3 minute read
Connector Caps
The Next Big Thing
Advertisement
Top, L-R, Renderings of The Stitch. (Courtesy Central Atlanta Progress)
Bottom, R-L, Renderings of Midtown Connector. (Courtesy MCP Foundation)
By Dyana Bagby and Collin Kelley
Plans to reclaim acres of Downtown and Midtown property lost to the I-75/85 Connector are gaining momentum – and funding.
Seventy years ago, the building of the now perpetually traffic-clogged Downtown Connector destroyed homes and businesses while splitting neighborhoods in half. Getting some of that property back is the driving force behind The Stitch and Midtown Connector projects.
The Stitch
Central Atlanta Progress’ (CAP) yearslong vision for The Stitch — a project that would cap part of the Downtown Connector with a park — is “the next big thing,” according to the organization’s President A.J. Robinson.
The project would create 14 acres atop a new, ¾ mile platform spanning the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector between the Civic Center MARTA Center at West Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue.
“The Stitch really would create a front yard for Downtown and Midtown and finally bring [the neighborhoods] back together like it was in the 50s,” Robinson said. “We really do believe that it will serve the community well and really create a solidified area between Downtown and Midtown.”
Robinson was upbeat about the project during a town hall meeting over the summer that updated residents on ongoing projects. He noted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned the project when The Stitch last year received a $900,000 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“We’ve achieved national attention,” Robinson said. “It only took us 20 years.”
A full-time development manager was recently hired for the project, and CAP is applying for more federal funding to come from President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. The package includes $1 billion to reconnect communities that were split apart in the 1950s by federal highway projects, such as Downtown’s historic Sweet Auburn district.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams successfully advocated for more funding to be used to reconnect neighborhoods.
“This is the type of project that really does qualify for those big dollars that could come down from the federal government,” Robinson said.
Plans for The Stitch are to unite all areas of the city through a series of elevated interconnected parks, plazas and walking trails that would spur transit-oriented development, including affordable housing.
Midtown Connector
An even more ambitious plan is the Midtown Connector, which would create a 25-acre park over the interstate stretching from North Avenue to 10th Street.
The park would also reconnect surface streets broken by I-75/85, including Ponce de Leon Avenue, 4th Street, and 6th Street.
A winding, raised walkway would mean pedestrians and bicyclists could traverse the length of the park uninterrupted by vehicle traffic.
Taylor Morison, chief strategy officer of the nonprofit MCP Foundation, told Urbanize Atlanta in August that “this project is going to get done, and I’m extremely excited about it.”
Morrison said a series of videos launched last year to announce the project were viewed by more than 11,000 people, while more than 4,000 tuned in for a series of virtual meetings about the project. More than 150 government officials, philanthropists, civic and corporate leaders attended an informational event earlier this year.
Another series of community forums are coming soon, Morrison said.
And like The Stitch, the Midtown Connector is seeking federal dollars via our elected officials in Washington D.C. Morrison said U.S. Rep Nikema Williams is seeking $750,000, while and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is asking for $5 million.
The Midtown Connector is estimated to cost between $800 million and $1.2 billion to complete.
Elevate Your Real Estate Experience
Find out what makes Chase Mizell Atlanta's #1 Luxury Real Estate Agent
THE ENCLAVE AT PEACHTREE 2288 Peachtree Road, No. 13 Offered for $2,995,000
Chase Mizell
$130 MILLION, VOLUME SOLD, 2021
CHASEMIZELL.COM
Sotheby’s International Realty® used with permission. Atlanta Fine Homes, LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated. #1 agent volume, 2020+ 2021, Atlanta REALTORS® Association.
