City-backed upgrades bound for Underground Atlanta for World Cup

Above-ground sections of Underground Atlanta will be sporting a fresh face when 2026 FIFA World Cup matches kick off downtown four weeks from today. 

The Invest Atlanta Board last month approved a $925,000 grant that’s being channeled toward public infrastructure and small-business improvements at Underground Atlanta’s Upper Alabama Street and the Peachtree Fountains Plaza section. 

The Eastside Tax Allocation District funding will ensure the upgrades are ready for expected World Cup crowds in downtown, according to Invest Atlanta. 

Changes call for the area surrounding Underground to feature new public seating, lighting, shade structures, and landscaping. Elsewhere, murals are being painted at “gateway crosswalks,” and window graphics will be installed to “improve façades of vacant storefronts,” per Invest Atlanta officials. 

A pop-up soccer pitch and digital screens for World Cup events and game-viewing are also in the works. 

An illustration of planned changes also shows a stage with a DJ and “bistro seating” around a grove of trees. 

Another portion of the grant will support a restaurant buildout on Pryor Street for Underground Diner (the daytime and nighttime eatery is replacing Dancin’ Crepe’s corner space), plus a pop-up storefront space for an unspecified, temporary retailer and two food truck sites on Upper Alabama Street. 

A recent Invest Atlanta summary of the initiative notes the “TAD-supported project represents the first of four proposed phases to enhance and re-tenant Upper Alabama Street and Fountains Plaza at Underground.”

In June, Underground Atlanta officials detailed plans for an injection of new dining—including a six-stall food hall—and retail on Upper Alabama Street, where project leaders have promised a revival prior to World Cup festivities. Utopia Latin fusion restaurant and lounge opened on that street in April last year, claiming a long-vacant space. 

New, communal spaces downtown intended to help capture FIFA World Cup crowds this summer won’t be limited to Underground Atlanta. 

Centennial Yards’ 8-acre Entertainment District continues to take shape, with immersive entertainment venue Cosm on pace to publicly open June 10 for a Game 4 showing of the NBA Finals. 

Elsewhere, the first step in the iconic Atlanta Constitution Building’s transition to the Folio House project will include an outdoor activity zone at 143 Alabama St. called “The Pitch.” Expect a watch party screen, food trucks, DJ booth, kids play area, pavilion, and more positioned around the old building, where more permanent redevelopment is expected to kick off later this year. 

Meanwhile, South Downtown’s new communal greenspace has marked a significant milestone on a former Broad Street parking lot in recent days, too. 

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