In the merry wake of Atlanta’s World Cup festivities, a common refrain among Atlantans who really enjoyed themselves in places like Underground and South Downtown is that more people need to be living down there, pronto. 

Lest we forget that government officials and developers have tried to make that happen in recent years. But it’s easier proposed than done. 

Remember the 1-acre, MARTA-adjacent parking lot on Forsyth Street that Invest Atlanta served up for apartment developers in 2023—only to receive exactly no responses to a proposals request? Remember the 400-unit tower pitched over Underground Atlanta, or the planned residential remake of the 2 Peachtree Street skyscraper, both quiet now for years? 

Time and again, in this post-COVID era of hiked interest rates and wobbling economies, landing financing for large-scale injections of downtown housing has proven difficult, especially beyond the doorstep of Centennial Olympic Park and the city’s pro stadiums. 

Which brings to mind the project that kicked up arguably the most urbanist excitement of all, almost four years ago now: the twin towers of South Downtown that never happened.

This level of vibrancy—and then some—became reality in South Downtown this summer. But will it be sustainable without dense, new residential? Newport RE; designs, Studios

Not to cry over spilled milk, but it’s important to remember—or for ATL newcomers to learn: Before there was tech entrepreneurs Atlanta Ventures, there was Newport RE, the American arm of Germany-based Newport Holdings, which spent years assembling the massive portfolio of parking lots and old buildings across 10 downtown blocks that would later slip away in foreclosure proceedings. 

Newport heads once described their holdings as the “largest collection of historic commercial buildings in the country.”

In September 2022, on these very pages, Newport unveiled its most ambitious plans for infill development by a long shot: two high-rise buildings on the east and west sides of Broad Street, designed with more than 650 new apartments and space for a dozen retail and restaurant concepts. 

The buildings would have marked Newport’s first ground-up new construction in South Downtown, rising 18 and 21 stories. Initial construction timelines put them both delivering in 2025. 

Cancelled plans for the 21-story, westernmost tower on Broad Street. Newport RE; designs, Studios

Plans unveiled in 2022 for an east tower where Mitchell and Broad streets meet. Instead, El Tesoro and Founders Green have claimed this corner. Newport RE; designs, Studios

Up to 20 percent of the rentals would have qualified as affordable housing, should planned collaborations and financial backing with Invest Atlanta have come through. 

“For this to be a neighborhood, there simply have to be more neighbors,” said April Stammel, Newport’s senior vice president at the time, who was later hired by Atlanta Ventures to lead marketing and community engagement. 

That sentiment, following Atlanta’s World Cup summer, sounds more familiar than ever.  

Projects such as Trinity Central Flats and Centennial Yards’ The Mitchell show ground-up, large-scale new construction is possible in downtown’s southern reaches. Whether that’s enough—at least for now—remains to be seen.

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