Downtown Atlanta District Developments

[Lady Celeste]

There appears to be work going on at the site of what will eventually be the new $1.2 billion-and-counting Atlanta Falcons/Soon-to-be-announced MLS stadium.

 

Photo courtesy of briantech

 

 

In the bottom right of this photo you see Phillips Arena. Although this post was initially about the stadium, I will also add an article that talks about the Atlanta Hawks wanting to redevelop the Gulch (in the bottom left of the picture) into a new attraction. My fingers are crossed for something special. With two MARTA station access points, this area could be rebirth into something really fan/family friendly. Unfortunately the full article is behind the pay wall. 

 

 

 

 

The Atlanta Hawks aren’t sitting on the bench as the city’s other pro teams try to lure more fans with new stadiums and entertainment venues.

Bruce Levenson, managing partner of the Hawks, said team officials are in the preliminary stages of  “reimagining” their home, Philips Arena, and the area around it, a 120-acre collection of downtown parking lots and railways called The Gulch.

The idea comes as the Atlanta Falcons prepare to start construction on a more than $1 billion downtown stadium and the Braves get ready to name the development team for a mixed-use project around their proposed Cobb County facility.

 

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/04/04/hawks-eye-gulch-for-new-attraction.html

 

 

 

Regarding my MLS reference above:

 

 

Report: Atlanta to get next Major League Soccer team.

 

 

 

...in early March, as 68,000 soccer fans filled the Georgia Dome for an exhibition game between Mexico and Nigeria, Blank was entertaining Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer in his suite during most of the scoreless match, Saporta previously reported. 

 

 

 

 

For your reading pleasure: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2014/04/report-atlanta-to-get-next-major-league-soccer.html

 

or here: http://saportareport.com/blog/2014/04/blank-on-the-verge-of-announcing-atlanta-soccer-team/

[Lady Celeste]

Downtown to get a 200-room Hotel Indigo

 

 

 

 

 

Atlanta-based Portman Holdings LLC just acquired 230 Peachtree St., a 27-story tower built in 1965 by Portman. It was developed as part of Peachtree Center, one of the first mixed-use projects in Atlanta, at a time when downtown was rapidly growing.

 

 

Portman Holdings plan to turn the first 9 floors of the 27 story tall office building into a 200 room Hotel Indigo. This is great news as it will take away 9 floors of office space. The location is great and a boutique hotel is probably one of the best adaptive reuses for this location.    

 

 

 

Announcement here: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/04/18/downtown-to-get-200-room-hotel-indigo.html

[Lady Celeste]

More on the proposed 800-1000 room hotel at the Georgia World Congress Center site.

 

 

According to a story in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the proposal calls for an 800- to 1,000-room high-rise, four-star hotel on Northside Drive, adjacent to the center’s Building C. The project would get underway following demolition of the Georgia Dome. Its estimated completion date of 2019.The hotel is needed to not only meet rising demand, but it would also help Atlanta capture shows that might otherwise pass it by, according to a demand analysis study by PKF Hospitality Research LLC. The project cost is estimated at $207 million to $245 million, depending on whether it is built as a public or private project.

 

 

The study says construction of an 800-room hotel would induce an additional 116,000 trade show and convention attendees in a typical year for the GWCC. It would also increase GWCC revenues by $2.974 million annually.

 

 

The authority’s next steps are to discuss with developers what it would take to make a private deal work. The GWCCA stadium committee will receive recommendations on how to move the hotel project forward by mid-summer.

 

 

More renderings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more here: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2014/04/25/georgia-world-congress-center-authority-s-proposed.html

[Lady Celeste]

The 125 year old Zoo Atlanta replaces its World of Reptile Building. 

 

 

 

Zoo Atlanta is replacing its oldest public building. The building was built 51 years ago and has been home to the World of Reptiles. Expected to open late next year, the new state-of-the-art World of Reptile Building will encompass 14,000 square feet. The new building is possible due to private fundraising that has raised $22 million dollars and counting. This is great news. The new facility will provide a home for the 450 or so reptiles and amphibians who call Zoo Atlanta home. Zoo Atlanta is a true asset to Atlanta.  

 

 

 

Source: http://www.zooatlanta.org/#ff_s=o2ykn

[Lady Celeste]

Downtown's Polaris Restaurant to rotate once again!

 

 

 

Perched atop the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown, the UFO looking Polaris will once again give dinners a 360 view of the city. The official opening day will be June 10th. The restaurant will make a complete rotation once every 45 minutes. Alot has changed since it first opened but it should still offer some exciting views. 

 

 

 

 

Downtown’s Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Thursday announced an official opening is planned for June 10. That day the hotel says it will relight its blue-domed restaurant, which has undergone an extensive renovation led by Atlanta’s The Johnson Studio.

 

The Polaris was renowned Atlanta architect John Portman’s first go at a revolving restaurant — and the tallest structure in the city when it opened in 1967. But it served its last meal in 2004.

 

 

 

Read more here: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/peachtree-plate/2014/05/downtowns-polaris-to-rotate-once-again.html

[Martinman]

Post properties has filed permits for 422 units in Downtown. Post Centennial Park is planned for the two blocks east of COP Drive between Museum Tower and West Peachtree Place and west of Williams Street.

[Kh9142]

Post properties has filed permits for 422 units in Downtown. Post Centennial Park is planned for the two blocks east of COP Drive between Museum Tower and West Peachtree Place and west of Williams Street.

Awesome! This area really needs more residents. Post seems to have come from nowhere with 2 proposals in the last week...

[Lady Celeste]

Post properties has filed permits for 422 units in Downtown. Post Centennial Park is planned for the two blocks east of COP Drive between Museum Tower and West Peachtree Place and west of Williams Street.

 

 

This is great news for the northern part of Centennial Olympic Park. That area could become a great intown urban community. It has so much potential. 

 

 

While we are speaking about Downtown, we have a rendering of another development for the Centennial Olympic Park area...although on the southside of the park. 

 

 

Legacy Property Group has tentatively scheduled construction to begin on its Downtown project for early next year.

 

 

The tower will be a Downtown Homewood Suites and Apartments. It will have 129 hotel rooms and 125 apartments

 

 

It is only a matter of time before Downtown starts to really awaken with more residential announcements. This development cycle for all of Atlanta's communities has been about residential. This is exactly what the city has needed for a long time. 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/05/16/downtown-s-planned-homewood-suites-to-have-125.html

[Lady Celeste]

For those who are interested in watching the new stadium "RISE UP" in real time, we now have a webcam!

 

 

 

Live Stadium Webcam: http://newstadium.atlantafalcons.com/webcam/

[Martinman]

Post properties has filed permits for 422 units in Downtown. Post Centennial Park is planned for the two blocks east of COP Drive between Museum Tower and West Peachtree Place and west of Williams Street.

 

Renderings of Post's planned apartment project near Centennial

 

 

[Lady Celeste]

Construction update photos.....

 

 

 

There are several projects in the final stretches of construction in the Downtown district. 

 

 

 

 

One12 Courtland - student apartment tower at Georgia State University

 

 

 

 

The National Center for Human and Civil Rights - the northern side of Centennial Olympic Park

 

 

 

 

 

The College Football Hall of Fame - the southern side of Centennial Olympic Park

 

 

[modernurbanity]

Wow does anyone else totally love the style of the civil rights museum??? I really love the way it's looking.

[Martinman]

 Civil RIghts Museum Opens Monday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2014 by Martinman

[Martinman]

Downtown Office Building Could Become Hotel

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/06/13/downtown-office-building-could-become-hotel.html

 

Atlanta developer Jim Cumming is working to redevelop the former headquarters of Oxford Industries in downtown Atlanta.

 

Cumming, with Trillium Management Inc., last November bought the building at 222 Piedmont Ave. for just $2.5 million, according to Fulton County records. Oxford Industries Inc., which owns clothing brands such as Tommy Bahama and Lily Pulitzer, left the building in 2012 to relocate to 999 Peachtree in Midtown.

Now, Cumming is considering transforming the circa-1965 property into a boutique hotel, say sources with inside knowledge of the plans.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2014 by Martinman

[Martinman]

Scoutmob cofounder plans incubator in downtown Atlanta

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/atlantech/2014/06/scoutmob-cofounder-plans-designincubator-in.html

 

Michael Tavani is making an ambitious bet that downtown Atlanta can become a hub for consumer- and design-focused startups, the way Midtown is for enterprise software.

The co-founder of Scoutmob — arguably Atlanta’s buzziest consumer tech startup — will locate his consumer-focused incubator, Switchyards, in a 1920s building across the street from the Tabernacle, on the Streetcar line and two blocks from Centennial Olympic Park. Tavani, who has the 20,000 square foot building under contract, is expected to announce his plans at an event Thursday.

“Switchyards will be the home of the strongest consumer startups in the city,” said Tavani, who is not shy about setting expectations. “So, everyone who’s starting something consumer-based in Atlanta says, ‘That’s where I need to be.’ 

 

 

[krazeeboi]

Film and television studios surrounded by a performing arts center, a hotel, and a mix of residential, office and retail could transform the downtown Civic Center property into a regional tourist destination.

 

It is one of the more ambitious concepts to emerge so far as the city prepares to put the 19-acre Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center site on the market – yet another project that could ignite more downtown revitalization.

 

 

 

[Lady Celeste]

Testing of the Atlanta Streecar.....

 

 

[vinemp]

Ah, that's grand! (Seriously, seeing this photo just gave me a rush of excitement. Oh, what will be...)

[Lady Celeste]

Progress on the new Falcon's Retractable Stadium from 10.16.2014....

 

 

[Lady Celeste]

Big Bethel seeks big plans for Sweet Auburn rebirth!

 

 

 

 

 

The Atlanta Business Chronicle is reporting that Atlanta's oldest African American church — known for the blue "Jesus Saves" sign atop its steeple — wants to redevelop about 4 acres on its campus, in hopes of sparking more investment in the Sweet Auburn district — the cradle of the city's civil rights movement. It's about time. I was wondering when they were going to realize that they were sitting on a potential "gold mine". Especially now that the Atlanta Streetcar goes through the heart of the Sweet Auburn neighborhood. Big Bethel is part of the historic King district, birthplace of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The church is a Sweet Auburn landmark — and pivotal to the area's future. It controls 13 parcels and more than 7 acres at Auburn Avenue and Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, including 182 housing units known as "Bethel Towers."

 

 

The project would come as investment continues to pour into the adjacent Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and nearby Atlanta Beltline. The district is also benefiting from the growth of Georgia State University and the new Atlanta Streetcar.

 

The Streetcar, which will run through the district, is a powerful magnet for new investment, city officials say. It has sparked 23 real estate deals along its route, with the majority of those occurring in Sweet Auburn, said Jennifer Ball, vice president of planning and economic development with Central Atlanta Progress.

 

The scope of the proposed redevelopment could include more affordable housing; new apartments; the rehabilitation of existing commercial buildings on Auburn Avenue and the development of new mixed-use projects, according to the request for qualifications issued on October 15th by Big Bethel along with Central Atlanta Progress.

 

 

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/10/31/big-bethel-s-big-plan-for-sweet-auburn.html?ana=sm_atl_ucp61&b=1414762151%5E15832021

[Martinman]

Renderings of some Downtown projects 

 

Springhill Suites at Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and Venable Street

 

 

http://www.atlantadowntown.com/go/springhill-suites-new-development

 

 

186-206 Edgewood Ave - Student Housing and retail

 

 

http://www.atlantadowntown.com/go/186-206-edgewood-property-new-construction

 

 

 

145-149 Auburn Ave - 92 apartments and 4,000 sf retail

 

 

http://www.atlantadowntown.com/go/auburn-apartments-new-construction

Edited November 13, 2014 by Martinman

[Martinman]

New Media Production Center To Revitalize Woodruff Park Area At Georgia State

 

 

http://news.gsu.edu/2014/11/21/new-media-production-center-revitalize-woodruff-park-area-georgia-state/

Georgia State University will revitalize an area adjacent to Woodruff Park by creating a media production center for education, research and entrepreneurship and partnerships with the Georgia film, music, games and arts industries.

 

The media center will house the university’s new Creative Media Industries Institute, an interdisciplinary institute introduced this fall to build on the university’s strengths in media production, research, design, the arts, music management and digital publishing by preparing students for careers that transcend traditional degree programs.

 

 

 

[krazeeboi]

Where would downtown be without GA State?

[krazeeboi]

Glad the streetcat debuted before year's end and appears to be wildly popular. I think I'll try to get downtown and take a ride this weekend.

[Martinman]

Downtown Update:

 

The "Office Apartments" in the former office building at 250 Piedmont will begin leasing this summer

 

 

 

New GSU Dorm at 82 Piedmont broke ground this week

 

 

 

Phase 2 of GSU's Science Park is also under construction

 

 

The new Atlanta Falcons stadium is really coming along