Uptown Atlanta is becoming a transit-oriented development in more ways than one.
Rubenstein Partners’ mixed-use district, formerly known as Lindbergh, has signed a 130,000-square-foot lease with MARTA to take a significant bite out of the 47-acre property’s available office space, officials announced Tuesday.
MARTA’s Capital Programs Expansion and Innovation group, or CPEI, will occupy four full floors of Uptown’s East Tower.
MARTA’s plans call for relocating up to 540 employees—including those in the CPEI group and the agency’s customer experience department—into a formerly tired district that Rubenstein plans to finish revising this year, according to project officials.
The transit agency’s CPEI group was previously located in the MARTA Annex at 2400 Piedmont Road. The specialized division of urban planners, architects, construction managers, and engineers is tasked with developing MARTA transit expansion projects and upgrading current infrastructure.
Uptown today is anchored by MARTA’s headquarters and built around the agency’s Lindbergh Center MARTA station—Atlanta’s original transit-oriented development.
The revised look of Uptown's Main Street. Contributed
In its new space, according to MARTA, the CPEI group “will be focused on executing capital projects such as the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative, which will provide a critical link between Uptown and major surrounding employment and healthcare hubs.”
Rubenstein bought the massive property—1 million square feet of offices and 120,000 square feet of retail, with the adjacent residential sections under separate ownership—for $187 million in 2019. The $70-million conversion from Lindbergh to Uptown started in earnest when AT&T, the original anchor tenant and the property’s heartbeat for two decades, vacated two office towers in January 2021.
Passageway to the atrium of Uptown's office towers off Main Street.Contributed
Rubenstein announced its first tenant win in 2021 with the signing of esports provider Skillshot Media. That company has relocated its Alpharetta offices and production studios to Uptown to create an esports gaming hub, alongside classroom and training spaces for local students.
A reimagined, 35,000-square-foot atrium between the district’s two main office towers is regularly activated by Skillshot Media now for global esports events, according to Uptown reps.
Stadium seating and communal chairs in the atrium. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Rubenstein officials expect to finish Uptown’s redevelopment this fall. Beyond the atrium and remade Class A offices, changes so far have included remade building facades with new outdoor restaurant patios and balconies along Main Street.
Joining a food-and-beverage mix that includes 26 Thai Kitchen and Bar will be signed concepts El Gordo, a taqueria, and Bene Korean, billed as an upscale, tabletop Korean barbecue option.
Rubenstein officials say both restaurants will open sometime in 2023, and that additional concepts will be announced soon.
Head to the gallery above for a closer look at Uptown Atlanta today.
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