The Eastside Tax Allocation District (Eastside TAD) was established in 2003 to join the Westside TAD in allowing the City to rebuild its Downtown by attracting new private investment and improving local streetscapes and making Atlanta a more enjoyable place to live, work and play.

The Eastside TAD is located in the center of the City of Atlanta and includes the eastern and southern portions of Downtown and the adjacent neighborhoods of Sweet Auburn and Old Fourth Ward, as well as neighborhoods along the Memorial Drive corridor, including portions of Grant Park and Cabbagetown. This area is highly accessible, served by multiple MARTA stations, three interstate highways, and the Atlanta Streetcar.

The area of the TAD within Downtown is characterized by high-density commercial development and government uses. Opportunities exist for redevelopment of underutilized vacant or obsolete buildings and surface parking lots. The surrounding neighborhoods of Sweet Auburn, Old Fourth Ward, and Memorial Drive feature a mix of lower and medium density commercial and residential uses. These areas are home to some of the city’s most historic commercial districts, including South Peachtree/South Broad Street and Auburn and Edgewood Avenues.

Despite a surge in development in many of the city’s urban areas, much of the Eastside TAD has yet to see the same kind of investment that has occurred in nearby neighborhoods to the north, west, and east. The area south of Marietta Street, in particular, has continued to struggle and remains mostly vacant or underutilized with the exception of governmental uses.