Many of metro Atlanta’s big development projects experienced only slight delays because of the pandemic. Construction proceeded on some of the largest sites, and groundbreaking is expected to begin soon on others.
Here is the status of seven of the largest projects in terms of physical size and financial investment, accompanied by architectural renderings from the developers:
The Gulch
The site of Centennial Yards is a collection of aging parking lots and railroad tracks, loomed over by street viaducts. Financed in part by a $1.9 billion Atlanta municipal bond sale, it is a speculative project with no major tenant announced. Its first residential and office units, located in the rehabbed Southern Railway buildings, are set to open this summer.
Atlanta city leaders hope that CIM Group’s development will help restore vibrancy to downtown. A CIM spokesman could not be reached.
Cost: $5 billion
Size: 50 acres
What it includes: 9 million square feet office; 1 million square feet retail; 1,000 residences; 1,500-key hotel; all spread across several towers and buildings.
Tenants: Wild Leap brewery
Announced: 2017
Expected completion: 2029-2031
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
GM Doraville
Developer Integral Group bought the site along I-285 in DeKalb County in 2014 and planned to build a mini city there. It has a film studio but otherwise remains empty.
Atlanta-based Gray Television, which owns dozens of TV stations nationwide, bought the site in March and plans to develop movie studios, office buildings, apartments and retail stores. Gray has applied for permits to begin and says it will start in August.
Cost: Not announced
Size: 128 acres
What it includes: Movie studios, residential, office and retail space. Gray has not released project details.
Tenants: Swirl Films
Announced: March 2021
Expected completion: 2026
Credit: Gray Television
Credit: Gray Television
Midtown Union
The project includes offices, residences, retail, a hotel, rooftop decks and a large public plaza. The exterior of its main parking deck features a geometric pattern designed in gray and yellow.
Cost: Not announced
Size: 9 acres
What it includes: 588,000 square feet of office in a 26-story tower; 30,000 square feet retail; 355 residential units; 230-key hotel.
Tenants: Invesco
Announced: 2017
Expected completion: Fall 2022
Credit: Courtesy: Midtown Union/Cooper Carry
Credit: Courtesy: Midtown Union/Cooper Carry
1105 West Peachtree
The development has a 31-story office tower, a separate residential tower, retail and an Epicurean Hotel, the boutique hotel brand managed by Marriott. It will open later this year.
Cost: $530 million
Size: 9 acres
What it includes: 675,000 square feet office; 20,000 square feet retail; 64 residential units; 178-key hotel; large rooftop deck
Tenants: Google; Smith, Gambrell & Russell
Announced: 2017
Expected completion: Fall 2021
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Quarry Yards
Microsoft bought the stalled Quarry Yards development in Westside Atlanta last year and plans a company campus that will include residential units and retail. The site is located next to Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry, Proctor Creek Greenway trail and Bankhead MARTA rail station. Construction has not started and the company declined to provide more details.
Cost: Not announced
Size: 90 acres
Tenants: Microsoft
Announced: February 2021
Expected completion: Not announced
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
High Street
High Street’s developer, GID Development, was expected to begin work this summer in the Dunwoody development next to Perimeter Mall. As of late July, GID had not yet applied for city building permits. GID declined to comment.
Cost: $2 billion
Size: 36 acres
What it includes: 622,000 square feet office; 400,000 square feet retail; 3,000 residences; 400-key hotel
Tenants: None
Announced: 2007
Expected completion: Unclear
Credit: GID Development Group
Credit: GID Development Group
Revel
Revel was planned as a mix of offices, apartments and retail on an 118-acre site next to Gas South Arena in Duluth. But North American Properties dropped out in January 2020 as the project’s lead developer.
Gwinnett County plans to hire a new developer but its first priority is an expansion of the site’s convention center and completion of a new hotel, said Lisa Anders, executive director of Explore Gwinnett, the county’s tourism agency.
Cost: $900 million
Size: 118 acres
What it includes: 865,000 square feet office; 300,000 square feet retail; 900 residences
Tenants: None
Announced: 2018
Expected completion: Unclear
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