The Transformation Continues: Centennial Yards Phase II and updated renderings

[DannyDawg]

Originally Posted by ggplicks

Why were they able to build supermarkets and residences in midtown but not downtown? The walgreens downtown is closing and so did the Racetrac, it's not looking good for downtown.

Its not that they aren't able to. There simply aren't enough residents in downtown to make it feel alive and active. That's why Centennial yards is so important to jumpstart something in the area

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by MichiganderTexan

Something has to be done to safe downtown it's a dump right now and an embarrassment for the 6th largest metro area in the United States.

Originally Posted by ggplicks

^He didn't lie...Midtown is what Downtown is suppose to be right now.

Originally Posted by MichiganderTexan

It's sad I don't get what's been holding downtown back it's right next to midtown, does the connector splitting the area have that much of an effect that downtown looks Detroit level and Midtown looks like one of the most prosperous high rise districts in the country?

Originally Posted by M3Guy

LMAO, right?!?!

Originally Posted by ShenardL

I wouldn't say "Detroit level." During the day around GSU, Downtown feels alive with students and office workers walking on the streets.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/6zgMKt9iZ6NdH7546

Fairlie Poplar:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/SUiqXry1TAnKHVyw7

And there are so many people around Centennial Olympic Park and Pemberton Place on the weekends. Right now there are no supermarkets in downtown and little residential. Unless they start building some of the things you have access to in midtown, people aren't going to want to live there. Hopefully, Centennial Yards will help revitalize the downtown area.

Originally Posted by ggplicks

Why were they able to build supermarkets and residences in midtown but not downtown? The walgreens downtown is closing and so did the Racetrac, it's not looking good for downtown.

Originally Posted by DannyDawg

Its not that they aren't able to. There simply aren't enough residents in downtown to make it feel alive and active. That's why Centennial yards is so important to jumpstart something in the area

MichiganderTexan - why are you, like, so anti-Atlanta?


Anyway, y'all, do not fret and do not despair. Downtown is simply the last frontier of Atlanta. Great bones and unlimited potential.

Just think of so many of the "no-hope" neighborhoods in Atlanta that evolved in the last few decades - with some in the last few years...when no one saw it coming: Midtown, Kirkwood, Reynoldstown, Old Fourth Ward, West Midtown, East Atlanta, East Lake, Edgewood, etc, etc...


I actually think it's kind of cool that it is working out this way. Downtown will evolve last - with a better chance at getting things right as it does.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by aries4118

MichiganderTexan - why are you, like, so anti-Atlanta?


Anyway, y'all, do not fret and do not despair. Downtown is simply the last frontier of Atlanta. Great bones and unlimited potential.

Just think of so many of the "no-hope" neighborhoods in Atlanta that evolved in the last few decades - with some in the last few years...when no one saw it coming: Midtown, Kirkwood, Reynoldstown, Old Fourth Ward, West Midtown, East Atlanta, East Lake, Edgewood, etc, etc...


I actually think it's kind of cool that it is working out this way. Downtown will evolve last - with a better chance at getting things right as it does.

I was going to say the same thing. There are plenty of other urban districts in Atlanta besides Downtown. Many other cities just have their central downtown and that's it.

[DaBears02]

Originally Posted by MichiganderTexan

It's sad I don't get what's been holding downtown back it's right next to midtown, does the connector splitting the area have that much of an effect that downtown looks Detroit level and Midtown looks like one of the most prosperous high rise districts in the country?

Downtown Detroit was awesome when I visited and has a much better downtown than Atlanta does. It’s the rest of the city where things fall apart for Detroit, at least in my experience. It seems like you’re a former Michigander so I’m sure you know more about it than I do though.

Atlanta is kinda the opposite where the downtown is meh but there are some great neighborhoods surrounding DT Atlanta as aries4118 mentioned. Also Midtown is already expensive and is only getting worse in terms of affordability so I’d expect some residential units to be built downtown for people who want an urban lifestyle but can’t pay Midtown prices. Downtown Atlanta should be better in the future.

[MichiganderTexan]

Originally Posted by DaBears02

Downtown Detroit was awesome when I visited and has a much better downtown than Atlanta does. It’s the rest of the city where things fall apart for Detroit, at least in my experience. It seems like you’re a former Michigander so I’m sure you know more about it than I do though.

Atlanta is kinda the opposite where the downtown is meh but there are some great neighborhoods surrounding DT Atlanta as aries4118 mentioned. Also Midtown is already expensive and is only getting worse in terms of affordability so I’d expect some residential units to be built downtown for people who want an urban lifestyle but can’t pay Midtown prices. Downtown Atlanta should be better in the future.

Downtown Detroit has gone through a resurgence in recent years, it used to be pretty bad down there too years ago. I was really just using an example of the bad of Detroit as a whole. But yes the neighborhoods in Detroit are a sad state and Atlanta has nothing like that you are correct. Downtown Atlanta has so much potential, I think it needs to become the entertainment area of the city, including nightclubs and bars since it's been a while since Atlanta has had any kind of concentrated entertainment district.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by aries4118

MichiganderTexan - why are you, like, so anti-Atlanta?


Anyway, y'all, do not fret and do not despair. Downtown is simply the last frontier of Atlanta. Great bones and unlimited potential.

Just think of so many of the "no-hope" neighborhoods in Atlanta that evolved in the last few decades - with some in the last few years...when no one saw it coming: Midtown, Kirkwood, Reynoldstown, Old Fourth Ward, West Midtown, East Atlanta, East Lake, Edgewood, etc, etc...


I actually think it's kind of cool that it is working out this way. Downtown will evolve last - with a better chance at getting things right as it does.

You said the answer in your reply: One of the main reasons it's taken so long for Downtown to catch the development craze that has hit other surrounding neighborhoods over the last two decades is that there is already a lot of stuff there built from a different era.

During the Urban Renewal era and ending around the Olympics, Downtown reconfigured itself from an old school mixed use urban core to a primarily business and entertainment oriented district. While it has plenty residents, most of those residents are spread out over the entirety of the district. Also all of this population lives in either the area formerly known as Techwood homes or in converted loft warehouses. A few new residential towers have built during this era, but a pittance compared to pretty much every other surrounding neighborhood. Lastly, there is almost zero open green or brownfields open for development. What "open" areas that do exist are usually parking lots or old warehouses/factories that sit dormant.

These are problems that did not plague Midtown or 04W and others which all had multiple blocks of dormant or open land. It's hard to imagine for the new people here, but 20 years ago basically everything west of West Peachtree was just an open lot with a few scattered buildings. Thus, it was much easier to add new residential and commercial developments because there was more room to work with and you didn't have to deal with 100 year old+ infrastructure, at least not to same scale of downtown.

Lastly, Downtown just hasn't had the vision or driving force of the NPUs you find in those other neighborhoods nor very much of a momentum swing from the Beltline other than the fringe of Sweet Auburn. The good news though is that it feels like that the push is finally there and as you mentioned Downtown already has the bones to support a large population easily. I mean, it used to in the not to distant past.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by ggplicks

Why were they able to build supermarkets and residences in midtown but not downtown? The walgreens downtown is closing and so did the Racetrac, it's not looking good for downtown.

The first phase of Centennial Yards is rising and the subject of this very thread is the announcement of the second phase which is expected to total 480,000 square feet, mixing in retail, hotel, restaurant, and entertainment uses over 8 acres.

But a drugstore and gas station closing down spells nothing but doom and gloom for downtown.

[MichiganderTexan]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

The first phase of Centennial Yards is rising and the subject of this very thread is the announcement of the second phase which is expected to total 480,000 square feet, mixing in retail, hotel, restaurant, and entertainment uses over 8 acres.

But a drugstore and gas station closing down spells nothing but doom and gloom for downtown.

The new owners of the former CNN Center just announced their plans too

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atl...BMWKIG2XBKRLE/

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by MichiganderTexan

The new owners of the former CNN Center just announced their plans too

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atl...BMWKIG2XBKRLE/

Nice! This would be a nice shot in the arm for that part of downtown for sure.