CIM Group and an investor group led by Atlanta Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler have reached the first pair of completions for Centennial Yards, the $5 billion, 50-acre mixed-use development in Downtown Atlanta, project officials announced in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday
The completion and construction milestones celebrated this week are part of 6-acre Centennial Yards South, the development’s first district to start delivering its slate of mixed-use projects.
Now complete are The Lofts at Centennial Yards South, a 162-unit apartment project at 125 Ted Turner Dr., and 160 Trinity Ave., a three-story office renovation.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, CIM Group Managing Director Devon McCorkle, and Ressler were among the attendees at the ceremony on Tuesday.
“Together with CIM, who is leading the effort, our co-investor group — consisting of my fellow Hawk investors as well as a highly diverse group of local leaders from the entertainment, tech, real estate, retail and venture capital sectors — are building a project that connects communities, people, and provides opportunity for meaningful employment beyond the construction phase,” Ressler said in a statement.
The Centennial Yards project as a whole follows several years of development planning for the downtown project site, 50 acres of parking lots and former rail-yards that have been collectively known as the Gulch. In all, the joint venture will build 12 million square feet of retail, office, residential, hotel, and entertainment space at the site, as well as new infrastructure and open space.
Tuesday’s announcement also included updates for other parts of the Centennial Yards South portion. Officials celebrated the start of construction for the adaptive reuse of 99 Ted Turner Dr., which will offer about 80,000 square feet of creative office space and 50,000 square feet of retail, and construction for the rehabilitation of 185 Ted Turner Dr. Also starting is construction for the Canyon, 740-foot-long pedestrian promenade between buildings and the site’s viaduct. The walkway will offer dining, entertainment, and other activities.
Designed by Choate + Hertlein Architects, The Lofts at Centennial Yards South is expected to be ready for occupancy in the summer. It will reserve about 25 units, 15 percent of the total, for lower-income households. It will also include 27 furnished apartments targeting corporation relocation and film industry demand.
The architect for 99 Ted Turner Dr. is Cooper Carry.
The developers also announced this week that more than 15,000 square feet of the Canyon will be occupied by craft beverage company Wild Leap. The LaGrange-based company will open a two-level brewery, distillery, and event destination there in the fall.
Progress at Centennial Yards comes as the developers wrap up public financing for the project, which reportedly totals up to $1.9 billion in bonds and reimbursements.
The project will fund $28 million of off-site affordable housing construction.
On site, 15 percent of units within Centennial Yards South will be affordable for 20 years, while 20 percent of units developed elsewhere as part of the project will be affordable for 99 years.
Also part of the Centennial Yards South development component is the Nelson Street Bridge demolition and reconstruction, which will connect residents of the Castleberry Hill neighborhood with downtown.
Currently, developers are underway on planning work for additional parcels scheduled for commercial and residential occupancy in 2023 and 2024 as part of the Centennial Yards master development.
