Murals grace the walls of building in historic Sweet Auburn District which is planned site for a new multistory complex where the Race Amity Institute will be housed as the anchor ground floor tenant.

National Center for Race Amity (NCRA) to receive gift establishing a 4500 sq. ft. Race Amity Institute in Atlanta Georgia.

The National Center for Race Amity and Navmar Developers, a privately held Atlanta development group, announced Navmar’s gift to provide 4,500 sq. ft. on the ground floor of its new development project in the Sweet Auburn Historic District in Atlanta Georgia to house the Race Amity Institute. Marjan Yavari, a principal in Navmar Developers, said the gift would provide the National Center for Race Amity space as the ground floor anchor to the new multistory building under design and development. Yavari said the building will house various professional services clients along with the Race Amity Institute which will be the first-floor anchor tenant in the building. “We chose to offer this gift to the National Center for Race Amity as its work is inspirational and offers a path forward to race unity, which is the most vital and challenging issue facing our nation,” Yavari said in brief statement concerning the gift.

The Historic Sweet Auburn District in Atlanta includes the Ebenezer Baptist Church which was the pastoral home of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is the location of The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. The planned building housing the Race Amity Institute is a block and a half from those sites. William H. “Smitty” Smith, Ed.D., executive director, of NCRA, said “we are delighted with this tremendous gift to the work and mission of the National Center for Race Amity.” Smith added that the gift presents a challenge and requires much work in developing plans to attract funds for the human resources to man the Race Amity Institute, which is planned to open in 2023.

“The Race Amity Institute will be a major satellite for our national work and will focus on research, training, teaching and archival and exhibition space promoting Race Amity and The Other Tradition as a field of learning”, Smith said.