An entertainment venue featuring immersive digital technology will soon be a neighbor to downtown’s State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Cosm, a Los Angeles-based immersive technology and entertainment company, signed a lease to act as the cornerstone of Centennial Yards’ future entertainment district, according to a Monday news release by the project’s developer CIM Group. Cosm will occupy a large entertainment venue spanning 70,000 square feet.
The three-story complex is the centerpiece of Centennial Yards’ 8-acre entertainment district, which broke ground earlier this month and is set to be the next phase of the Gulch’s $5 billion redevelopment. The vision for the 50-acre project includes apartments, hotels, retail space, gathering places and offices.
Centennial Yards CEO Brian McGowan, the CIM executive helming the project, said Cosm will help the new district — often described as a “mini-city” — become the “center of gravity for entertainment in Atlanta.”
“This is a big step forward for downtown Atlanta, and the surrounding areas are feeling the positive impact,” McGowan said in the release.
Credit: Courtesy Gensler
Credit: Courtesy Gensler
In addition to Cosm, the nearly 500,000-square-foot entertainment district will also include a 5,000-seat arena, a 14-story hotel, a two-story retail building and a large gathering plaza. Construction of the district is expected to finish by 2026 when Atlanta hosts several World Cup matches, although many of the buildings’ interiors and tenants are not expected to be open by then.
Centennial Yards will be Cosm’s third location, joining Los Angeles and Dallas. It will feature three floors of “immersive technology-based entertainment featuring shared reality experiences,” according to the release. It also includes an 87-foot, 12K-resolution LED dome.
“The Cosm at Centennial Yards is the perfect complement to the State Farm Arena, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Georgia World Congress Center to help make Centennial Yards the sports and entertainment capital of the South,” Cosm CEO and President Jeb Tery said in the release. “And we are thrilled to work with CIM to make Atlanta our third location and bring shared reality to the East Coast.”
Credit: Courtesy Gensler
Credit: Courtesy Gensler
The entertainment district is poised to join two towers — a 304-unit apartment building and a 292-room hotel — that are already under construction. CIM already converted the former Southern Railway freight depot and office building into 162 apartments with an adjoining retail space called the Canyon, which is anchored by a Wild Leap brewery.
McGowan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier in July that Centennial Yards is expected to include 6 million to 7 million square feet of new development. An incentive package of up to $1.9 billion approved by the Atlanta City Council in 2018 for the redevelopment effort requires the developer to build at least 4 million square feet.
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