THE COLEMAN MILL APARTMENTS
The Coleman Mill project is Mark T. Wright's ambitious re-imagining of one of the most iconic and historic buildings in the South. In 1898, Warren C. Coleman, a former slave, built the nation's first Black-owned cotton mill, where he employed an almost all-Black cadre of skilled workers - an unheard-of achievement at the time.
The renovation of the mill and its conversion into a community of 144 affordable housing units is an equally ground-breaking endeavor. After a checkered history and abandoned for many years, the site is now on the National Register of Historic Places. When completed in 2026, the Coleman Mill Apartments, built with the approval of the US National Parks Dept., will honor the past while pointing dynamically to the future.
In addition to the apartments, the complex will house a community center, a playground, gardens, a small shopping center, a museum about the building's unique history, and other facilities that will transform the XX-acre property into a thriving new, family-centered neighborhood. In a very real sense, Mark T. Wright's vision and expertise will bring Warren C. Coleman's dream full circle.
