Remaking Downtown: From SoDo to GSU

Former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal famously said “all politics is local” – and while that may not be true today, it still holds for development. Literally, of course, at ground level, all development is local – though sometimes it’s so big it affects an entire region. The almost-too-many-to-count projects planned or underway in Downtown Atlanta certainly exemplify that: 57 buildings undergoing adaptive reuse in South Downtown, the largest office-to-residential conversion east of the Mississippi at the 2 Peachtree skyscraper, redevelopment and conversion of the historic 1947 Art Moderne building that once housed the Atlanta Constitution into a multifamily mixed-use complex, and the $5 billion redevelopment of 50 acres in the heart of Downtown into a mixed-use neighborhood with a sports and entertainment district.

Food Oasis: Kristi Brigman, chief economic development officer for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, at the newly opened Azalea Fresh Market. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

“We have a count of 24 different projects currently under construction or in the pipeline in the downtown area,” says Kristi Brigman, chief economic development officer at the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

But some of the biggest buzz in September was around a new venture with a much smaller footprint: the opening of Azalea Fresh Market, a municipal grocery store. Downtown workers, residents and students have long lamented the lack of fresh food downtown, and when a Walgreen’s location closed in 2024 the area truly became a food desert. Azalea Fresh Market, a joint venture between the city of Atlanta and Savi Provisions, opened in the old Walgreen’s building (a downtown landmark) and offers fresh produce, dairy, meats, and frozen and canned foods, plus pantry staples – basically everything you’d find in a supermarket (except fresh seafood).

Azalea Fresh Market’s public-private partnership is unique for a grocery store, but it’s also part of a wave of restaurant, retail, hotel, workspace and residential openings that are giving Downtown new energy. In South Downtown, TydeTate Kitchen opened in 2023 and made Eater Atlanta’s list of best Thai restaurants; Spiller Park opened its fourth coffeehouse location in 2024 in the Sylvan Building on Mitchell Street.

David Cummings and Jon Birdsong, serial entrepreneurs and cofounders of Atlanta Tech Village incubator and Atlanta Ventures, are the two investors who own the 10-block area through SoDo LLC. Their vision is “a whole neighborhood’s worth of offices, apartments and restaurants” in historic buildings, says Cummings, with an emphasis on spaces for entrepreneurs to live, work, eat and shop. He says 10 restaurants have signed leases and will open in time for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. “We’re excited to bring back a culinary scene to Downtown and South Downtown,” he says.

From Gulch to Gateway

Main and Main: Brian McGowan, president of
Centennial Yards, the massive new downtown
development, above; a rendering of the entertainment district, below. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

The yin to SoDo’s yang is the massive Centennial Yards development, revitalizing at long last an area at the very core of Atlanta known as the Gulch. Brian McGowan, president of Centennial Yards, calls the location “the intersection of Main and Main.” But the maze of railroad tracks, parking lots and empty spaces sitting below elevated streets – a historical artifact of the founding of Atlanta (nee Terminus) as a railroad town and transportation center – has long baffled developers, even though Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena perch on its edges. That adjacency caught the eye of Tony Ressler in 2015, when he became the new owner of the Atlanta Hawks. Ressler convinced his brother, a founder of the real estate firm CIM, to take on the challenge.

Fast forward – well, maybe it wasn’t that fast – 10 years and CIM’s Centennial Yards Company is bringing its vision out of the ground. (Tony Ressler is an investor, as are other Atlantans including Arthur Blank, whose NFL Falcons and MLS Atlanta United FC play at Mercedes-Benz.) “One of the most unique things about this is 50 vacant acres in downtown in a major city in America – it just doesn’t exist,” McGowan says.

One reason it did was the complete lack of infrastructure. Before Wild Leap Brewery, the Lofts at Centennial Yards South, or the 304-unit luxury apartment tower dubbed The Mitchell could open, there were basic necessities to address: water, sewer, power, roads. None of those things existed, and the expense of creating them was too big a barrier for a private developer or the city – but a partnership between CIM, the city and the state, leveraging financing from a Tax Allocation District and Enterprise Zone Bonds, made it feasible. In 2018, Atlanta approved tax incentives for the project worth $1.9 billion.

Luxury Housing: The Mitchell, a 19-story apartment tower, which opened in September, is the first newly constructed building in Centennial Yards. Photo credit: Contributed

The 19-story Mitchell tower, opened in September, was the first newly constructed building in Centennial Yards. McGowan estimates it will bring about 1,100 new residents downtown. That, he says, is essential. “The way you fix a downtown is you have to get more people living downtown,” he says. “It’s not rocket science. …Those are people who, now, this is their neighborhood. They’re driving through it, they’re walking their dogs, they’re looking out the blinds at night, they’re spending time out on the street. That’s how you begin to transform downtown. And we’re just at the beginning of this.

Indeed – still to come is an 8-acre sports-adjacent entertainment district including Cosm, a three-story immersive entertainment facility, and a 5,300-seat music venue leased to Live Nation Entertainment. These kinds of districts – similar to The Battery surrounding the Braves’ stadium in Cobb County – are a new model, says McGowan. “They provide other spaces for people to gather, whether they’re going to the event or not.”

Moving In

New Amenities: Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

But ask McGowan or anyone involved in any of these projects and they’ll tell you that living Downtown – not just working and playing there – will be the true measure of revitalization. The concept of a 24-hour downtown, says Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development authority, leads to all kinds of different amenities. “If you work in an area, you may eat lunch and then you leave,” she says. “If you come in at night, you may want to have a drink, eat at a restaurant. If you live here, you’re going to need a grocery store, access to retail, maybe a dog park. What’s exciting is Downtown is doing all of this.”

The city is spearheading the office-to-residential conversion of the 2 Peachtree tower and recently initiated renovations on the long-empty building at 143 Alabama Street, known as the old Atlanta Constitution building and now called Folio House. Both projects will include affordable housing; neither will be complete for the 2026 FIFA World Cup though Folio House will have an outdoor space ready for World Cup events.

Other landmarks are spiffing up, too. In 2024, the state-owned Georgia World Congress Center opened 42-story, 976-room Signia by Hilton hotel. It’s the largest new hotel in Atlanta in 40 years and steps from Mercedes-Benz, State Farm Arena and Centennial Olympic Park. Next door to State Farm Arena, the old CNN Center will soon be reborn as a mixed-use development with retail, dining and entertainment offerings.

Office to Residential: Skyscraper 2 Peachtree Street (center) is being converted into residences, including affordable housing units. Photo credit: Contributed

Part of the push to revitalize Downtown comes from the World Cup matches that will be played at Mercedes-Benz next year – 30 years after the 1996 Olympic Games made real Atlanta’s boast about being an international city. “There will be billions of people watching,” says A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and a longtime advocate for Downtown. “It’s much bigger than the Olympics.” But unlike the Olympics, which were spread out over the metro area, the World Cup will be only in Downtown. And, says Robinson, “it’s like you’re having a party with a lot of people, and you want your house to look as best as possible.”

Brigman uses a similar analogy. “I think of Downtown Atlanta as sort of the front door not only for the city and the region, but in some situations really the whole state,” she says. “I think a lot of the growth and momentum we see is not just a project for the World Cup in 2026. It’s a project and effort to make sure Downtown is revitalized for many years to come.”

Center Stage: A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, at The Mitchell, near Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

It’s also why Cummings believes it’s important for entrepreneurs to have a presence in the heart of the city, both as residents and founders. South Downtown will have 30 new lofts ready by the time the World Cup begins, along with the new restaurants and a new robotics lab that he says will be the largest of its kind in the Southeast. “We think that’s going to be an important part of Atlanta’s future,” he says.

A Downtown College Town

Of course, there are already people living Downtown – including several thousand students in Georgia State University housing. Tens of thousands more attend classes every day. As the school has grown rapidly in the past 30 years – earning the R-1 research designation (the highest classification for a research university) in 1996, adding on-campus housing in the early 2000s, establishing an NCAA Division 1 football team in 2010 and converting the old Turner Field (once home of the Braves) into Center Parc Stadium as the GSU Panthers’ home in 2017 – it has focused ever more intently on the student experience. And because that experience is in the middle of Downtown Atlanta, the university’s influence far exceeds its campus boundaries.

Thinking Big: Georgia State University President M. Brian Blake (left) and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer L. Jared Abramson on the campus Blue Line. Photo credit: Contributed

L. Jared Abramson, GSU’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, likes to call the university the youngest 112-year-old institution around. “We have to think big because the community expects a lot from us, and we have this major role in the city,” he says. Abramson and President M. Brian Blake are overseeing the largest transformation of the university’s campus ever, thanks to an $80 million donation from the Woodruff Foundation. It’s the largest gift in GSU’s history and the largest by the foundation to a University System of Georgia school. With projects centered around Hurt Park and Woodruff Park, it will also help transform Downtown – even for those who aren’t students.

Abramson notes that “identity, placemaking and belonging” are one of the four pillars of GSU’s strategic plan. “It’s creating the environment where our students can be successful,” he says. The campus already established the Blue Line, a 3.7 mile defined and marked walking path that links academic, research and residential buildings, along with other landmarks like the Campus Greenway and Hurt Park.

The Blue Line helps define the area, with visible maps and directions along the way, and also makes it safer. Abramson says the path is secured with cameras, lights, call boxes and other high-tech measures, and a new campus ambassador team patrols five districts along the Blue Line from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. More than that, the Blue Line promotes safety by encouraging foot traffic – groups of students walking back and forth, day and night, ensuring there’s always a bustling presence.

Campus Path: The Collins Street underpass is marked as part of the Georgia State University Blue Line. Photo credit: Contributed

The Woodruff gift will help fund nine projects that go even further in that placemaking – what Blake and Abramson call “making a college town downtown.” Among them is enlarging that most iconic of college-town features: the campus quad. It’s an especially important project to Abramson, who met his wife on a campus quad. “Just a central gathering space where we can create community” is how he describes the new Panther Quad, which will connect the campus Greenway (a boulevard-like path with adjacent lawns) and Hurt Park. The Greenway will get bigger, too, with amphitheater-style seating on grass. And Woodruff Park will get pedestrian improvements like new sidewalks and a better entrance.

The university has worked closely with Downtown stakeholders including the Metro Chamber and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (a GSU alum) to develop its approach. “We consider ourselves Atlanta’s university,” Abramson says, noting that more than 80% of graduates stay in Georgia. And students benefit from “experiential learning” that comes from being surrounded by Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit institutions and all levels of government – unique opportunities that come from being in a vibrant state capital. “We consider being in Atlanta one of our biggest assets,” he says. “In Hamilton, they talk about ‘the room where it happens.’ Our students are in the place where it happens.”

Addressing Challenges

A New Old Neighborhood: David Cummings, co-founder of Atlanta Tech Village and co-owner of SoDo, a 10-block area in Downtown focused on entrepreneurs. Photo credit: Daemon Baizan

As Downtown goes all out to attract more residents, it also struggles with a growing population of homeless people. It’s long been an issue in Downtown, where many unsheltered people gather because – for one reason – that’s where they can find the services they need. But visitors and office workers have complained about panhandling, and Woodruff Park has often served as a place for groups of people to sleep.

Now the city faces pressure to reduce the number of people who lack shelter before the World Cup comes to town. Its ambitious program, Downtown Rising, has a goal of eliminating homelessness and is aiming to provide shelter for around 400 people living on Downtown streets by the end of 2025. This city is investing $60 million, with millions more coming from private donors and nonprofits.

“There’s an overall perception issue it gives about a community,” says Robinson, while noting that “homeless folks aren’t the ones committing crimes here or anywhere.” He says there’s been progress in providing temporary shelter or permanent housing. The city’s initial effort in its Rapid Housing Initiative was The Melody, 40 micro housing units made from shipping containers, located in South Downtown. Overall, the city aims to create 500 rapid-housing units by the end of 2025; so far, two others are complete and two under construction in different parts of Atlanta.

Rapid Response: The Melody, a village of 40 micro-housing units created from shipping containers, is located in South Downtown. It’s the first project in Atlanta’s Rapid Housing Initiative, which aims to provide shelter and support for homeless people. Photo credit: Contributed

“I would say we’re doing a better job now than we’ve ever done, on a number of levels,” he says. “I think we’ve housed 129 people in just the last month or so.” But he’s also realistic. “Is this going to solve every issue about homelessness Downtown or anywhere in Atlanta? No, but I think it’s going to make a big difference. … There’s a way to take care of people without it being such a visible problem on the street, and that’s what we’re trying to work on.”

With the World Cup serving as the driver, there are also unique risks to Downtown’s momentum. What if fans find it too hard to get visas, or stay home because they’re worried about ICE? Those issues are beyond the control of Atlanta’s leaders and developers. If that happens, Brigman points out, it won’t just be Atlanta grappling with the problem – it will be all the World Cup cities in the U.S.

Robinson takes a longer view. “We’ve often thought about, what if we don’t have 300,000 people come?” he says. “We will still benefit from the infrastructure spending. We will benefit long-term from all the private sector work. And Atlanta itself will continue to be a big meeting place.” After all, it’s just three years ‘til the Super Bowl hits town. And Downtown will be ready.

Soccer City: Atlanta United has a huge fan base that helped the city land World Cup games. Above, Mercedes-Benz Stadium before a February 2025 game with CF Montreal that recorded the third-largest attendance in the world for a soccer game. Photo credit: Atlanta United