Atlanta BeltLine picks design team for 22-mile corridor

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta BeltLine Inc. has selected a design team for the 22-mile BeltLine Corridor.

The design team will be led by Perkins+Will, including Leo Alvarez, John Threadgill and Ryan Gravel, who proposed the BeltLine project as part of his graduate thesis at Georgia Tech; and the firm of James Corner Field Operations, which recently completed the design of the High Line in New York City.

They were selected as part of a competitive bidding process that had received interest from dozens of architectural and design firms.

The board of Atlanta BeltLine Inc. selected the design team at its meeting earlier today. The design team will be charged with presenting a look for the BeltLine and establish the basis for all future BeltLine design and construction.

“A public space like that envisioned by the BeltLine, with pedestrian-friendly rail transit, trails, green space and abutting development in one corridor does not exist today in Atlanta or any other city in the United States,” Atlanta BeltLine CEO Brian Leary said in a statement. “By creating a design which will integrate all of the BeltLine’s components in a comprehensive way, we are building the BeltLine’s foundation.”

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the BeltLine is being viewed “as a model for smart growth and urban redevelopment” in the United States. “The selection of this world-class team to design the BeltLine corridor is a great step forward for one of the most significant projects in our city’s history,” Reed said in a statement.

Atlanta BeltLine Inc. believes the design process will help increase the project’s eligibility for federal funds and advance permanent trail projects to the point of being shovel ready.

The scope of the contract will include civil and structural engineering, surveys, utilities, streetscapes, landscape design, trails transit, stations, bridges, tunnels, historic preservation, public art locations and signage.

The design team includes 19 firms, and the total contract can not exceed $9.5 million. The BeltLine is a 22-mile ring that encircles intown Atlanta mostly along inactive rail corridors.