Redevelopment of WWII era Constructed Tindall Heights Begins

Tindall Height residents and local area residents attend the announcement Regional Administrator Jennings send from right with Mayor Reichert

Vintage era photos of Tindall Heights origins

Vintage era photos of Tindall Heights origins

Regional Administrator Ed Jennings, Jr. joined with Macon-Bibb County leaders such as Mayor Reichert, local and state housing officials and dozens of Tindall Heights residents on Monday to officially kick-off the start of the neighborhood redevelopment.

"Macon-Bibb's leadership behind the Tindall project has also been instrumental in a federal program that will also provide Internet access and digital tablets to hundreds of low-income families in Macon," said Jennings. "It's going to set a standard for public housing."

"The history we have is not bricks and mortar...It's the heart and soul and dreams of people that have lived here," said Eric Manson, chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Housing Authority Board.

Tindall Heights built in 1940, was Macon's first public housing development for black families and was considered modern by standards but over the next seventy years became outdated, officials noted.

The new housing based on the master plan calls for more open space and better amenities and an 8.5-acre commercial development that would provide shopping and potential job opportunities for residents.

Over 100 people celebrated the redevelopment kickoff for the first phase of the project aimed at revitalizing the neighborhood near Little Richard Penniman Boulevard.

In 2017, the site is expected to become home to the first new development - Tindall Senior Towers. Costs associated with the historic redevelopment is estimated at $45 million.

The housing authority will spend about $2.2 million to tear down Tindall Heights. The next three phases of the $45 million redevelopment are contingent on receiving federal grants.

The phases would reduce the number of Tindall Heights units from 412 apartment units to 270. John Hiscox, former executive director of the housing authority, related that there was disappointment over the years as the Housing Authority and city were not awarded grants, but the vision to revitalize Tindall Heights never wavered.

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