On Friday, November 7, Macon-Bibb County joined Mercer University and community partners on for a ceremonial groundbreaking to celebrate a major new development that will reshape the gateway into downtown Macon. Anchored by the future home of Mercer’s School of Medicine, the project will include residential lofts, retail space, offices, and parking, which will bring new energy and opportunity to Riverside Drive between Spring and Second streets.
“We want people to get off of this Spring Street exit and want them to see something special,” said Mayor Lester Miller. “We want something that pops. It’s part of a whole process. It took a lot of people working together to make this happen.”
The new 150,000-square-foot medical school building, designed by McMillan Pazdan Smith and built by Sheridan Construction, will feature two wings, rooftop terraces, and one of the tallest profiles in Macon. The $80 million facility will support Mercer’s rapidly growing medical programs and strengthen physician training for rural and underserved areas across Georgia.
“It’s going to be magnificent,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “It’s going to sit right over here and provide a beautiful gateway into downtown Macon, and I think the development around it is going to confirm in the minds of people that this is a city really on the move.”
Since opening in 1982, Mercer’s School of Medicine has more than doubled its Macon M.D. enrollment, growing from 96 to 240 medical students and adding master’s and Ph.D. programs for a total of 322 students. The new facility will provide the space, technology, and resources needed to support this expanding student population and strengthen Mercer’s mission to train physicians who serve rural and underserved communities across Georgia.
“The transformative research, the excellence in education that will occur in this building will provide physicians for not only Macon and Middle Georgia but for areas across our state, particularly in rural underserved areas,” said School of Medicine Dean Jean R. Sumner, M.D., MACP.
The project is part of a larger vision that includes a new convention center and hotel across the street, as well as a new trailhead connecting to the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail. In total, the combined investment is expected to reach nearly $400 million, marking one of the most significant revitalization efforts in Macon-Bibb County’s history.
The new School of Medicine building is expected to be completed by fall of 2028.