National Center for Civil and Human Rights to Receive $24 Million in Phase I Financing

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the planned facility slated for construction in Downtown, will receive $24 million in financing for the first phase of construction via a package put together by PNC Bank and Invest Atlanta.

This phase of the project is expected to create 700 direct construction jobs over the next two years and another 500 jobs as additional project phases come online.

The center will be built on Pemberton Place, just off Centennial Olympic Park.

“Financing for this project has taken more than five years to pull together, and we could not have completed funding prior to construction without the financial support of PNC and other public and private partners,” Old Fourth Ward resident and center Chief Executive Doug Shipman, said in a statement.

“PNC’s investment will help build a world-class destination for future generations to explore the historic struggle for global civil and human rights.”

The center received $11 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations from PNC to fund its first phase of construction, which will include 42,000 square feet of exhibit and special event space.

Invest Atlanta kicked in another $13 million in tax credits.

Construction is expected to begin later this month.

Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development arm, played a key role in securing the NMTC funding from PNC and it provided redevelopment funding through the Westside Tax Allocation District to support construction costs and secure the exhibition rights to the Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. papers and archives.

“The New Markets Tax Credit program is an extremely valuable economic tool that enables us to leverage private investment in Atlanta to create jobs,” Brian P. McGowan, president and chief executive of Invest Atlanta, said in a statement.

“It provided the critical ‘last mile’ financing, without which this project would have been further delayed."