GWCCA eyes $1B growth spurt. But where should that happen?
New study pinpoints current parking lots near convention center, nearby MARTA station
Originally posted by Josh Green on Urbanize Atlanta 5/6/24
Anyone who’s wandered the blocks north and west of Georgia World Congress Center and noticed a distinctive lack of vibrancy—or buildings in general—hasn’t been alone.
The initial steps of a potentially billion-dollar plan are being put in place that could make the 220-acre, state-owned campus feel less like a fortress and more like a natural extension of downtown, where investments on a massive scale aim to reshape the urban landscape over the next decade.
Atlanta-based architecture firm HKS is putting together a master plan for mixed-use growth around the GWCC that was unveiled for the first time to one of the agency’s committees last week. It marks the GWCCA’s first master plan since 2008, prior to a major convention center expansion, the construction of its Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and other updates to campus, as the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports.
In general, the new development could create between $1.1 and $1.3 billion of hotel rooms, housing, offices, and retail space—some of it directly linked to a multi-use Atlanta BeltLine connection trail—on what’s underused land today. The result could be a more robust convention business and more developed blocks around Atlanta’s Westside, especially in Vine City. It’s all in nascent stages, as crucial components such as funding sources and potential development partners have not been discussed, GWCCA officials told the ABC. What section of land might be redeveloped first has also not been determined.
The master plan pinpoints four potential development sites: A surface parking lot just west of the GWCC along Northside Drive called the Blue Lot.
Just north of there, another site could be the GWCCA’s Yellow Lot and its adjacent marshaling yard fronting Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (briefly considered a viable site for building Mercedes-Benz Stadium a decade ago).
Another potential property is just south of Centennial Olympic Park, next to MARTA’s GWCC/CNN Center station.
