Tag: the Gulch

In preparation for the 2026 World Cup next June, city and state leadership, alongside local developers, are focusing their efforts on fast-track redevelopment for the long-blighted downtown Atlanta. The list of major redevelopments downtown is dizzying. The real question is: Will any of this be ready by June 11, 2026, when the World Cup kicks off?

Eviscerating a century-old office building and refashioning it into apartments is no easy feat. Older offices are nonpliable, stubborn things, riddled with secret problems and outdated floor plans. But the hassle was worth it for Centennial Yards Company, the developer behind a 162-unit project called the Lofts at Centennial Yards South, a remake of half of the long-vacant Norfolk Southern Buildings.

“What were once the arteries of the city were demolished, creating divide instead of connection,” explained Courtney Hammond, the project’s curator, on a recent visit to the site. “We wanted to build not just a light artwork: we thought this was a beautiful moment to signal that that these arteries are being rebuilt.”

Done right, CIM Group’s redevelopment of the Gulch could stitch together more than 200 acres in downtown, creating a new chunk of the city core. The opportunity to build a new grid, one that’s open to pedestrians and transit users, doesn’t come along often. We can’t design and develop for one tenant or one use. We’ve got one chance to do it right.

The plan to transform Downtown's 120-acre "Gulch" into a multimodal passenger terminal (MMPT) literally took shape Wednesday when developers unveiled three possible design concepts at a packed public meeting.