10 wish list items for Atlanta development in 2025

In Atlanta, we're somewhere between COVID-19 malaise and uncertainty and the Olympics-like hoopla that's being promised for the World Cup summer of 2026. What a time to be alive in the South's capitol city.

Below are 10 wishlist items (with one candid, hopeless entry) for this brand new year across the City of Atlanta, presented in no particular order: 

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1. Transparency, commitment to Beltline rail

One of the most divisive projects of any type in recent Atlanta history is expected to have a monumental year in 2025, per the construction timeline MARTA has long been committed to. Meanwhile, expect the conversation about Beltline rail to only heat up.

Last year saw no shortage of editorials, rallies, and public discourse over what’s been coined the Streetcar East Extension to the Beltline, a light rail project MARTA has repeatedly said will start construction this year and cost $230 million. After Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens floated the idea that bus rapid transit or driverless “pods” could be viable alternatives to Beltline rail in a WABE interview, BeltLine Rail Now advocates and other city leaders staged an August rally calling for MARTA and Beltline planners to stick to their guns and see light rail through—on a bed of grass instead of concrete.

Vocal Beltline rail detractors Better Atlanta Transit more recently conducted research that paints the initial streetcar extension segment as a poor use of resources and planning energies—and the full, 22.8-mile Beltline light rail proposal as a $2.8 billion (by their estimates) disaster of low ridership waiting to happen.  

Whatever path MARTA takes this year could irrevocably shape the city for generations. Yes, it’s a complex, thorny issue, but it’s tough to argue with the Beltline’s original purpose as a corridor for fixed, permanent, equitable transportation. Less arguing and more doing in 2025, please.

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2. Amtrak!

Pick an intown site, as you’ve vowed to be doing. Make it a wise choice, beneficial for all involved. Make the design terrific. Start the process of beefing up regional connectivity, despite any perceived federal headwinds. Give us options for getting out of town—and for getting visitors here.

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3. More Westside, Southwest ATL love

For better or worse, seven years after it debuted, the Beltline’s Westside Trail has yet to deliver the sort of Eastside Trail-esque development that many Atlantans had encouraged (or feared) as the multi-use trail project came together. Could that start to change—in monumental ways, no less—in 2025? And if so, isn’t it about time?

Three potential game-changing projects jump to mind:

In Oakland City, the uniquely dense remake of 20-acre Murphy Crossing could break ground as soon as September, project leaders have said.

North of there, Star Metals District developer Allen Morris Company completed rezoning in late 2024 for a 15.5-acre site in Bankhead the company says could become a “new nexus point for the Westside.” Tentative plans call for 1,600 residential units and some 700,000 square feet of commercial space eventually.

Roughly a mile away, Beltline leaders detailed plans in November for creating up to 1,100 residences (nearly 1/3 reserved as affordable housing) and a much smaller amount of commercial space (5,000 square feet) at the largest developable site the agency owns: a 31-acre parcel at 425 Chappell Road, also in Bankhead. That, it should be noted, would be just the initial phase. 

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4. Continued vibrancy for inimitable South Downtown blocks

It doesn’t take a CRE analyst to know Atlanta’s historic South Downtown has been an economic dead zone for far too long, relatively speaking. But just over the horizon, hope abounds.

Last year, the Atlanta Ventures team purchased 53 buildings along streets with architecture that’s in far too short of supply in this city—and then set to work getting real results, as they’ve recently chronicled in year-end summaries.

Just to the west, Centennial Yards topped out two high-rises in 2024 and now counts six buildings actively under construction (albeit lacking affordable housing components so far), all in the shadow of Atlanta’s pro sports coliseums. Imagine telling someone that’s happening in the Gulch a decade ago.  

Last but certainly not least, Underground Atlanta owners and partner developers lifted the veil last year on plans for a $160-million project standing 30 stories that would inject the oldest blocks of downtown with more than 400 residences (and minimal parking). Timelines call for opening the bold, mixed-use statement sometime in 2027, which according to traditional development wisdom means work had better begin in earnest this year.  

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5. Old Fourth Ward’s “selfie mecca” redo

Not to rain on this parade, but the people-friendly makeover of Jackson Street Bridge was also a wish list item on these pages at the beginning of 2022. That’s because project leaders indicated construction was all but a sure bet, way back then.

Thankfully, it hasn’t been all crickets over the past three years.

In March, the Atlanta City Council earmarked $300,000 for the remake of Old Fourth Ward's “selfie mecca,” as Atlanta Downtown Improvement District kicked off the bidding process for a construction company to implement changes on the bridge and nearby streets. Still, the miniature park on current vehicle lanes—or “parklet”—hasn’t broken ground.

The Jackson Street Bridge has emerged as one of Atlanta’s most popular destinations for wedding photos, Insta posts, The Walking Dead tourism, and anything else involving skyline photography. Let’s hope it becomes a more pleasant experience for anyone on foot, bike, scooter, et cetera in 2025.

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6. Continued condo development in Buckhead

Yes, for most hardworking Atlantans, projects such as The Dillion Buckhead and The Charles are the antithesis of affordable housing, with prices for remaining unsold homes sniffing a million bucks—and way up.

But they stand as proof of concept that stacks of for-sale condominiums—as opposed to apartments exclusively for rent—can still be viable in Atlanta. Especially if the location, amenities, and other factors are right.  

Condos can be a sound way for first-time Atlanta buyers to build equity. For neighborhoods to infuse themselves with pedestrian vibrancy. And to quickly build a base of people with real financial stakes in the city. So win, win, win.

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7. Link between Georgia State University and Beltline

Imagine hopping on a bike or e-scooter at Georgia State University and zipping off southward to the Beltline in just under three miles, without fear of being crushed by cars. As part of a windfall of federal grants in February, the U.S. Transportation Department awarded the City of Atlanta $30 million to make that a reality, though no timeline for construction was specified.

The safe streets initiative calls for transforming two traffic corridors where vehicle accidents are common, Pryor Street and Central Avenue, to act as connections between downtown and the Beltline’s Southside Trail. 

Heading south, the safety improvements would start near Woodruff Park and numerous GSU buildings, cross over Memorial Drive, and head under interstates before meeting the Beltline at Milton Avenue—near a recent explosion of residential development. Safety upgrades along that route call for bike lanes, crosswalk lighting, roadway reconfigurations, medians, safer speed limits, and rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, among other changes.

For the sake of alternate transportation and recreation, let’s do that ASAP.

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8. Falcons undefeated season

Sorry, that’s the leftover NYE bourbon talking.

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9. More street life in Midtown

Yes, Midtown is a shinning beacon of hope for urbanists far and wide. Cranes have long filled the skies as small-scale greenspace projects such as the 10th Street Temporary Park, Commercial Row Commons, and the new Art Walk segment provide respite from the urban grind for a district that packed on 2,200 more residences last year alone.

Nonetheless, far too many streets are still pockmarked with vacant retail, parking lots, and cleared but idle development sites for a place that strives to be the benchmark for Atlanta’s walkable, cosmopolitan growth.

Maybe these gaps will start to noticeably fill in 2025. (Here’s looking at you, the 4-acre tomb of failed No. 2 Opus Place.)

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10. Better connectivity to Westside Park

While the Beltline’s completed Westside Trail segments and its downtown spur trail are glorious additions in terms of off-street connectivity, they still leave something to be desired when it comes to accessing the city’s largest greenspace. Maybe that’ll start to change this year.

During a bike tour four years ago, PATH Foundation officials said discussions were underway with owners of active railroad property adjacent to Westside Park about potentially building a bridge over rail lines. Doing so would create a direct link between the greenspace jewel, the Beltline, and downtown. And it would help keep bicyclists in the area out of busy roadways. Unfortunately, not much about those bridge ambitions has been shared publicly since.

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