Atlanta BeltLine’s Clyde Higgs: 2030 is the magic number

Just call him “Joe Cool,” or better yet, “Clyde Cool.”

Five years ago (Feb. 13, 2019), Clyde Higgs became the permanent CEO of Atlanta BeltLine Inc. It seemed like a perfect time (Valentine’s Day) to sit down with Higgs and have a far-reaching discussion so he could reflect on his tenure with ABI and share his thoughts on the BeltLine’s next chapter.

Before becoming CEO, Higgs served as ABI’s chief operating officer. He joined the organization in August 2015. “It’s just flown by,” Higgs commented. When Brian McGowan left the CEO job in August 2018, Higgs became the interim CEO before being selected for the permanent post. 

When it comes to the BeltLine, everyone has an opinion (me included). 

So, how does Higgs balance all the constituencies who feel they own a piece of the project?

“I really look at it as our superpower – that we have so many different constituencies out there,” Higgs said. “People love the Beltline for various reasons. That gives us energy.”

Affordable housing. Transit. Trails. Parks. Historic preservation. Art. Trees. Neighborhoods. You name it. Running the BeltLine is not for the faint of heart.

Higgs, who celebrates his calm demeanor, is not humble when it comes to the BeltLine.

“What we see with the Beltline today – it is without equivocation the most ambitious redevelopment project in the country,” Higgs said of the 22-mile corridor of mostly abandoned rail lines that encircles the central city. 

When Higgs joined the BeltLine in 2015, it had an annual budget of about $30 million.

“For this fiscal year, we’ve passed a budget of over $150 million,” Higgs said.  “When I arrived here, it still had kind of a ‘startup’ feel. It feels like we are in a very different stage.” 

Looking back, Higgs said the pivotal moment during his tenure came in 2021 when the City of Atlanta passed the “special service district,” where multi-family and commercial property owners pay more in taxes to support the BeltLine.

“That was the seminal moment in our history that really put us in a strong financial position,” said Higgs, adding Atlanta’s largest philanthropic organizations – the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Cox Foundation and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation – wanted to see the people who were benefitting from the BeltLine financially put skin in the game. “When that chip fell, it was just a domino effect.”

Now Higgs proudly says 2023 was a record year for the project. It had three ribbon cuttings for new portions of the multi-use trail around the city, and it also had one ribbon-cutting. And 2024 will be an even busier year. A dozen or more projects will be under construction, and there will be more groundbreakings and more ribbon cuttings. 

In the BeltLine’s last quarterly briefing, Higgs said it expects to have 85 percent of the trail under construction or completed within the next 12 to 18 months.

Over the past several years, housing affordability has become crucial to the BeltLine’s success.

“At the end of the day, we have to figure out the housing affordability piece,” Higgs said. “We’re in a good place. People get it now. We exceeded our affordable housing numbers for 2023, and we’re at 63 percent of our goal of 5,600 units of affordability by 2030. And if you project out, we are going to most likely beat out that number of 5600 units.”

Higgs said the BeltLine has been acquiring property along the corridor – going from 22 acres to 90 acres – so it can develop permanent affordability – whether it be multi-family residential or commercial. By the end of the year, Higgs would like to introduce a “for-sale” option to give people an option to own rather than just be renters. That’s how the BeltLine will be able to really help generate wealth for Atlantans.

“The Beltline has been an unabashed, wild success in its current form,” Higgs said. “We’ve invested roughly $750 million into the Beltline to date. And we’ve seen $9 billion of private investment that’s followed us.”

And there is a constituency of folks who like the BeltLine just the way it is. Those are the people who are resisting the idea of having a streetcar line along the corridor.

Higgs was cautious when talking about transit. First of all, he said MARTA is in charge when it comes to implementing transit on the BeltLine, although the city will have a say.

In the coming year, Higgs said the BeltLine will bring the community together to make sure that “everybody is working from the same set of facts and information.” He said he believes “reasonable people who love our city” will ultimately get to the right decision. 

At the quarterly briefing ABI’s senior transportation engineer Shaun Green said the organization is looking for feedback on what rail will look like on the BeltLine.

“We’re listening for constructive feedback as opposed to just saying no,” he said. “That’s not really something we can react to.”

Although MARTA will implement the transit project, Higgs said ABI will have an influence – especially when it comes to design and aesthetics.

“Let’s be honest, the world has changed since 2016 when the More MARTA sales tax was passed,” said Higgs, remembering that the measure that included BeltLine rail passed by more than 70 percent. Still, ABI’s plan is to survey the public about future rail transit on the BeltLine while making sure people understand what’s at stake.

For example, Higgs said metro Atlanta is expected to add 2 million residents by 2050. The zoning overlay for the BeltLine is permitting much greater density, and it’s important to consider how people will move around the corridor.

“If you’re going to make it a very dense corridor and not give people an option outside of an individual car, it’s going to be a challenge,” Higgs said. Now is the time to have the debate of what kind of transit will be built because the proposed streetcar route from Irwin to Ponce City Market is 30 percent complete.

This is the time to have the debate because Marta is at that 30 percent design mark. So we actually want this, so when people were talking about oh, you know, what about this? What? Bring that we actually want everybody to debate this and let’s figure out again, you know, based on data, what’s the best decision out there? 

“I’m just confident out of that process we’re going to come up with something amazing,” Higgs said. “If it’s not amazing, I will tell you I will personally fight it if it is not top tier.”

Some of the features that would make it “amazing” include removing the overhead electrical line for an electric streetcar. And even more important is building a rail bed made of grass rather than concrete. Higgs also opposes any concrete barrier that would separate the transit corridor from the multi-use trail.

“We’re going to be a partner in this whole process,” Higgs said. “But let me be very clear. If it is going to be this concrete monstrosity, then I’m going to have a problem with it personally. It can’t be the low-cost option.”

Higgs also insinuated that if it gets down to a matter of cost, there might be other funding solutions. For example, if a grass rail bed is more expensive and MARTA prefers a concrete solution, Higgs said the BeltLine Tax Allocation District (which is generating more dollars than expected) could help bridge possible funding gaps.

“If we get to that point, I think there’s a way for the Beltline to participate in those costs even beyond More MARTA,” Higgs said. “We could figure it out. I mean, there are all sorts of funding mechanisms.”

Despite all the many constituencies pulling at him, Higgs showed no signs of being annoyed or bored with the task at hand.

“You know that I’m Joe Cool. You’re never going to see me overly excited. You’re never going to see me overly down,” Higgs said.

So, he’s “Clyde Cool?” “I’m okay with that,” he said.

Asked about the future, Higgs said he’s focused on the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and navigating and balancing all the competing interests that are vested in the BeltLine.

“Yes, I feel energized. I’m very optimistic about the outlook for Atlanta,” said Higgs, who gave credit to his 70-member team of women and men who manage the planning, design and construction of trail, transit, parks, housing affordability, small business and economic development efforts. “The great thing about this job is that I learn something new every day.”

So how long is his runway?

Higgs said 2030 is “the magic number.” At that point several milestones will have been reached – the trail will be complete and affordable housing goals will be met, and it’s possible a streetcar will be rolling along the Eastside Trail. The year 2030 is also is when the Tax Allocation District will expire, and the community will have to decide whether it should be extended.

“I’m locked in until 2030 at least,” Higgs said from the BeltLine’s offices in the former Equitable building downtown.  “I love coming here every day.”