On March 26, 2024, the Centennial Yards Company unveiled its sports and entertainment district — an eight-acre, 480,000-square-foot phase of the $5 billion development rising on the site formerly known as The Gulch, directly across from Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena. The announcement transformed what had been a vague promise about downtown Atlanta's largest undeveloped parcel into a specific, construction-ready plan with a World Cup deadline.
The district, designed by Gensler and inspired by downtown Atlanta's industrial heritage, includes four major components: a three-story, 70,000-square-foot immersive dining and entertainment venue; a four-story, 160,000-square-foot building designed for a single entertainment tenant; a two-story, 50,000-square-foot food and beverage retail building; and a 14-story, 233-room hotel. A fan gathering plaza would serve as the centerpiece during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, giving the stadium district an outdoor activation space it had never had.
Construction Timeline
Construction on the sports and entertainment district was set to begin in June 2024. Brian McGowan, president of Centennial Yards Company, said the developer aimed to have two-thirds of the district either complete or under construction by the time World Cup matches arrived at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the summer of 2026. The timeline was aggressive — but the World Cup created the kind of immovable deadline that accelerates decision-making at every level of a project.
The sports and entertainment district was not the project's first phase. Two 18-story buildings were already under construction: a 300-unit apartment tower and a 290-room hotel with approximately 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Two additional residential towers were expected to reach completion in 2025.
The Full Vision
At full buildout over the next decade, Centennial Yards is projected to deliver 4 million square feet of retail, hotel, and office space alongside 4 million square feet of residential apartments. The scale is difficult to overstate — the development would effectively create a new neighborhood in the heart of downtown Atlanta, filling a void that had defined the western edge of the central business district for decades.
The Gulch — the below-grade rail yard and parking district bounded by Centennial Olympic Park Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and the stadium district — had been the subject of redevelopment proposals for years. CIM Group, the Los Angeles-based real estate firm behind Centennial Yards, acquired the site and secured public financing through a controversial tax allocation district that generated intense debate at City Hall. The sports and entertainment district announcement represented the moment when that financing began producing visible results.
What It Means for Game Day
The sports and entertainment district addresses a gap that anyone who has attended an event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium or State Farm Arena has experienced: there is almost nothing to do within walking distance before or after the game. The surrounding blocks are dominated by parking lots, rail infrastructure, and the backside of the Georgia World Congress Center. Centennial Yards — and this district in particular — is designed to turn the stadium area from a destination you drive to into a neighborhood you spend an evening in.
For the 2026 World Cup, the fan plaza and surrounding venues will give Atlanta something that most American host cities cannot offer: a walkable, purpose-built entertainment district immediately adjacent to the stadium, connected to MARTA and embedded in a downtown that will be hosting the world.
Original reporting by Georgia Public Broadcasting, March 26, 2024.