With Atlanta’s official, city-certified 404 Day holiday upon us, Buckhead community leaders are asking Atlantans to keep the subdistrict’s most ambitious parks proposal in mind.
The HUB404 Conservancy has proclaimed April 4 to be “Gimme 4 Day” as a nod to the highway-capping park initiative’s grassroots fundraising campaign of the same name.
Gimme 4 launched in late November, asking metro Atlanta residents to contribute as little as $4.04 to help Buckhead’s cap park idea get off the ground—or, rather, to create 9 acres of new ground above Ga. Highway 400 in the commercial heart of Buckhead.
“With HUB404 embodying the spirit of Atlanta, it’s only fitting that we call on Atlantans to improve the city even more with donations to this incredible project,” Jim Durrett, Buckhead Community Improvement District executive director, said in an announcement. “We know the community will love what HUB404 has to offer, and we’re excited to bring it to life in the coming years.”
HUB404 Conservancy officials reported Friday the Gimme 4 initiative has raised about $17,000 from grassroots donors so far. That’s part of $1.2 million the HUB404 project has raised collectively in private donations to date.
The amount of HUB404 public sector funding is substantially larger—$4 million so far—with most of that coming from project spearheads Buckhead CID's coffers, in addition to a federal boost announced in January.
A depiction of how HUB404 could be placed over Ga. Highway 400 with connections to Lenox Road. HUB404
“HUB404 is for Atlanta, by Atlanta,” added Anthony Rodriguez, who was installed last year as the HUB404 Conservancy’s executive director, marking the project’s first official leader. “We will be an integral part of ‘The 404,’ showcasing the culture, art, and events that make Atlanta shine.”
Since the idea was first proposed seven years ago, project backers have called HUB404 the country’s first transit-oriented park, an “agent of social change,” and an amenity that would afford Buckhead its own version of Dallas’ celebrated, highway-topping Klyde Warren Park—but at almost twice the size.
How the park and path project could meet—and bridge over—Peachtree Road. HUB404
Planned HUB404 features include a grand plaza, cafes, an amphitheater, and paved walking and bike trails. Connections to the PATH400 greenway (and by extension, the BeltLine), Peachtree Road, and MARTA’s Buckhead rail station would also be built.
Buckhead CID officials have said HUB404’s conceptual planning and surveying phases are complete. (Early, pre-inflation cost estimates for HUB404 hovered around $200 million.)
Officials say HUB404 is on pace to begin design and engineering work on bridges over Lenox Road this year. That would be followed in 2024 by engineering of the major park section from Lenox Road to Peachtree Road.
Ambitions to cap Ga. Highway 400 with greenspace date back to 2015, when a feasibility study received its first $10,000 from the Buckhead CID.
HUB404 joins two other cap-park initiatives in Atlanta currently in fundraising and conceptualizing phases: downtown's Stitch project, and the Midtown Connector.
A look at HUB404's multimodal possibilities. HUB404
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