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Large swath of downtown Atlanta hits open market. Any big ideas? Josh Green Tue, 09/10/2024 - 15:36 A substantial swath of downtown Atlanta where mega-project dreams recently went bust is back on the open market, with sellers hoping to capitalize on the cachet of what they’re calling downtown’s “Ring of Fire.”

Atlanta-based investment firm SSG Realty Partners has listed for sale a 10-acre redevelopment site at the intersection of Ted Turner Drive and Whitehall Street in South Downtown, situated just north of Interstate 20.

The property is where an ambitious, multi-block proposal called Forge Atlanta gained momentum two years ago before tumbling into foreclosure.

That Urbantec Development Partners project—initially called Artisan Yards—was envisioned as a state-of-the-art, life sciences-focused replacement for underused industrial property just east of Castleberry Hill.

The 10-acre site where Ted Turner Drive meets Whitehall Street in the broader context of downtown. Courtesy of SSG Realty Partners

Cancelled plans for Forge Atlanta, looking east toward Summerhill. Courtesy of Urbantec Development Partners

The site was formerly the distribution center for Gourmet Foods International, which relocated to a larger facility in Decatur several years ago, setting the stage for redevelopment that has yet to find footing.

GFI has hired SSG Realty Partners to sell the old distribution center property. Reps tell Urbanize Atlanta the asking price is $86 per square foot. The property owner is listed as McCall Railroad LLC, which was the lender for the Forge Atlanta project.

The acreage is immediately south of the former Gulch property where CIM Group’s Centennial Yards has begun transforming a 50-acre slice of downtown with new ground-up development. Atlanta Ventures’ South Downtown holdings and renovation endeavors are just north of the site, and sellers note other walkable attractions in the area including Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena, and the Reverb by Hard Rock Hotel.

An SSG announcement calls the area downtown’s “Ring of Fire” and “one of the most dynamic development corridors in the Southeastern U.S.,” in that it’s undergoing more than $10 billion in investment, per the sellers’ estimates.

“This site offers an unparalleled redevelopment opportunity in one of the most active and rapidly evolving areas of downtown Atlanta,” Peyton Stinson, SSG’s director of residential land group, said in the announcement. “[D]evelopers have a unique chance to shape the future of this vibrant, high-growth district.”

Closer look at the acreage in question, just north of Interstate 20. Courtesy of SSG Realty Partners

How the 10-acre Forge Atlanta project could have lorded over I-20, as seen looking west, toward West End.Courtesy of Urbantec Development Partners

The 10-acre property was purchased by Urbantec for $26 million in early 2021, before going back to its lender early last year.

The vision called for Forge Atlanta, once fully built, to span some 3.8 million square feet.

Included in that mix would have been 1.2 million square feet of residential space, offices, a hotel, an entertainment venue, and a new hub for Atlanta’s life sciences sector. (That scope, for context, would have more than doubled the size of State Farm’s three-tower regional headquarters in Dunwoody, another transit-connected development near major Atlanta highways.)

Forge Atlanta’s former site plan, illustrating possible building arrangements, uses, and a potential “Highline” pedestrian bridge link to Castleberry Hill. Urbantec Development Partners; designs, Nelson Wakefield Beasley & Associates; via Office of Zoning and Development/submitted

According to early site plans, Forge Atlanta would have erected seven buildings around a central plaza, with a potential pedestrian bridge spanning active railroad lines to Castleberry Hill. Virtually all of the site, as designers noted, has quick access to MARTA’s Garnett station and Interstate 20.

So, Atlanta: now what?

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