Group to transform this vacant property into public green space in the heart of midtown
One of the largest undeveloped properties in midtown Atlanta won't be another skyscraper. Instead it will be an attraction.
Midtown Alliance just unveiled plans to create a signature public space in the heart of Atlanta on 14th Street.
It won't be a traditional park like Piedmont Park half a mile away. But it will have green space and much more.
'Staggering that it's never been developed. This is the largest undeveloped site in midtown,' said Kevin Green, Midtown Alliance president and CEO. 'It just sat here as midtown grew up around all it.'
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There have been 140 new buildings in the last 20 years in just one square mile of midtown. But there has only been just over an acre of public green space.
'What would make you walk into this site and say wow,' Green said.
Green can't say yet what the sale price will be, but they'll close in May on buying this site, paid for through local businesses as part of the Midtown Improvement District. They have been looking for years to purchase a property to protect it as open space.
'And we always had our eye on this site, but it was always under contract, always something planned. Ultimately when that fell through, real estate market cooled, we saw it as an opportunity,' Green said.
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The property sits between Peachtree Street and West Peachtree Street near the Arts Center, MARTA station and Colony Square. The idea is not a traditional park, but more urbanized and more amenities.
'This is going to serve a different function than Piedmont Park. This is in a dense, urban area. There's about 45,000 people in a 7-mile walk of this site,' Green said. 'We really view this as what would it take to make this one of the best free things to do in Atlanta.'
Once the sale is final, Midtown Alliance will start taking public input on what should go at the site. Then they will begin a fundraising campaign with work likely taking a couple of years to complete.
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