For decades, Atlanta’s downtown core was nicknamed “The Gulch” to describe the undeveloped canyon of railroad tracks, parking lots, and elevated street viaducts. The area is adjacent to professional-league basketball, football, and soccer venues, along with a major convention center.

Historic development patterns have long-divided the city’s central business district from the surrounding neighborhoods, a painful effect of the past’s destructive policies.  

CIM, the development partner of the Atlanta Hawks, tapped us to advise on cost-sharing infrastructure development opportunities as the site transforms into a 50-acre, eight-million-square-foot mixed-use entertainment district known as Centennial Yards. To date, we have secured a $2M federal grant to design a prominent pedestrian plaza and park for the site.