Development of the long-awaited Centennial Yards in downtown Atlanta is about to shift into a new gear.
The partners behind the $5 billion downtown project plan to begin construction this year on six buildings, including an entertainment district opposite State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium with components that will open in time for the 2026 World Cup, and joining a hotel and apartment tower already under construction.
Centennial Yards Co., which expects to file for land disturbance permits Monday, is embarking on the largest components yet in the ambitious 50-acre mini-city that’s been in planning since 2018. For decades, the land commonly known as “the Gulch” has been a jumble of rail lines and weedy parking lots that sit some 40 feet below the viaducts that make up surrounding streets.
“It was a long time coming, and it’s now happening,” Brian McGowan, the president and CEO of Centennial Yards, said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Eight acres across Centennial Olympic Park Drive from Mercedes-Benz Stadium will become an entertainment hub consisting of four new buildings and a plaza for fan events, the annual Peach Drop celebration and other gatherings. McGowan described it as “the heart” of Centennial Yards and hopes to break ground as soon as June.
Credit: Gensler
Credit: Gensler
The entertainment district’s building exteriors and plaza are targeted to open by the start of World Cup matches in 2026, when Atlanta will be thrust onto the international stage as a host city, and will be activated during the global event.
“You cannot get in a more visible place for eight games of the World Cup than right in front of the stadium,” said A.J. Robinson, president of downtown civic organization Central Atlanta Progress. The district’s building interiors and most tenants likely won’t be ready to open until early 2027.
Later this year, the developer plans to break ground on a 236-unit apartment mid-rise and begin retrofitting the former Norfolk Southern headquarters building into a 166-room hotel, both with ground-floor retail spaces that are slated to open in 2026 or 2027.
By the end of the year, McGowan said eight buildings will be under construction at the Gulch, a sight that long-time Atlantans have questioned whether they’ll ever see.
“A lot of developers right now are kind go hitting pause or slowing down,” McGowan said. “Not us. We’re actually accelerating.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Center of Atlanta
The Centennial Yards site is the bedrock of Atlanta’s economic past as a rail hub.
Rail lines still move freight through downtown, but aside from game days, the actual property is often a dead zone. Centennial Yards will be built above the railways, and stitch together a vital piece of downtown.
“The industrial use of the Gulch helped grow Atlanta into what it is today,” said City Councilman Jason Dozier, whose district includes the area. “And now we’ll get to experience that space in a way that’s integral to the Atlanta of the future.”
The project is expected to one day deliver 8 million square feet of new buildings, including thousands of apartments, office towers, retail and restaurants.
Centennial Yards is a partnership between California developer CIM Group and a group led by Atlanta Hawks owners Antony Ressler and NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill. Ressler said the partners want more people to live downtown and create an environment where people also show up early to big events and stay late after them.
“Everyone that wants to see a great metro Atlanta should be equally excited about a great downtown,” he said.
The project first took shape in 2018 when the City Council approved almost $1.9 billion in incentives, the largest package of inducements in Atlanta history that spawned court battles and public controversy.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The bulk of those incentives will only accrue to the developers after they complete components of the development. The development team can capture the value of property taxes generated by the project via a Tax Allocation District. It can do the same from a portion of sales taxes generated by new businesses there.
McGowan said those incentives push his team to build as quickly as possible.
“As long as the property is not generating property tax or sales tax, we’re losing money,” he said. “It incentivizes us to move faster, even in a bad economy or an uncertain economy.”
As part of transforming the Gulch into a series of high-rises with a new street grid, McGowan said the entire district’s infrastructure has to be reworked. Century-old sewer lines made of brick had to be replaced, MARTA train tunnels have to be circumvented and all the necessary utilities had to be put in place.
Credit: Centennial Yards
Credit: Centennial Yards
“If CIM bought a piece of property Midtown, you build a building and plug it into the outlets in the street where there’s water and power,” McGowan said. “There’s no water, no power, no gas here (in the Gulch). We have to build the outlet.”
As part of the entertainment district, a corner segment of the CNN parking deck will be demolished and a tunnel will be erected over active rail lines that run through the property. Three new roads will be built as part of the construction.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
‘The next frontier’
Downtown, long a hub for government, tourism and major events, has struggled to match Buckhead’s opulence and Midtown’s building boom.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit the city center hard, disrupting business travel, tourism and sending scores of office workers home — which continues to impact downtown’s foot traffic and business.
But downtown is beginning to generate some momentum between several flashy projects, housing efforts and upcoming marquee events like the World Cup.
“The economic center of gravity continues to shift south,” McGowan said. “The next frontier is downtown.”
Centennial Yards recently converted the Southern Railway freight depot and office building into 162 apartments that are mostly leased. An attached retail area called the Canyon is also home to brewery Wild Leap and more forthcoming restaurant options, McGowan said.
Two cranes currently tower over Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where a duo of 18-story towers will soon rise above the surrounding concrete. The buildings are Centennial Yards’ first ground-up construction projects and include a 292-room hotel and a 304-unit apartment building. McGowan said a 520,000 square foot office building is designed — it’s just waiting on an anchor tenant before construction begins.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Other nearby developments are also looking to leave their mark on downtown. Under new ownership, Underground Atlanta is working on a master redevelopment plan and is focused on shoring up its retail offerings, while a 10-block section of South Downtown was recently acquired by the founders of Atlanta Ventures, who plan to focus on business incubators and entrepreneurship spaces.
William Pate, president and CEO of Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Centennial Yards acts as an anchor that can generate momentum for all other downtown stakeholders.
“This is such a significant development that I think you’re going to see it really energize other developments,” he said.
Future of Downtown
This story is part of an occasional series by the AJC to look at the future of Atlanta’s downtown. Several high-profile developments are poised to bring billions of dollars into the city’s core while it continues to grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and a challenging real estate financing market. Downtown will also soon garner international attention when the World Cup comes to Atlanta in 2026, providing a deadline for the city and downtown stakeholders to make promised improvements.
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