It's been a busy week in Atlanta—and for news that has nothing to do with international soccer, heat waves, and elderly gentlemen bickering about golf scores. Let’s recap:

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DOWNTOWN—For anyone who’s pulling for a more vibrant and cohesive South Downtown (and who isn’t?), the Atlanta Business Chronicle relays intriguing details about tech entreprenuers’ short-term plans for 15 acres of buildings and parking lots they acquired from German firm Newport last year.

Atlanta Ventures heads David Cummings and John Birdsong expect to pour at least $100 million (debt-free) into the next phase of South Downtown’s revival, with a goal of infusing Broad and Mitchell streets, along with Ted Turner and MLK Jr. drives blocks, with housing, offices, shops, and restaurants by the time 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives. The project is codenamed “Elle” for the shape the streets in question form near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the newspaper reports.

The planned look of Hotel Row mixed-uses, beginning with the Sylvan building.Courtesy of Newport

A boatload of building permits is in the pipeline, a hefty roster of local architecture firms is on board (including Smith Dalia Architects, Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, and Local Architects LLC), but exactly how many buildings stand to be revitalized (with the help of historic tax credits) remains to be seen.

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SUMMERHILL—Down in Summerhill, the former Ramada Plaza Atlanta Downtown Hotel’s on-again, off-again relationship with not being a vacant eyesore has taken another turn.

Atlanta Housing is exploring the viability of turning the 16-story structure (the neighborhood’s tallest) into 231 affordable housing apartments for seniors, as Atlanta Civic Circle reports. The housing authority is considering a resolution that would authorize it to approach the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and seek permission to close the deal on buying the vacant hotel from Atlanta-based Pellerin Real Estate, creators of The Beacon in Grant Park and several projects in East Atlanta Village.

The former Ramada's parking structure and elevated amenities, as seen in early 2023. Courtesy of Bull Realty

Atlanta Housing and Pellerin entered a pending sale agreement in January involving the vacant structure. The authority’s real estate committee would ask the feds for permission to spend up to $17.5 million on the property—in an area where values are quickly ballooning.

The former 400-room hotel property is sandwiched between a variety of new development but still overlooks vast parking lots to the south. Two neighboring parcels have sprung to life as Alliance Residential’s 300-unit Broadstone Summerhill luxury apartments, and to the west, Georgia State University’s new convocation center, basketball arena, and concert hall.

Pellerin bought the 450 Hank Aaron Drive hotel property at auction in 2020 for just shy of $14 million.

Courtesy of Bull Realty

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CITYWIDE—Wanna weigh in about Atlanta’s budding network of multipurpose trails and greenways?

The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation has partnered with the PATH Foundation to allow you to do that—again—right now, via the next round of the Trails ATL initiative. The survey takes about five minutes.

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