Downtown South Renaissance; Summerhill Hotel Outlook; ATL Trails

It was a busy week in Atlanta – and for news that has nothing to do with international soccer, heat waves and elderly gentlemen bickering over golf scores. Let’s summarize:

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DOWNTOWN—For anyone who yearns for a more vibrant and cohesive south downtown (and who doesn’t?), the Atlanta Business Chronicle conveys intriguing details about technology entrepreneurs short-term plans for 15 acres of buildings and parking lots they acquired from German company Newport last year.

Atlanta Ventures principals David Cummings and John Birdsong plan to invest at least $100 million (debt-free) in the next phase of South Downtown’s renaissance, with the goal of infusing Broad and Mitchell streets, alongside Ted Turner and MLK Jr., with housing, offices, stores and restaurants by the time the 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives. The project is codenamed “Elle” because of the shape of the streets in question near the Mercedes-Benz stadium, the newspaper reports.

A large number of building permits are in the works, a sizable list of local architecture firms are on board (including Smith Dalia Architects, Kronberg Urbanists + Architects and Local Architects LLC), but exactly how many buildings need to be revitalized (with the ‘help from historic tax credits) remains to be seen.

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SUMMER HILL—In Summerhill, the former Ramada Plaza Atlanta Downtown hotelThe on-again, off-again relationship of “not being a vacant eyesore” has taken another turn.

Atlanta Housing is exploring the viability of transforming the 16-story structure (the tallest in the neighborhood) into 231 affordable senior apartments, as Atlanta Civic Circle reports. The housing authority is considering a resolution that would authorize it to contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and request permission to enter into the deal to purchase the vacant hotel from Pellerin Real Estate, based in Atlanta, to the creators of The Beacon in Grant Park and several projects in East Atlanta Village.

In January, Atlanta Housing and Pellerin entered into a sales agreement regarding the vacant structure. The authority’s real estate committee would ask federal officials for permission to spend up to $17.5 million on the property, in an area where values ​​are rapidly exploding.

The former 400-room hotel property is sandwiched between a variety of new developments but still overlooks expansive parking lots to the south. Two neighboring plots have come to life and constitute the 300 housing units of Alliance Residential. Broadstone Summerhill luxury apartments and west, the new campus of Georgia State University convocation centera basketball arena and a concert hall.

Pellerin purchased the 450 Hank Aaron Drive hotel property at auction in 2020 for just under $14 million.

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CITYWIDE—You mean Atlanta’s nascent network of multi-use trails and greenways?

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department has partnered with the PATH Foundation to make it possible for you to do just that – again – right now, through the next round of the Trails ATL initiative. The investigation lasts approximately five minutes.

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