The day has come. Centennial Yards has its first new skyscraper.
People for decades could only peer into downtown Atlanta’s Gulch and wonder if anything but pigeons could ever rise from its depths.
But on Thursday, a crowd of Atlanta leaders didn’t look down. They instead craned their necks up to see a 19-story tower rising above the surrounding sea of parking lots and rail lines.
A grand opening ceremony christened the completion of a 304-unit luxury apartment tower called the Mitchell, the first newly constructed building finished as part of the Gulch’s $5 billion reimagining called Centennial Yards. It’s a sight some never thought they’d see.
“We’re actually opening our first brand-new building in the Gulch, which a lot of people thought would never happen,” said Brian McGowan, CEO of Centennial Yards. “This is a historic day.”
The Gulch’s crater of concrete below downtown’s viaducts has enticed Atlanta leaders and developers for generations, but it presented a plethora of logistical challenges. As venues like Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena rose along its borders, the Gulch remained a sunken hole that only came alive for weekend football tailgates.
A partnership between California developer CIM Group and investors led by Atlanta Hawks owner Antony Ressler promised nearly a decade ago to change that. They unveiled the Centennial Yards project, a mini-city populated by apartment towers, office buildings, hotels and a new surrounding street grid.
Atlanta leaders in 2018 approved an incentive package potentially valued at up to $1.9 billion — the largest in city history — to support the project. McGowan said the Mitchell is proof the developer plans to deliver its promises.
“It feels good to be standing in a building that was a hole in the ground just two years ago,” he said. “Now it’s this beautiful building that is transforming downtown Atlanta.”
Despite being the face of Atlanta, downtown has struggled in recent decades to remain vibrant. This was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic emptying office buildings and shuttering many of the area’s retailers. Building new housing downtown is widely seen by city leaders as a necessary step to replace the activity once brought only by office commuters.
Courtney English, the interim chief of staff for Mayor Andre Dickens, said other downtown developers and stakeholders are looking to Centennial Yards for inspiration.
“All the folks who are investing in downtown are doing it following (Centennial Yards),” he said. “They’re following the lead of CIM.”
The Mitchell offers a mix of studios and units ranging from one bedroom to three bedrooms. Unit sizes vary from 434 square feet to nearly 1,550 square feet, and monthly rents range from $1,450 to $5,753.
It offers a slate of high-end amenities that includes a rooftop pool with an event lawn, a fitness center, a coworking space, a club lounge and a pet spa. The building also includes about 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, including a Thai tapas restaurant called Khao Thai Isan. Additional retail and dining operators are expected to be announced in the coming months, the developer said.
The building’s opulence — and ritzy monthly rent prices — prompted some pushback in 2024 when the developer opted to pay an $8.5 million fee to the city rather than reserve units at affordable rents.
Atlanta’s incentive agreement required the developer to either reserve a fifth of all newly built residential units at subsidized rents or pay an in-lieu fee to forgo that requirement. Centennial Yards chose the latter, saying at the time it plans to add new affordable units at future towers.
Centennial Yards’ first completed building was the adaptive reuse of the historic Southern Railway freight depot and office building. Now called The Lofts at Centennial Yards South, the building features 162 apartments, creative office space and retail space called the Canyon that includes brewery Wild Leap.
Six other new buildings are under construction at Centennial Yards. Those include a boutique hotel called the Phoenix and an 8-acre entertainment district centered around a 5,300-seat entertainment venue leased to Live Nation Entertainment and a Cosm immersive technology theater.
Another boutique hotel is poised to break ground by the end of the year along Elliott Street, McGowan said. A land disturbance permit filing for the 141-room hotel was filed earlier this week.
McGowan said the past few years of site acquisition, entitlement, design, permitting and financing have set the stage for the forthcoming wave of construction, which promises to remake Atlanta’s most well-known hole.
“Lining up all that (preparation work) was to get to a point where we’re not only building but have momentum,” he said. “And it really feels like we have momentum.”
About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
