Buckhead has never been a community content with standing still. From Peachtree Road’s evolution into the heart of Buckhead’s commercial corridor — home to world-class offices, hotels, retail and dining — to the continued vibrancy of Buckhead Village, our community has thrived by thinking boldly about its future. It’s time we apply that same vision to one of Buckhead’s most overlooked and underperforming areas: Lindbergh.
For decades, the land surrounding the Lindbergh MARTA station has remained a largely untapped asset. Because so much of it is publicly owned, it sits off the tax rolls — producing little revenue and even less vibrancy. That could soon change.
As Maria Saporta reported this week, MARTA is considering relocating its headquarters from Lindbergh, where it has been based since the 1980s. Such a move would create a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the area and unleash its full potential.
If MARTA were to make its Lindbergh properties available for private redevelopment, it could spark one of Buckhead’s most significant urban transformations. The site’s location, size and transit connectivity make it ideally suited for a mixed-use district combining residential, retail, office and green space. Once privately owned, the property would return to the tax base and could qualify for targeted redevelopment incentives — such as temporary, partial tax abatements — to encourage investment and density.
The result could be a development on par with Ponce City Market, Buckhead Village or Atlantic Station — bringing new life, jobs and tax revenue to the city. The ripple effects would extend beyond the MARTA site. The recently closed Kroger property and other nearby parcels would become more attractive for complementary projects, creating new momentum along Piedmont Road, a vital gateway into Buckhead.
With thoughtful coordination, this corridor could become one of the city’s next great destinations — connecting PATH 400, Miami Circle and the BeltLine’s Northwest Trail into a vibrant, walkable network of transit, housing and recreation.
To make that vision a reality, MARTA, the City of Atlanta and Buckhead’s civic and business leaders must work together to plan boldly. The payoff could be extraordinary — not just for Buckhead, but for the entire city.
We can either let Lindbergh remain a missed opportunity or seize this moment to reimagine it as the next great chapter in Buckhead’s story. The choice is clear.
Lindbergh won’t thrive until the City addresses the out-of-control homeless and crime problems there, and we all know Dickens and his administration are only interested in giving resources to the gentrifying whites along the Eastside Beltline, the rest of his constituents be damned.
So true!
Missed opportunity implies some kind of mistake, or misstep. That ain’t what happened. This has a story which needs to be told. Every problem Atlanta has seems to be solved with “Nevermind that, Look over here..” Number 1 in the number 1 magazine of number 1’s.
Growth cures all, until it doesn’t.
This area is currently a blight and generally unsafe, so if they have a plan to add police and deal with the crime and homelessness then great. But more likely this will simply exacerbate a very dangerous area in the middle of the city.
Marta should keep their HQ and focus on developing and building new stations to connect communities. Buckhead should find a strategy to purchase and develop the other properties around that area to create the destination are idea.
fresh address for MARTA but same overpaid dim bulbs
Give us a break. This is a real-estate PR stunt hoping to sell commercial space in and around this horrible, blighted area. Labeling that area as Buckhead is gratuitous at best.
If this is such a great location, why did Kroger just pull out?