Atlanta BeltLine Inc. picks Brian Leary as its CEO

By Maria Saporta

The board of Atlanta Beltline Inc. has just selected Brian Leary, vice president of design and development for Jacoby Development and Atlantic Station, as its new president and CEO.

Leary is succeeding Terri Montague, who stepped down Sept. 1, but has remained as a consultant until her replacement was named. Montague was the founding CEO of Atlanta BeltLine Inc., the public entity in charge of developing the 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta’s inner city.

The ABI board is chaired by Cal Darden, a UPS executive, who also served on the search committee. Clara Axam, a longtime civic leader, chaired that committee.

In his position at Atlantic Station, Leary has been overseeing the development master plan as well as marketing and public relations for the largest urban brownfield redevelopment in the country. Leary is a graduate of Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture with an undergraduate degree in architecture and a master’s degree in city planning.

In a statement, Darden said Leary brought the “right combination of technical experience, development success and community engagement for what the BeltLine needs as it enters the next chapter of its evolution.”