A vibrant downtown Atlanta emerges as top priority 

Downtown Atlanta has a new important ally.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber, at its annual meeting on Nov. 21, spotlighted its new initiative, Downtown Reimagined, to help transform our central city into a bustling neighborhood.

It’s a welcome development. 

Downtown Atlanta can benefit from a concerted and collaborative effort to reinvigorate our central business district.

“I think success for downtown is when it actually feels like a neighborhood – where we have more residents, we have more small businesses, we’ve got parks, that we’re serving everyone, and you’ve got the sports and entertainment piece,” said Katie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

The historic heart of our region is downtown Atlanta. For decades, organizations have been focused on keeping our central city vibrant. That’s despite the detriments of urban sprawl, the relocation of major companies from Five Points, the false starts and recurring development plans for Underground Atlanta, the railroad gulch, a multimodal station, South Downtown, plus the depopulation of office workers after the pandemic.

As someone who has seen the ebbs and flows of downtown my whole life, I know there have been ongoing efforts to revitalize the central city.

For 83 years, Central Atlanta Progress has been the leading business organization working on public-private partnerships to improve downtown. The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau among others all have been working to strengthen the vitality of downtown.

So, it’s with great enthusiasm we welcome the Metro Atlanta Chamber to the cause. The Chamber, which represents business leaders from the 29 counties that make up the Atlanta region, has an incredible reservoir of influence and energy that can help realize the vision of a bustling downtown.

“The reason why we’re really focused on downtown is because it’s the heart of the region,” Kirkpatrick said. “We want to make sure it’s thriving.”

The good news? There’s a lot of energy surrounding downtown – much of it the result of many people working long and hard to get us to this point.

Consider this:

• Centennial Yards is well on its way — even if it has had to shift its development priorities. 
• South Downtown, through the leaders of Atlanta Tech Village, is taking a block-by-block approach to restore and redevelop a large part of our historic central city.
• Georgia State University just received an $80 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to transform its downtown campus.
• The 2 Peachtree office building is being converted into residences and retail.
• The Georgia Pacific tower is being repositioned to include 400 residences.
• The sports and entertainment district continues to provide strength to the downtown economy — including Mercedes-Benz Stadium with the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, State Farm Arena with the Atlanta Hawks, concerts and events at both facilities, the Georgia World Congress Center and its campus, including Centennial Olympic Park, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the College Football Hall of Fame, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coke and the SkyView Atlanta Ferris wheel.
• Central Atlanta Progress has championed the development of The Stitch, reconnecting parts of the city dissected by the Downtown Connector and securing funding for its $200 million first phase, including $157 million in federal funds.
• Mayor Andre Dickens has announced the Showcase Atlanta initiative, with co-chairs Arthur Blank and Carol Tomé, to help the city prepare for the 2026 World Cup.

“We’re going to see that flywheel begin to amplify in 2025 and 2026. We’ve got to be ready for World Cup at the at the end of the day. But that’s not our only barometer, right? That’s just a point in time,” said Kirkpatrick, who added it will take 10 to 20 or even 30 years to realize the vision of a healthy downtown.

All these developments sound promising, but there’s much work for all to do. 

Weaving the old with the new is an important part of creating a thriving central city.

“The inclusion of historic preservation is the assurance for a successful downtown,” said David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center.

For downtown to live up to its potential, thousands of new residents will also be needed to create the community Kirkpatrick described. Ryan Marshall, the incoming chair of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, spoke of the need to add housing of all types in our region — from affordable to market rate. As CEO of the PulteGroup, Marshall can help energize efforts to add housing to the central city.

Also, it is important for the State of Georgia, Fulton County and the City of Atlanta to coordinate and collaborate on various issues that impact downtown, ranging from homelessness to MARTA with its two intersecting rail lines coming together at Five Points. 

In fact, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, with its deep connections at the State Capitol and various local governments, can champion that outreach to state and regional leaders.

In addition to the Chamber, there’s the Atlanta Committee for Progress — the high-powered business organization that works with Mayor Andre Dickens and his predecessors dating back to Mayor Shirley Franklin. The impetus for ACP came from the CAP and the Metro Atlanta Chamber to help Franklin strive for Atlanta to become a best-in-class city. At some point during the administration of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, both the Chamber and CAP were removed from the ACP table, even though the Chamber has been invited back.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a concerted effort by all these organizations to make downtown Atlanta a top priority for the region?

“The one word is partnership. We’re not going in and doing this alone,” Kirkpatrick said. “Convening. That’s our other superpower. It’s convening people to a table to say, how do we do this together and actually do it 10 times bigger.”

That’s why it’s an encouraging development to have the Metro Atlanta Chamber focus on downtown Atlanta. By working with all the players already making a positive impact on our city, then the Metro Atlanta Chamber can create a constituency to convene others who need to be at the table.

“There’s an incredible degree of collaboration and coordination,” said Chris Womack, the outgoing chair of the Chamber and CEO of the Southern Co. “No one group can solve this.”