Long before Ponce City Market and Grant Park’s The Beacon, tucked-away Amsterdam Walk was a pioneer on Atlanta’s adaptive-reuse development scene.
But the eight-acre retail and entertainment district, positioned where tony Virginia-Highland meets well-heeled Morningside, has a problem: A paved Atlanta BeltLine corridor is coming, and as it’s currently configured, Amsterdam Walk is facing east.
In other words, the former industrial hub is putting its back to the BeltLine.
Entrance signage. Reimagine Amsterdam Walk
As a tentative first step that could spell redevelopment, the district’s owner of 35 years, Atlanta-based Halpern Enterprises, has recently been gathering community input for an initiative called “Reimagine Amsterdam Walk.”
A survey is open to input from anyone.
“We’re exploring the future of Atlanta’s next BeltLine jewel,” organizers say. “And we’d love to hear your ideas.”
Originally home to the Campbell Coal Company warehouses, the district reopened as shops in the 1990s and was given its current name about two decades ago. As is, it includes roughly 133,000 square feet of leasable space, with tenants running the gamut from dance-friendly tapas join Loca Luna, Urban Body Fitness, and live music venue Red Light Café to a preschool and doggie daycare.
According to marketing materials, three retail slots are available, ranging from 2,467 to 9,680 square feet.
Loca Luna's lush patio. Halpern Enterprises
Halpern Enterprises leaders stress they’re early in the planning and evaluation process, with no timeline for construction or asking tenants to change operations. They’re hopeful as many current tenants as possible will return, if and when redevelopment comes, per the survey website.
“We’re working with all stakeholders to explore higher and better uses for the property as a front door to the [BeltLine], Piedmont Park, Atlanta Botanical Garden” and a potential transit station that BeltLine plans show located adjacent to Amsterdam Walk, leaders note.
“The area around the BeltLine is evolving rapidly,” they continue, “and we want to participate in the transformation of Atlanta into a more walkable, bikeable, and accessible place to live and work.”
The broader context. Halpern Enterprises
For now, the stretch of BeltLine running between Amsterdam Walk and Piedmont Park—one of three sections comprising the Northeast Trail—remains a rocky interim path with no dedicated source of funding.
But according to BeltLine officials, a design phase for that section should be wrapping up in coming months. Meanwhile, public meetings continue for a potential tax increase that could rake in $100 million to finish the loop this decade—a proposal that’s encountered pushback from commercial property holders who’d pay the lion’s share of taxes.
How should Amsterdam Walk factor into the BeltLine’s future? Chip in your 2 cents via the survey here. And see the gallery above for more context and visuals.
• Fresh renderings: Where the biggest BeltLine development to date stands now (Urbanize Atlanta)
• Reimagine Amsterdam Walk (site)
