federal and state tax credits will be required to offset initial capital costs and make repurposing the buildings viable, according to Emory officials.

Robin Morey, Emory’s vice president of campus services and chief planning officer, said the resulting apartments will be “competitively priced housing” within a short walk of work for hospital employees. The project will also bring fresh commercial space to the area, per Morey.

“In addition to helping with the recruitment and retention of our workforce,” Morey said in a statement, “our design will activate this area of the city with residential units and commercial uses.”

The 489 Peachtree St. building in relation to the former shelter next door. Google Maps

Looking north, how the longtime shelter building meets the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets near the Connector. Google Maps

The adaptive-reuse project is considered in early phases now, and no construction timeline was specified.

Emory officials pointed to the Peachtree Street location’s proximity to the interstate-capping Stitch greenspace and infrastructure project as a selling point, though federal cuts have recently threatened to yank more than $157 million in funding, jeopardizing that project’s scheduled 2026 groundbreaking.

Officials told Urbanize Atlanta last month a city-approved tax measure, the Stitch Special Services District, could be used to plug the funding gap and keep the Stitch’s design work and construction on track.

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