A year ago, the downtown civic group Central Atlanta Progress urged the city’s business community at its annual meeting to rally around Atlanta’s core ahead of a blockbuster 2026 and the World Cup.
On Tuesday, Central Atlanta Progress used the annual board installation event to tout progress on key initiatives underway to help reshape the central business district — including ones that will live on and define downtown long after Atlanta hosts eight matches on soccer’s biggest stage.
Some are very well known. There’s the $5 billion mini-city, Centennial Yards, remaking the tangle of rail lines and parking lots long known as the Gulch. The second of two towers — Hotel Phoenix — recently reached its highest point, and crews are working to develop an entertainment district that will be built — though likely not fully finished — before the World Cup.
There’s South Downtown’s rebirth as a tech and entrepreneurial hub which recently marked the opening of an Atlanta Tech Village outpost in the historic Sylvan Hotel. There are also several other efforts to convert office buildings into new uses.
There’s also the plan to cap the Downtown Connector with green space that will also unlock new developable land known as the Stitch, designed to connect parts of downtown disconnected by the construction of the freeway. It was awarded a $158 million federal grant, the largest such grant in the city’s history.
Others that might be less noticed include initiatives to expand services for the homeless, wayfinding improvements and filling vacant storefronts.
“Downtown is the visible soul of our city,” CAP President and CEO AJ Robinson said. It’s also the microcosm of the region, he said, demonstrating the good and often the most visible example of its many challenges, including homelessness.
Downtown was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Empty offices sapped energy from the streets. But workers are trickling back in. The city recently played a starring role with the College Football Playoff title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber put revitalizing downtown, improving public safety and ending homelessness in the city’s core at the top of its agenda in 2025 at its annual meeting before Thanksgiving, helping to galvanize civic attention.
The city last year announced $60 million in bonds to address homelessness and get people into permanent housing.
A lack of housing and people living downtown has led to a reputation that when big events aren’t happening, the area is devoid of life. Mayor Andre Dickens said revitalizing downtown is a top priority for the city, and across downtown some 5,000 units of housing are also in the pipeline.
David Cummings, founder of Atlanta Ventures and Atlanta Tech Village, will serve as CAP’s chairperson for 2025. He and his firm acquired dozens of buildings stretching across 10 city blocks in a bid to save the redevelopment known as South Downtown. There, the partners plan to create a hub for entrepreneurs and startups.
“A city’s downtown is the original social network,” Cummings said. “Bringing people together is their purpose.”
The event attracted more than 800 attendees to the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Two seats in the ballroom were reserved for giants of downtown who died last year — Home Depot co-founder and Georgia Aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus and Aquarium CEO Brian Davis. Both men were recognized with a moment of silence in tribute to their contributions to the city.
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