6 Atlanta development stories to watch in 2025

Josh Green

Fri, 01/03/2025 – 14:07

With a new administration on the horizon, the WFH zeitgeist still kicking, and a housing shortage that won’t subside, the arena of real estate development promises to be interesting in 2025.

As always, the City of Atlanta should be knee-deep in it all.

It’s tough to whittle down, with so much happening in so many corners of metro Atlanta. (That’s a good thing.) But below are a half-dozen picks for development stories that should play out in fascinating ways all throughout this brand new year.

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6. The Stitch gets (more) real

After years of big talk and retooled plans, downtown Atlanta’s highway-capping park proposal achieved in recent days what similar concepts in the city have not: It made public an extremely detailed master plan. (Officially it’s a draft version, pending more rounds of public input and Atlanta City Council’s stamp of approval.)

Yes, The Stitch’s initial phase isn’t expected to see actual cranes and bulldozers until sometime in 2026. But the plan for actually putting it together should be set in concrete in coming months. Could it eventually spur Eastside Trail-like private development nearby? Project leaders seem to think so.

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5. More transit—at long last

To the delight of urbanists far and wide, MARTA’s first new transit line since the Sandy Springs MARTA station opened—way back in the year 2000—is scheduled to start rolling this year.

The five-mile bus-rapid transit route—christened MARTA Rapid Summerhill—will link downtown to neighborhoods such as Summerhill and Peoplestown before ending near the Beltline’s Southside Trail (and 11 stories of new affordable housing) at a station called Carver.

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

MARTA officials have said construction on the BRT line and adjacent infrastructure (see above) will wrap up this spring, with passenger service opening later in 2025.

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4. 850 new residences near Piedmont Park

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

If Atlanta’s marquee greenspace starts to feel a bit more populated in 2025, it’ll be no mystery as to why.

Two high-rise residential ventures with three towers total have entered the home stretch of construction in blocks just west of Piedmont Park, expanding the skyline in that section of Midtown.

The first project to start opening, 32-story Modera Parkside, includes 361 apartments (priced from $1,794 monthly) and 3,400 square feet of street retail, about two blocks from the park. Officials with developer Mill Creek Residential have said Modera Parkside is on pace to finish construction in the third quarter of 2025.

Just up the street, the two-tower 1081 Juniper St. project led by Charleston-based developer Middle Street Partners has topped out, with expectations to start opening sometime in early 2025, developers have said.

The larger North tower climbed to 400 feet in 2024, offering 320 units across 37 stories; the South tower topped out at 380 feet, with 34 stories, larger floorplans, and what’s designed to feel more like a boutique offering of only 167 units, the development team has said.

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3. Will Buckhead Village’s growth spurt actually happen?

Remember 2023, when developers’ plans called for Buckhead Village to look like a mini version of Midtown’s crane fest, with more than 1,200 new multifamily residences in the pipeline?

Those plans appear to be in jeopardy as 2025 unfolds.

Of three proposed high-rises steps from the heart of Buckhead Village’s shops and eats, only Chicago-based developer CA Ventures’ 340 East Paces Ferry Road project is under construction. That’s well on its way to stacking up 22 stories with 483 luxury rentals, next door to the Kimpton Sylvan hotel.

Where the 22-story building’s retail is expected to meet East Paces Ferry. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Across the street, another company based in greater Chicago, Harbor Bay Ventures, has planned a 20-story, mixed-use tower that would claim an empty lot and be partially constructed of mass timber. About a block south of that site, New York-based Tidal Real Estate Partners has said it plans to build a 21-story project that would consume nearly a full block of the village. All low-rise properties at that site are currently vacant and boarded up (to the chagrin of some neighbors), awaiting demolition.

But more than a year after they were approved, both of the latter projects have yet to move forward.

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2. A true Atlanta skyscraper’s continued rise

A rough, in-house approximation of how the 730-foot building will stand out among other newer construction near West Peachtree Street. Urbanize Atlanta

We’re borrowing this one from the 2024 outlook, because projects of this scale take time, and the anticipation is more palpable than ever.

Devoted Atlanta development watchers have waited more than 15 years for another high-rise to truly change the city’s skyline. And by all indications, that should start happening in 2025.

With construction cranes standing tall and most wider base floors in place, all signs point to Rockefeller Group’s 60-story skyscraper 1072 West Peachtree making a definitive mark over Midtown this year. The mixed-use venture will be the city’s tallest new building since 1992.

Not since Sovereign Buckhead—a condo tower built in 2008 as the tallest residential building in Georgia history—has one structure promised to make such a visual impact over Atlanta.

West Peachtree Street view of Rockefeller Group’s planned 60-story Midtown project.Rockefeller Group; Brock Hudgins Architects; TVS

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1. Key Beltline pieces on docket

In the grand scheme of things, the Beltline’s 22-mile loop might still be rather choppy, from a functionality standpoint, for at least another year and ½.

But in the near term, Beltline enthusiasts have much to look forward to.

First on the docket, Atlanta Beltline Inc.’s 2025 construction schedule calls for the full opening of Westside Trail Segment 4 sometime this spring. That will create roughly 6.5 miles of contiguous trails between downtown and Pittsburgh Yards, when the Westside Beltline Connector is factored in.

In other words, the ability to use the Beltline to access downtown jobs and attractions from a multitude of Southwest and Westside Atlanta neighborhoods—without ever entering a city street—should become reality this year.

Progress on the 22-mile, multipurpose trail corridor and related projects as of November. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

Following delays caused by issues with underground utilities, the debut of Southside Trail Segments 4 and 5 between Glenwood Park/Grant Park and Boulevard is on tap for this fall. That will provide a connected Beltline route from blocks just south of Zoo Atlanta all the way up to southern Buckhead. Finally.

Also in the offing for this fall is the opening of Northwest Trail Segment 5, a .7-mile section extending toward Buckhead from Marietta Boulevard and Huff Road.

On a related (positive) note, the Beltline opened other key sections of trail in 2024. Those included almost half of Westside Trail Segment 4 and the immediate hit among walkers, joggers, and cyclists that was the Northeast Trail’s full connection through Piedmont Park.

So Happy New Year, ATL. Let’s make this one grand.

…

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• Report: More than 90 percent of Atlanta apartments were rented in 2024 (Urbanize Atlanta)

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6 Atlanta development stories to watch in 2025

Josh Green

Fri, 01/03/2025 – 14:07

With a new administration on the horizon, the WFH zeitgeist still kicking, and a housing shortage that won’t subside, the arena of real estate development promises to be interesting in 2025.

As always, the City of Atlanta should be knee-deep in it all.

…

6. The Stitch gets (more) real

…

5. More transit—at long last

To the delight of urbanists far and wide, MARTA’s first new transit line since the Sandy Springs MARTA station opened—way back in the year 2000—is scheduled to start rolling this year.

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

MARTA officials have said construction on the BRT line and adjacent infrastructure (see above) will wrap up this spring, with passenger service opening later in 2025.

…

4. 850 new residences near Piedmont Park

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

If Atlanta’s marquee greenspace starts to feel a bit more populated in 2025, it’ll be no mystery as to why.

Two high-rise residential ventures with three towers total have entered the home stretch of construction in blocks just west of Piedmont Park, expanding the skyline in that section of Midtown.

…

3. Will Buckhead Village’s growth spurt actually happen?

Remember 2023, when developers’ plans called for Buckhead Village to look like a mini version of Midtown’s crane fest, with more than 1,200 new multifamily residences in the pipeline?

Those plans appear to be in jeopardy as 2025 unfolds.

Where the 22-story building’s retail is expected to meet East Paces Ferry. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Across the street, another company based in greater Chicago, Harbor Bay Ventures, has planned a 20-story, mixed-use tower that would claim an empty lot and be partially constructed of mass timber. About a block south of that site, New York-based Tidal Real Estate Partners has said it plans to build a 21-story project that would consume nearly a full block of the village. All low-rise properties at that site are currently vacant and boarded up (to the chagrin of some neighbors), awaiting demolition.

But more than a year after they were approved, both of the latter projects have yet to move forward.

…

2. A true Atlanta skyscraper’s continued rise

A rough, in-house approximation of how the 730-foot building will stand out among other newer construction near West Peachtree Street. Urbanize Atlanta

We’re borrowing this one from the 2024 outlook, because projects of this scale take time, and the anticipation is more palpable than ever.

Devoted Atlanta development watchers have waited more than 15 years for another high-rise to truly change the city’s skyline. And by all indications, that should start happening in 2025.

With construction cranes standing tall and most wider base floors in place, all signs point to Rockefeller Group’s 60-story skyscraper 1072 West Peachtree making a definitive mark over Midtown this year. The mixed-use venture will be the city’s tallest new building since 1992.

Not since Sovereign Buckhead—a condo tower built in 2008 as the tallest residential building in Georgia history—has one structure promised to make such a visual impact over Atlanta.

West Peachtree Street view of Rockefeller Group’s planned 60-story Midtown project.Rockefeller Group; Brock Hudgins Architects; TVS

…

1. Key Beltline pieces on docket

In the grand scheme of things, the Beltline’s 22-mile loop might still be rather choppy, from a functionality standpoint, for at least another year and ½.

But in the near term, Beltline enthusiasts have much to look forward to.

Progress on the 22-mile, multipurpose trail corridor and related projects as of November. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

Also in the offing for this fall is the opening of Northwest Trail Segment 5, a .7-mile section extending toward Buckhead from Marietta Boulevard and Huff Road.

On a related (positive) note, the Beltline opened other key sections of trail in 2024. Those included almost half of Westside Trail Segment 4 and the immediate hit among walkers, joggers, and cyclists that was the Northeast Trail’s full connection through Piedmont Park.

So Happy New Year, ATL. Let’s make this one grand.

…

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram

• Report: More than 90 percent of Atlanta apartments were rented in 2024 (Urbanize Atlanta)