'No longer Mayberry' Union City's population is booming.

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A soundstage complex on what was once a shopping mall. A collection of tiny homes across the street from 50-year-old condominiums. Single-family homes from before the turn of the century peppered among new subdivisions and luxury apartments.

Union City has been on the upswing for years, a trend across south Fulton County. The historic railroad town is a patchwork of old and new development, with contemporary housing, industrial buildings and parks popping up all over the once-overlooked suburb.

Microsoft plans to move into a $1.8 billion data center, the first one to be built in the city. A few miles away, Grady Health System is preparing to build a $900 million hospital, which could drive even more growth and development in the area.

Approximately 30,000 people now live in Union City, which has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the U.S. in recent years. The population has grown by more than 30% over the past decade, according to census estimates.

Amid the ongoing growth, Union City officials in March enacted a 180-day moratorium, putting a temporary halt on the acceptance of certain kinds of applications for real estate projects. The pause is intended to allow local officials to work on rewriting the city's zoning regulations.

Some sections of the zoning ordinance haven’t been touched in decades, said Union City Mayor Vince Williams. The update could create a "seamless process" for housing, commercial space and other types of development, he said.

“We’re no longer Mayberry, and we’ve got to embrace the future,” said Williams, who moved to Union City in 2002 and became mayor in 2013. “Who would have thought 25 to 30 years ago we’d be talking about a data center?”

Amid the ongoing growth, Union City officials in March enacted a 180-day moratorium, putting a temporary halt on the acceptance of certain kinds of applications for real estate projects. The pause is intended to allow local officials to work on rewriting the city's zoning regulations.

Some sections of the zoning ordinance haven’t been touched in decades, said Union City Mayor Vince Williams. The update could create a "seamless process" for housing, commercial space and other types of development, he said.

“We’re no longer Mayberry, and we’ve got to embrace the future,” said Williams, who moved to Union City in 2002 and became mayor in 2013. “Who would have thought 25 to 30 years ago we’d be talking about a data center?”

Ingredients for growth: Affordable real estate, employers

Union City's appeal can be attributed to multiple factors. The city is located just 9 miles away from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and 18 miles away from Downtown Atlanta via Interstate 85.

Ingredients for growth: Affordable real estate, employers

Union City's appeal can be attributed to multiple factors. The city is located just 9 miles away from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and 18 miles away from Downtown Atlanta via Interstate 85.

Vacant land is relatively abundant and less expensive in Union City compared to Atlanta’s northern suburbs. That factor alone is a major selling point for businesses, contributing to the concentration of distribution, logistics and manufacturing centers in the area.

Home prices can be relatively affordable as well. The median sales price of a Union City home was $289,000 in May, compared with $440,000 for the metro area as a whole, according to Georgia First Multiple Listing Service data.

The average asking rent for apartment dwellers hovers around $1,500 per month, slightly lower than the average for the metro area, according to CoStar Group.

“Union City is just one of those markets that keeps checking all the boxes, and honestly, I think a lot of people in the industry are still sleeping on it,” said Patrick Kassin, development partner at Woodfield Development.

“It has a small-town feel, but it’s surrounded by everything a renter in their early 30s actually wants access to,” said Kassin, whose company delivered a 294-unit apartment development called Union Green in 2024.

Major employers have set up shop in Union City over the years. Amazon, ASOS, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Costco Wholesale, Dendreon, General Electric, Kraft Heinz, Newell Brands and Walmart employ thousands of people at facilities across the city.

Grady South: City's 'most significant development' ever

Grady is poised to join the list of the city’s largest employers in a few years. The health system is moving forward with a $1 billion health campus at Campbellton Fairburn Road and South Fulton Parkway that will be anchored by a 200-bed acute care hospital anticipated to open by 2031.

The plan also includes a future medical office building, a floor of which will be taken by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to host a variety of pediatric specialists.

A freestanding emergency department opened on the site in June. Patient volume is already exceeding projections by approximately 10%, said Shannon Sale, chief administrator officer at Grady.

The Grady South campus is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs at full build-out. Grady selected the site due to the area’s growing population, demand for services and travel distance to other facilities, Sale said.

“When we looked at [Union City], we saw good development of all types of homes, and we would see that continuing to grow,” Sale said.

The new hospital could play a part in addressing health disparities between north and south Fulton, an issue exacerbated by the 2022 closures of Wellstar Health System’s Atlanta Medical Center in Old Fourth Ward and Atlanta Medical Center South in East Point.

Williams is also counting on the new hospital to have an “economic ripple effect.” He predicts that the project will serve as a catalyst for additional shops and restaurants.

“The Grady development is going to be a huge win for us,” Williams said. “That's probably the most significant development in Union City's history.”

Mayoral priorities: Lots of projects, lower taxes

Not far from the future hospital, construction is underway on a Microsoft data center along Stonewall Tell Road. The Development Authority of Fulton County in 2024 awarded a $75 million tax break over a 10-year period to the project, which will span more than 2 million square feet.

Data center projects have drawn backlash from community members and activists across the Southside and Georgia as a whole. Opponents have raised wide-ranging concerns about the massive facilities, including potential impacts on the environment, health risks, noise pollution and energy consumption.

Williams is generally receptive to data centers, which are viewed as essential infrastructure for cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other digital capabilities. He argues that they're not only needed to power everyday activities but that they can benefit communities by generating tax revenue.

"I know of some communities around the country where data centers have come in, and they've not only been able to lower their property taxes for the residents; some communities are looking at eliminating property taxes," Williams said. "I would love to do that one day."

Another priority to the mayor is mixed-use development. He would like to see a major destination offering an experience similar to what can be found at Fayetteville’s Trilith or Alpharetta’s Avalon without residents having to make the trek to those places.

“We're having meetings on that right now as we speak,” Williams said.

City officials have a master plan known as R3, which stands for “reclaim, renew and reimagine.” The plan is focused on improving access to green space and recreational amenities, as well as building walkable, lively neighborhoods with a mix of uses.

One of the latest public investments can be found off Royal South Parkway. Veterans Memorial Park opened in October, adding a dedicated space to honor veterans and a nature trail that meanders around a pond with water fountains.

Construction is currently underway on Gateway Park, which will include a boardwalk, pavilions and other features near the Grady campus.

On the opposite end of the city, a 3,000-seat amphitheater is planned across 15 acres near the former site of Union Station, which was known as Shannon Mall when it opened in 1980.

Union Station closed in 2010. The 760,000-square-foot mall was demolished a few years later to make way for Atlanta Metro Studios, a film and television production facility visible from I-85.

Outdoor concerts used to be held at the mall, said Williams, recalling the time that thousands of people gathered in the parking lot to watch a Keith Sweat performance. The amphitheater will provide a new spot to see live entertainment, as people once did at the now-gone mall, he said.

“People would come and make a weekend out of it, and our hotels loved it,” Williams said. “We’ve got to get back to having those opportunities.”