This 4-acre hole in Midtown will become Atlanta’s newest park. Take a look.
It won’t be just another park. It has to be something more.
That’s the mindset driving the Midtown Alliance’s ambitions to transform a 4-acre hole near some of the city’s coveted arts attractions into a flashy public green space. It’s the first time the civic organization has donned a hard hat to develop a part of the urban neighborhood — and it’s a fleeting opportunity.
“It’s very unlikely that we’re going to bulldoze 4 acres of high-rises to build a public park,” said Kevin Green, head of the Midtown Alliance, at the organization’s annual meeting Tuesday at the Fox Theatre. “This is a chance to create one of Atlanta’s next great civic landmarks, a place you go out of your way to experience.”
The organization unveiled several renderings at the meeting to portray its vision for 98 14th St., a derelict plot known as one of Midtown’s biggest eyesores. Using the project name “Midtown Green,” the renderings showcase winding paths, a central performance space, lots of greenery and a design that incorporates the property’s verticality and connection to neighboring skyscrapers.
The site was once pitched as the home of a new symphony hall and later as a trio of residential high-rises, but nothing panned out. Instead, the property found itself on the foreclosure block in 2023.
The park’s concept renderings are likely to evolve as the project progresses, and it’ll be an expensive undertaking. Green declined to provide an estimated project budget. But it cost $46 million to buy the property, and the mantra behind the effort is that this development needs to be something special.
“Nobody remembers the places that played it safe, and nobody goes out of their way to experience the place that’s pretty all right,” Green said. “The biggest risk was thinking too small.”
The renderings were created in partnership with Field Operations, a New York-based design firm that is helming the project’s vision. The company is known for working on New York’s High Line, Chicago’s Navy Pier and other high-profile projects around the globe.
Mayor Andre Dickens told the crowd in a video address that he was impressed when he saw the park’s vision and scope.
“It reminded me of something I love about Atlanta,” he said. “We don’t think small, we make bold moves that shape the future of our great city and Midtown continues to set the pace.”
Sarah Astheimer, partner and design team lead for Field Operations, laid out lofty goals for Midtown Green. She said it’ll be a “cultural venue without walls,” incorporating performance space, gathering areas and art galleries. Outside of Piedmont Park, which borders Midtown to the east, she said the neighborhood’s vibrancy is mostly found indoors.
“Too often, that energy stays inside buildings, and you don’t always feel it in the public realm, on the street, in the everyday experience of the city,” she said. “But with this project, we’ve designed the landscape itself to perform socially, culturally and ecologically as a true civic space for Atlanta.”
The project centers on three main elements: a central performance space, a meandering “art walk” that winds between 14th and 15th streets, and several botanical balconies. It’ll also feature two public restrooms, a cafe, a grab-n-go concession space and other green spaces.
The unkempt property sunken beneath Midtown’s skyscrapers features a grade change that ranges nearly 70 feet across the site. Astheimer said the design had to embrace that imbalance rather than try to flatten the site.
“If (the vertical topography) wasn’t part of the ultimate design, that would be a real missed opportunity,” she said. “It’s such a defining characteristic.”
Midtown Alliance plans to launch a philanthropic capital campaign early next year to finance the project. Green also said any Midtown stakeholder or philanthropist looking to leave their mark on the city — and potentially influence the park’s name — could make that dream a reality.
“If you would like to be a major naming partner and you would like to help us bring this project to life, we would welcome that conversation,” he said.
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.
