ATLANTA — The estimated 80,000 World Cup visitors who flooded Atlanta’s South Downtown district are gone, but developers and business owners say the neighborhood’s transformation is far from over.
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Walking through the area near Mercedes-Benz Stadium at lunchtime this week, restaurants remained busy, construction crews were still at work and new businesses were preparing to open.
The neighborhood’s developers have invested more than $140 million into the area, converting long-vacant buildings into apartments, retail shops and restaurants in the years leading up to the World Cup.
“We have decades and decades of work and development to do,” South Downtown CEO Jon Birdsong said. “We couldn’t get it all in for the World Cup, and now it’s all about just pacing.”
The changes are dramatic compared with just two years ago, when many of the buildings were boarded up and large portions of the area were parking lots.
But a key question remains: What happens now that the World Cup crowds have disappeared?
“The headline in the newspaper was ‘on pause.’ Are you on pause?” Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray asked Birdsong.
“Zero pause,” he responded.
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One of the latest projects to come online is a renovated 1899 department store building that now includes 26 apartments. Birdsong said six units have already been leased, with residents beginning to move in last week.
“It’s just incremental growth all day, every day,” Birdsong said.
Marcus Orfield moved his leather goods manufacturer, KMM & Company, to South Downtown in May.
“We plan on being here for at least 10 years, that’s what we signed on for,” Orfield said.
Atlanta technology Investor David Cummings acquired more than 50 buildings from a German investor who had begun renovating them before financial troubles led to bankruptcy.
Unlike many large-scale developments, South Downtown’s owners say they are not relying on major loans or Wall Street financing.
“There’s no debt. We’re going to be patient. We’re going to be methodical,” Birdsong said.
That strategy means projects will continue to be renovated and opened gradually as existing spaces fill. South Downtown recently laid off four employees following the World Cup buildup as it shifts to what developers describe as a more sustainable operating model.
“Now we’re moving from build at all costs to get ready for this to maximize operational efficiency,” Birdsong said.
Currently, only about 15% of the district’s 1 million square feet of space has been built out and occupied.
Developers say future projects will depend on demand. As apartment buildings fill and businesses stabilize, they plan to move forward with additional renovations.
They also believe the area’s location near the Fulton County Courthouse, the federal courthouse and a major federal office building will help sustain the restaurants and businesses that opened ahead of the World Cup.
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