South Downtown's new lease on life - Part Two
South Downtown's New Lease On Life - Part Two
Welcome to my freemium newsletter by me, King Williams. A documentary filmmaker, journalist, podcast host, and author based in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a newsletter covering Atlanta's hidden connections to everything else.
This is the second half of the article, South Downtown's New Lease On Life. This article explains what South Downtown Atlanta is, how this name came to be, how a German company with no experience in Atlanta acquired 50+ buildings, and who the new owners are Atlanta Ventures.
—You can read part one here.
7. South Downtown as a 40-year placemaking project
Placemaking refers to the planning, designing, and managing of public and private spaces. Over the last 20 years, the term has expanded to include a greater focus on personal experience and interconnectedness among people.
South Downtown is a multi-decade project, something reiterated dozens of times by Jon Birdsong during the walkthrough. The 15-acre, 50+ building site is one of the last remaining portions of old ‘Old Atlanta’ in a city that hates old anything—especially one with a preexisting history like South Downtown.
7b. Housing will have to be the cornerstone of South Downtown
According to Jon Birdsong, high-density housing will be part of South Downtown. It’s the right call. South Downtown can and should address multiple housing goals simultaneously. Atlanta is still in a deficit of available rental and owner-occupied homes; adding hundreds or even thousands more at South Downtown would be a win-win for all involved.
For this to be successful, Atlanta Ventures and its partners will need to implement a housing strategy that focuses on the current need for more rentals and the long-term focus on creating opportunities for life cycle housing. A cycle that includes various forms of ownership and rentals.
This emphasis on housing would also aid in increasing the city’s overall supply by building a wide range of market-rate rental and owned housing stock, in addition to aiding the mayor’s goal of producing 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030.
7c. South Downtown needs multiple types of housing
South Downtown has an opportunity to jump-start growth and density, utilizing a missing middle strategy that features more human-scaled, pedestrian-friendly, and potentially aesthetically pleasing developments.
High-rise, cluster housing, apartment types, and multi-family are all types that could be on the table for South Downtown, allowing the area to pose a variety of housing options and provide a greater long-term base of permanent tenants. South Downtown can hit multiple goals without compromise—density, design, and aesthetics.
7d. The Missing Middle of South Downtown
The missing middle is a phrase often used by urbanists, planners, and real estate professionals to describe the types of homes that are not single-family homes or high-rise towers. The missing middle often focuses on housing models conducive to adding density to residential neighborhoods and commercial districts that need housing but are not yet ready for high-rise, high-density living.
South Downtown is starting from scratch. This gives it an opportunity to learn from the best-designed corridors throughout the metro. It also gives them an opportunity to develop a better plan for creating and sustaining third places in a part of town that desperately needs it.
8. Will South Downtown lean into the Mark Toro or Jamestown Schools of Design? Or do something else entirely?
Since 2000, when it comes to Atlanta real estate, the biggest influences on the broader market are from two schools: Mark Toro and Jamestown LP.
If South Downtown is looking for success in a project that has similar overlap, these may be the two schools they borrow the most from. Both schools of design have led to financial and social success.
Their revitalization efforts and placemaking strategies abandon the tried-and-true suburban strategies: chain restaurants, fast food establishments, discount retailers, acres of parking, and department store anchors. Both company’s developments are more associated with big market cities, fewer national chains, more local eateries, and higher-end retail outlets.
8b. Mark Toro, the architect of modern mixed-use developments
Mark Toro is the former managing partner of North American Properties, the Cincinnati-based commercial and residential real estate firm. The company selected Toro to open its Atlanta offices in 1996, where he remained until starting his firm, Toro Development Company, in 2021.
Toro is best known for creating the modern urban-mixed-use district model of development. A model that is best seen in his work at turning around Atlantic Station, an industrial revitalization project in Midtown Atlanta, and Avalon, the high-end suburban mixed-use shopping district in Alpharetta. Toro also led the creation of Camp Creek Marketplace in South Fulton and the $400 million renovation of Midtown’s Colony Square before his departure.
Atlantic Station, the start of the modern era of development in Atlanta
The modern era of massive real estate development started with the arrival of Atlantic Station in 2005. The site would take a converted superfund (hazardous environmental waste) site of the former Atlantic Steel Mill, a 97-year-old remnant of Atlanta’s railroad past that closed in 1998.
Spanning 138 acres, the site reimagined what was largely a massive public eyesore into a vibrant new development—the first mass redevelopment or real estate project in Atlanta since the preparation of the 1996 Olympics.
Originally developed by Jacoby, the site, despite its initial opening success, would take on a series of financial setbacks partly due to one of its biggest financiers, AIG, being heavily in debt and aiding in the turmoil related to the 2007-09 financial crisis. The massive development would eventually come under the ownership of NAP and the management of Toro in 2010.
The housing and retail mix of Atlantic Station was a difference-maker
If that wasn’t enough, the site also began incorporating new, high-density (for Atlanta) housing. Atlantic Station would feature hundreds of new, market-rate apartments, reestablishing the Atlanta rental market in addition to attached and unattached single-family homes with a small emphasis on small-town design, dual sidewalks on tree-lined streets, and a pond with a place to congregate for residents or guests to the property. It combined aesthetics, better design, and various housing types, all at premium prices.
Atlantic Station also upgraded the normal shopping mall restaurants, with no fast food or kiosk adornments. NAP also added a bowling alley and a sprawling 24-theater Regal Cinemas. And its biggest draw, Ikea, an uber-popular Swedish furniture warehouse, became, at the time, the first location in the southeast. As well as a home venue for traveling circus Cirque du Soleil.
Atlantic Station aiding in birthing ‘West Midtown’ as an actual place
Atlantic Station would also anchor the trend of naming new retail and residential destinations based on some former history, especially rail history. As projects are now being named yards or stations, Atlantic Station was the first. The project eventually became one of the anchors of the broader redevelopment of the westside and the beginning of the social construct of ‘West Midtown.’
For more on the construction of ‘West Midtown’:
The success of Atlantic Station would lead Toro and North American Partners to work on creating an even larger, more ambitious project located about 30 minutes away in the north Fulton suburbs in what is now known as Avalon.
Avalon, the new suburban mixed-use standard
Avalon is a mixed-use suburban shopping center located in Alpharetta. It opened in the fall of 2014, 9 years after 2005’s Atlantic Station arrived. Avalon was unique for several factors. First, it was 100% privately financed, as Atlantic Station needed federal subsidies to remediate its brownfield site, and second, it would come with a price tag of a billion dollars.
Avalon emphasized residential housing more than Atlantic Station, with more single-family homes and townhomes prioritizing apartments and condos. This has allowed for a greater value capture at the property as the demand to be at or next to the property is spurring a wave of new homes being put in the vicinity.
Avalon came at the right time for the right place as Alpharetta, in the 2010s, finally decided to become more millennial-friendly. This has led to the first creation of apartments in decades, a focus on families with young children, and an increase in third places for young people, especially at night and on weekends—keeping more millennials and their money within Alpharetta.
Avalon improved on every pain point of Atlantic Station, then made it more appealing for a generation of people and their parents who grew up in the suburbs. Avalon’s success has redefined the area. It has led other suburban and exurban properties to emulate its formula.
The old North DeKalb Mall in North Decatur is building a copycat and Forsyth County’s $2 billion facility, which is also angling for an NHL team relocation— using the same design blueprint of Avalon. Avalon’s success has led to others attempting to emulate another Avalon-inspired design from the nearby rival suburb. Johns Creek even hired Mark Toro to lead the project.
8c. Jamestown LP
Jamestown LP is an Atlanta-based developer specializing in historic renovations, skyscrapers, and high-density, high-end urban innovation hubs. The company’s portfolio of properties spans the globe, including projects in Chile, Colombia, Portugal, Denmark, and Italy.
Ponce City Market
The company is best known for their work on Ponce City Market, a massive historic renovation project located in the Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta. That project was a historic renovation that converted the old Atlanta factory and distribution center of former national retailer Sears.
Chelsea Market, Jamestown’s predecessor to Ponce City Market
The revamp included a focus on multi-use retail with aspirational and suburban brands. Alongside a lower-level food court, taking a cue from their former project, Chelsea Market, where higher-priced restaurants and bars mix with a series of everyday standard American foods. Chelsea Market was Ponce City Market before it was Ponce City Market.
Jamestown’s other developments
The company has also been involved in key US renovation projects, including several large projects in New York City, such as Chelsea Market, One Times Square, and the General Motors Fifth Avenue headquarters. The company’s efforts have been one of the biggest drivers in gentrification, historic renovations, and new development in lower Manhattan.
Jamestown’s developments have compounded the development of the southwestern section of Manhattan, making the area one of America's most expensive and valuable real estate sections.
The company’s other developments in historic renovation, innovation districts, and office towers have a similar effect across other US cities. This includes ownership of several properties in Boston’s Newbury Street and the redevelopment of Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco.
What strategy will South Downtown take?
Both developers have ushered Atlanta real estate into the modern era by focusing on revitalization as a source of differentiation, something South Downtown can and will likely emulate. Whether South Downtown leans more toward Avalon or Ponce City Market is dependent upon a myriad of factors, but both offer viable pathways for success. But a little bit of both will help.
9. How South Downtown could borrow from other development models
South Downtown is deliberately tapping into the uniqueness of the downtown Atlanta market's buildings, geography, and opportunities. Should the project work, this would be the first successful mass adaptive use and new construction project since the conversion of the old Sears Factory into Ponce City Market. As a result, there could be more incentive to complete portions of the sprawling 53-building site sooner rather than later.
9b. Carter USA’s Summerhill development model
Atlanta Ventures could follow Carter USA’s successful playbook of revitalization at Summerhill. In that playbook, Carter is partnering with one main partner, Georgia State University, aiming for key athletics and student buildings, giving Carter the power to develop residential and commercial development. Carter serves primarily as the overall manager and developer of the project, giving a select few commercial developers and residential developers curating the property's retail, restaurant, and social activations.
But unlike Summerhill, South Downtown would not be privy to a tent city type of protest nor an emphasis on a community benefits agreement.
9c. Avalon’s and Downtown Alpharetta’s development model
Avalon and Downtown Alpharetta’s residential and commercial development model was created for a new suburban experience. one that borrows heavily from mainstreet design, small town grids, reimagined strip malls, and localized social spaces.
Downtown Alpharetta
Downtown Alpharetta is a more recent suburban innovation. While founded in 1858, the north Atlanta town held about 3,000 total residents in 1980. In 2020, it was roughly 65,000. It was anchored by continual suburban residential growth aided by a shift into new suburban urbanism with the creation of downtown Alpharetta and the suburban shopping district Avalon.
Downtown Alpharetta attempts to recreate the small-town feel while expanding some recent urban success stories—Beltline-inspired walking trails, allowing for multi-family apartments, building sidewalks and bike lanes. As well as creating new third places in community centers, parks, an amphitheater, and the continued expansion of Avalon.
9d. Trilith’s development model
Atlanta Ventures could take a page from Trilith’s playbook by partnering with selected residential real estate firms and construction companies, providing access to a new, self-contained master planned market with few outside competitors. Trilith is Serenbe for people who are afraid of Serenbe.
Trilith’s model is a split between the Serenbe and Avalon models. In the model of Trilith, a greater emphasis is placed on connecting would-be suburban isolation with elevated suburban shopping and dining, connected by a large film studio less than 1,000 feet away from the development.
The idea of Trilith is that upper-level film and television talent will live on the property, shop on the property, dine on the property, and maybe even have fun on the property, keeping higher spending within the development. That has not materialized, but the site has driven the new increase in land values, home prices, and overall investment in Fayette County.
9e. Tech Square’s development model
Tech Square in Midtown Atlanta has been both a driver in new development and a singular unifying force in attempting to concentrate the tech industry in Atlanta. Tech Square utilizes its connection to Georgia Tech as a literal bridge to jobs and financiers. There is a bridge over the highway between the university and Tech Square.
Tech Square’s immediate and continual success has been the impetus for the growth of the entire midtown corridor for the last 19 years. This has led to a boom in high-density office construction and medium-density apartments.
10. South Downtown isn’t the only project in the area
This South Downtown grouping includes other in-progress major real estate developments, including the renovations of the old Southern Railways (now Norfolk Southern) building, Underground Atlanta, and is located next to the Gulch redevelopment project, now named Centennial Yards.
South Downtown is one of many projects in the area. All face the same issues: funding, enthusiasm, homelessness, disconnectedness, and project completion. All projects are a bet that the future of Atlanta is downtown. If that bet is correct, all would need to be successful.
10b. Centennial Yards
Centennial Yards is a 5 billion dollar mixed-use development to support the Atlanta Hawks and other events downtown. The controversial still-in-development facility received heavy financial assistance from the city of Atlanta and APS for the project, to the tune of $2 billion in local tax incentives. Tax incentives went to CIM, the California-based real estate development firm. The funding represents a larger gamble that downtown Atlanta could finally be viable for new, sustaining development.
Centennial Yards, like South Downtown, is also facing a pandemic pivot as the initial push for more office space is being reconfigured into a greater push towards higher-density housing and hotels. The site has promised to be camera-ready by at least 2026, releasing updated renderings of the changes.
For additional background on Centennial Yards:
The Hawks need Trae Young to be LeBron James to sell a 5 billion dollar real estate development - 2021
10c. MARTA’s $200 million renovation of Five Points
Five Points MARTA station downtown is in the middle of a proposed $250 million transformation to modernize the transit station. The project has elicited some criticism and questions, including the increased price, up from an initial $150 million price tag in 2021. The price, timing, and question of the need for a renovation of Five Points, while its languishing 2016 More MARTA plans and continually declining revenue have many questioning the project.
There is additional backlash on this renovation as the funds that would aid in coverage of two new light rail lines could’ve been more useful. Those two other rail projects, the Emory Corridor and Campbellton Road corridor have had to abandon their light rail transit (LRT) plans. Those communities are now relegated to lower-cost bus rapid transit (BRT) plans. MARTA is betting that this new station will be built for the new South Downtown, with the 2026 World Cup being the kick-off to the new era of downtown development.
For additional background on the Emory BRT kerfuffle:
10d. Underground Atlanta’s long-gestating redevelopment
Underground Atlanta’s current era of revitalization and renovation is slowly turning a corner. The 55-year-old downtown Atlanta shopping and entertainment district is seeing new life under the Norcross-based leadership group BFG, headed by Shaneel Lalani, after a controversial 2017 city-backed sale to South Carolina-based developer WRS Realty and a series of pushbacks on the project, BFG acquired the property.
After persuading Atlanta live venue and nightlife staple The Masquerade to move in, the site has been pursuing a slow but steady list of commercial tenants, artists, pop-up installations, and a revamped food hall to lure in guests. The site has enlisted help for a master plan and still has to deal with a lack of housing, residential business, and lack of foot traffic to contend with.
10e. 2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta’s newest affordable housing tower
2 Peachtree Street is a recently purchased office building by the city of Atlanta that is slated to be converted into a mixed-use, affordable housing project. The project is one of the hallmarks of Dicken’s administration in creating more affordable housing and aiding in downtown revitalization.
2 Peachtree may not be the only site purchased or created as the Dickens administration has talked with HUD about acquiring more federal funds to renovate some existing properties and build new ones on a series of sites in downtown Atlanta. As of now, no major funds have been dispersed. Additionally, should the Democrats lose the White House and the Senate in November of this year, then also remain in the minority in the House, there may not be any federal funds for affordable housing anywhere.
11. Is 2026 the goal? Should it be?
Is 2026’s World Cup the goal for the first phase of South Downtown and other projects in the area to be ready? And should it be?
During the walk-through, Birdsong stated this is a multi-decade-long project. Birdsong was also coy about whether or not they will pursue being ready for 2026 in some capacity. There is a possibility they could be, but it would require a series of rapid deals and even faster construction.
Due to the city’s need to be camera-ready by 2026’s World Cup, there is a greater impetus to fast-track the permitting, inspection, and on-site visiting processes. The city will attempt to mitigate some of the problems of the Olympics 30 years prior. Much of this concerns a lack of walkability, amenities, viable nightlife, homelessness, and quality of life issues.
But considering that Dallas is gunning hard to be the home of the World Cup final, there could be less pressure to be camera-ready and build toward the capacity needed to host the world’s biggest game. But Dallas is surrounded by a sea of parking lots and no amenities, something not the case in Atlanta. International fans and FIFA tend to award the finals to cities not surrounded by parking lots and with immediate fanfare outside the stadium.
12. Is this ‘West Midtown’ all over again?
Yes and no. Unlike the deliberate efforts of ‘West Midtown’ and ‘Upper Westside’ real estate creations, the effort was meant to cater to Atlantans and non-Atlantans. This was slightly different from the creation of ‘West Midtown’ and the ‘Upper Westside,’ two deliberate (and ongoing) gentrification and Columbusing efforts on the Westside of Atlanta.
Yes, South Downtown, West Midtown, and Upper Westside are renaming and rebranding efforts of already existing city sections.
No. Unlike the deliberate efforts of the real estate creations of ‘West Midtown’ and ‘Upper Westside,’ South Downtown’s intent and pitch is as Atlanta for Atlanta versus Atlanta for transplants.
Maybe? West Midtown and Upper Westside explicitly fall under the traditional gentrification framework as studied and defined by Ruth Glass, the creator of the term and on whom the study of gentrification is based. West Midtown and Upper Westside focus on converting industrial spaces and residential property for newer, wealthier tastes, fueled exercises appealing to these upper-class tastes, often obfuscating existing cultures and history.
12b. South Downtown has tried to distinguish it as a celebration of its history, not a dismissal
South Downtown is not deliberately attempting to whitewash, diminish, or attempt to change history but leans into its history. But it could be due to the likely residential demographic base and likely make-up of businesses. But also, because there has not been a sizeable residential population in that area for over 50 years, South Downtown could also be considered a new residential project.
The area has not been home to any large residential groups for decades, partly due to its location as a hub for transient visitors to Attlanta who would get off at nearby Terminal Station, then often stay briefly at one of the inns and hotels along current hotel row. For the first time in nearly 50 years, many people will live in this section of downtown Atlanta again.
13. The New Era of South Downtown
If there are planning goals, they could be defined as what could be accomplished by the end of this year. Then, what could be accomplished by the start of the 2026 World Cup, followed in 5-year increments, 2029, 2034, and so on? Here’s what a hypothetical timetable could look like.
What works now (0-2 years):
Hotel Row restaurants completed and opened
Completed renovations of existing buildings along Mitchell Street and Peachtree Street
Hotel openings
Homeless and Pandhandling Strategy
Policing and security (pre and post) 2026 Olympics
Planned third space strategy
What works later (2-5 years):
Residential housing: Rental and Owned
New hotels for 2026 and beyond
Condos for 2025 and beyond
apartments for 2025 and beyond
student housing for 2025 and beyond
senior housing for 2025 and beyond
Greenspace and parklet creation
Planned Pre-K - 5 strategies
Implemented Bike infrastructure
Implemented ADA infrastructure
Implemented third space strategy
Planned secondary and third needs strategy
Homelessness rehousing and re-entry plans
Workforce housing plans
Policing and security
What works for the immediate (5-10 years) future:
Mixed used districts
Office strategy
Implemented Pre-K-5 strategy
Building a new APS School to service the families of South Downtown and exploring second sites should population increase
Planned and Implemented Middle - High School Strategy
Planned Medical retail and care strategy
Planned and Implemented BRT and bus strategy
Planned age-in-place strategy
Policing and Security
What works for the long term (10-20 years) future:
Implemented retail and care strategy
Exit strategy and second and third-wave property ownership plan
Renovation plans of older properties and plans for apartments
Downtown revitalization recommendations:
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and Millenium Park
Downtown Detroit
Downtown Savannah and the riverfront
Downtown Brooklyn
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Cincinnati, Ohio
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Expectations
Expect the Atlanta Ventures plan to build on the already established Newport plan while improving on the issues from their previous tenure. This includes reaching a likely legal settlement regarding 222 Mitchell Street, the cornerstone piece of the entire portfolio. While also leaning heavily on their new partners for speed, cash flow, and portfolio management.
Expect a master plan and implementation hybrid of current models of high-density housing models, current historic district renovations, and a bigger pivot into the destination district model that’s taken hold across the metro Atlanta area, in addition to a more pedestrian-friendly development model.
14. Conclusion
There is genuine hope and optimism. When most developers bypassed downtown, Newport saw the forest from the trees—in town real estate, linked by one of the few grid sections, near two mass transit centers, with bus service and a lack of competitors.
Newport purchased an undervalued portfolio of assets in one of the most undesirable places in downtown Atlanta. With Atlanta Ventures at the helm, new ideas, new leadership, and a new lease on life, South Downtown is ready for its open house.
South Downtown's new lease on life - Part One
Here’s to a new lease on life for South Downtown!
-KJW