The look of a Georgia Power substation project that’s rankled some neighbors and community activists could echo nearby downtown landmarks in a high-profile location, according to tentative renderings obtained by Urbanize Atlanta.
Site work on the Vine City power substation began in recent weeks along Northside Drive, on a block between Magnolia and Foundry streets, despite pushback from residents who worry it could compromise their quality of life.
Georgia Power officials say designs for the enclosed, block-sized facility are being refined with community input gathered from recent meetings, but they’ve declined to elaborate on the project’s scope or aesthetics.
Tentative Georgia Power renderings submitted to Urbanize from community members in recent days—shown from roughly the perspective of Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s roof—indicate the substation could take design cues, to a degree, from the football and soccer stadium. The color and exterior patterns of another controversial project nearby, the $23-million Northside Drive Pedestrian Bridge, also come to mind.
Example of a potential daytime aesthetic for a substation that recently broke ground along Northside Drive in Vine City, on a block between Magnolia and Foundry streets.Submitted image
Early renderings also show a multicolored light scheme on the substation facility at night. But all aspects of design remain as mere examples and are subject to change, Georgia Power officials have said.
“We have shared many details about project plans with the community in a public meeting in June as well as during other meetings with community leaders,” a spokesperson with the utility provider wrote via email, following the publication of a Wednesday story on the project’s groundbreaking. “The public open house included multiple tables staffed with company experts to answer residents’ questions, provided example drawings of an enclosed substation, showed potential future landscaping, rainwater ‘retention and drainage plans,’ and more.”
The substation will stand over a main north-south traffic thoroughfare on the Westside, in the shadow of some of downtown Atlanta’s biggest tourist draws and most recognizable landmarks. The block in question was previously home to Lot M, an event parking lot, and little else.
Early rendering that lends an idea of a possible lighting scheme for the Georgia Power substation under construction in Vine City. Submitted image
Closer tentative look at how a substation could front Northside Drive, across the street from Georgia World Congress Center. Submitted image
The site is across the street from a main Georgia World Congress Center hall and the new Signia by Hilton high-rise hotel, just north of the Home Depot Backyard greenspace and The Benz. Vine City residential streets and parks are located immediately to the west.
Georgia Power officials say the project will result in a stronger, and more resilient electric grid that brings power to customer businesses and homes. It’s scheduled to pause construction during 2026 FIFA World Cup events in Atlanta next summer and then open in early 2028.
Vine City residents and Westside activists cried foul and staged a protest earlier this summer in opposition to the substation project, which would take shape less than a mile from another Georgia Power substation in the same neighborhood.
Detractors have argued the substation should be built within the footprint of Centennial Yards, the billion-dollar entertainment and mixed-use zone that Georgia Power has acknowledge the substation will help power, in addition to area homes.
As seen along Magnolia Street in Vine City, looking east, site work has recently begun on the neighborhood's second power substation. Submitted
Rough overview of the Vine City substation construction site in relation to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, GWCC, and other area landmarks. Google Maps
Neighborhood groups had requested Georgia Power provide a third-party public health and environmental risk assessment for the Vine City site, but that request was reportedly denied earlier this year.
Investments such as new substations and transmission lines “are designed to improve electric service reliability, resiliency, and efficiency, and accommodate rising energy demand from customers across the area,” wrote a Georgia Power spokesperson via email last week.
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