Downtown’s highway-capping Stitch has brought aboard key Atlanta players from the worlds of banking, hotels, utilities, city government, and other fields to help ferry the project toward construction in 2026. 

The nine-member leadership group—many of them with obvious skin in the game—now make up Atlanta Downtown Stitch Inc., the project’s inaugural Board of Directors. 

With its goal of implementation and oversight, the new board is structured similarly to the much larger Atlanta Beltline Inc. In an announcement today, longtime project backers called the board's formation a “pivotal milestone” in the quest to bring the decade-old Stitch vision from concept to neighborhood-creating reality. 

Board members include representatives from Invest Atlanta, Atlanta City Council, Truist bank, prominent development firms, and landmark downtown property Westin Peachtree Plaza. Stitch Inc. will be tasked with overseeing project construction, operations, maintenance, and programming as the concept evolves into a “thriving public destination” and “lasting civic asset,” per today’s announcement. 

Another change will see the Stitch’s current project director Jack Cebe transition to a leadership role as Stitch Inc. CEO and president. 

The nine board members—all with “a unique and vested interest in the project’s future,” per Atlanta Downtown Improvement District leadership—are as follows: 

     Appointed by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens: 

  • Nichole Miles-Sullivan: Atlanta region executive, Georgia Power
  • Ron Alston: Truist, senior vice president, nonprofit and government banking leader 

      Appointed by Atlanta City Council members: 

  • Hon. Jason Dozier: Atlanta City Council, District 4 

  • Tom Boyer: General manager, Westin Peachtree Plaza 

    Appointed by ADID as property owner representatives on the Stitch board: 

  • Craig Jones: ADID Inc. Board chair
  • Rian Smith: Integral, vice president and chief counsel
  • Patrick Kassin: Development partner, Woodfield Development
  • John McColl: Executive vice president, Cousins Properties 

    Invest Atlanta appointee: 

  • Granvel Tate: Vice president, real estate operations, Invest Atlanta

McColl, of Cousins Properties, was part of an earlier concept dating back to 1997 that called for remaking the barrier-like area between downtown and Midtown and reconnecting neighborhoods. “What began as an idea in the nineties is now an emerging reality,” said McColl in a prepared statement, “as the Stitch will become the quilt of our city, stitching it back together and reshaping how Atlanta connects and moves.”

Overview of possible scenarios for the Stitch's initial phase (now more compact) downtown, according to Central Atlanta Progress. Rendering: WSP, Hargreaves Jones, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects ; via CAP/ADID

The 2026 forecast calls for the Stitch to reach shovel-ready status with full permitting by this summer, with other updates pending under the new leadership. 

In the meantime, expect community programming around the future Stitch site that’s meant to bring the area to life, for now, as project heads relayed today. (2026 FIFA World Cup street parties, perhaps?) 

Considerable organizational progress, community engagement, and overall momentum for the Stitch in recent years appeared to be for naught when $151.4 million in federal grant funding was rescinded in 2025. But project spearheads Central Atlanta Progress have insisted that was a setback and not a death knell. 

A retooled, smaller version of phase one was unveiled in October. Officials say $50 million is secured to move the design phase forward and help create The Stitch Special Assessment District, a measure approved by the Atlanta City Council in April intended to help cover the Stitch’s operations, administration, maintenance, and programs costs, as funded by property-owning taxpayers within the district. 

The phase one section would be bounded by Peachtree Street (to the west), Courtland Street (east), and Ralph McGill Boulevard (south). St. Luke's Episcopal Church's campus would rim the site to the north, according to CAP’s latest visuals. Previously, Stitch phase one plans had been focused on the same general area but were larger, totaling 5.7 acres of 14 acres envisioned above the freeway overall. 

Rendering: Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects; WSP engineers; Hargreaves Jones landscape architects; via CAP/ADID

Features of the initial phase call for a performance and shade pavilion, interactive water fountain (with “fog forest” capabilities), and gardens, along with pathways, other social spaces, and a large playground. 

Project backers have tabulated the Stitch, when fully implemented in a decade or more, will generate $9 billion in economic value and 4,500 downtown jobs. Other goals are to improve access to low-cost housing and transportation, employment centers, and community resources. 

Find the latest renderings and site plans for the Stitch’s retooled phase one in the gallery above. 

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Downtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)