DOT mulls developers' plans for downtown ‘gulch'

Print
E-mail

By Rachel Tobin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Three development teams have turned in ideas for redeveloping part of downtown Atlanta into a transit hub and commercial district.

Enlarge photo

Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com The below-street-level area of parking lots and railroad tracks is the potential site of a long-discussed transit hub.

Enlarge photo

A Norfolk Southern train travels past the Mitchell Street bridge, in front of the Norfolk Southern building in “the Gulch.” The railroad has been trying to sell the building for 11 years. Demand for the commercial real estate that is envisioned as the way to pay for a multi-modal transit station in the area is one of the large questions about the project, which remains in the talking stages.

Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com A Norfolk Southern train travels past the Mitchell Street bridge, in front of the Norfolk Southern building in “the Gulch.” The railroad has been trying to sell the building for 11 years. Demand for the commercial real estate that is envisioned as the way to pay for a multi-modal transit station in the area is one of the large questions about the project, which remains in the talking stages.

Enlarge photo

Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com A railroad track runs under Spring Street in the Gulch, on the level of Atlanta’s early streets in the 1800s.

Developers picked for downtown Gulch

More business news

The Georgia Department of Transportation released summaries of the proposals Friday. They are part of the process to choose a master developer of a terminal to link buses, streetcars, commuter trains and inter-city rail, with a greenbelt and commercial-residential area above.

The DOT wants to attract private developers and money to build the project. The development team proposals mark the first major movement in the long-discussed plan to redevelop the “Gulch,” a tangle of parking lots and train tracks between the Five Points MARTA station and the CNN Center area.

DOT staff and advisors are expected to announce a preferred development team on Monday. Then, public hearings will be held before the DOT board votes on the choice in May.

Here are the proposal highlights:

*Atlanta-based Jacoby Development (of Atlantic Station fame), with Chicago’s John Buck Co. and other partners propose a "Capital Center,” with a grassy public square, a glass transit station and a tall tower with views of Centennial Olympic Park. They were the only ones to submit a drawing.

*Atlanta-based H.J. Russell and The Dawson Co., with Houston-based Hines and other partners, also propose an iconic tower, terminal and open space. They would give Martin Luther King Jr. Drive “a new level of importance."

*Atlanta-based Cousins Properties and The Integral Group with Forest City Enterprises and other partners, revealed less detail in their executive summary, with no specifics other than a transit station below ground and a mixed-used development above “driven by the market.”

To view the executive summaries, go to: http://www.dot.state.ga.us/. For updates on this and other real estate stories, follow us on Twitter.