Fresh images, details emerge for CNN Center's extreme makeover

A clearer picture for the next incarnation of office spaces, retail, and a vast atrium attached to State Farm Arena and downtown’s Omni hotel is coming to light.

Commercial restate and management firm CP Group announced in early April plans to remake the 1.2-million-square-foot, 1970s CNN Center property into a modernized, “world-class” hub of dining, retail, entertainment, and content creation called The Center. 

Marketing materials compiled by the project’s Healey Weatherholtz Properties retail leasing team shed light on the overall breakdown of renovation plans and how specific facets could look, as readers have recently pointed out.

The marketing slogan beckons potential tenants to “Find Your Way to The Center” and depicts a remade atrium, a new social area called “Hawks Plaza,” and sexier retail corridors leading to State Farm Arena and Georgia World Congress Center. 

The marketing package describes Atlanta’s retail landscape as “grossly underserved,” with its 2.9 million square feet of retail space. Downtown alone logged 42.5 million non-employee visits last year, it also states.

Other potential good news for prospective tenants: State Farm Arena hosts more than 300 events per year; that’s good for fourth in the nation in terms of sheer number of events, and seventh in the world among comparable venues for ticket sales, per the marketing package.

CP Group’s renovations call for 130,000 square feet of retail space, alongside 920,000 square feet of creative office and media production spaces. Another component is the recently renovated, 1,067-key Omni hotel attached to the facilities. It’s all part of a massive portfolio the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company has amassed in Atlanta in recent years.   

We’ve reached out to project representatives for a timeline on when The Center renovations could begin—and if CP Group plans to have the revised facilities finished in time for Atlanta’s 2026 FIFA World Cup matches. Inquiries weren’t returned as of press time, but this story will be updated with any new information that comes.

Earlier this year, CNN departed the building and stripped off its branding as its offices were moved to Midtown, ending a four-decade era of the media company being headquartered downtown.  

CP Group officials previously said they’ll focus energy on activating the ground-floor level of the complex, with Atlanta’s full month of World Cup matches a little more than two years away. Healey Weatherholtz reported that conversations with several new-to-market retail concepts are ongoing. CBRE has been tapped to lease the office component, where no space has been available to lease for 40 years.

Built in 1976 as the Omni Complex, the property was reshaped by mogul Ted Turner into CNN Center in 1986. Three years ago, CP Group bought the complex from CNN’s former parent company, AT&T, by way of a sale-leaseback that ran through this year. Along with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, The Center’s neighbors include State Farm Arena, Centennial Olympic Park, and the country’s fourth-largest convention center—attractions that draw more than 12 million visitors per year alone, per CP Group.

Elsewhere in Atlanta, CP Group is moving forward with additional changes to another landmark property it owns—Bank of America Plaza, the tallest building in the Southeast—where a new plaza, outdoor café, and top-floor amenity space are now planned.  

Have a closer look at CNN Center’s planned changes, according to the marketing package and an earlier announcement, in the gallery above.

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