Ten days out from Atlanta's first FIFA World Cup match, the downtown core sounds like a job site. Crews are still finishing hotel lobbies, restaurants, and public-realm work meant to be ready before the June 15 opener.
The most visible transformation is in South Downtown, where SoDo Atlanta LLC's ~$140 million restoration of historic blocks is meeting a hard deadline. Jon Birdsong, spokesperson for South Downtown, framed the sprint to Atlanta News First in unmistakably Atlanta terms: "It's the 1995 World Series. Marquis Grissom is going after the ball in the air and we have to catch it and we have to celebrate. That's where we are right now."
Near Centennial Yards, a "Pinch Me, It's Real" billboard has become a running joke about the pace. Cosm — the immersive sports-and-entertainment venue on Centennial Olympic Park Drive — is set to host a private grand opening on Friday. At the former CNN Center, now branded The CTR, tenants are targeting an opening wave next week.
Restaurateurs are counting hours. Alan Raines, whose El Tesoro restaurant is opening in South Downtown, joked to reporters that his team had told people last week they'd be ready by "May 43rd." The 34-day tournament is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to metro Atlanta and put a global spotlight on how well the recent downtown investment holds up under real crowds.
City leaders, developers, and business owners have been careful to say the pace reflects years of planning finally landing on schedule, not last-minute panic. The bet is that the pre-World Cup investment — hotels, restaurants, hospitality venues, adaptive-reuse residential, public-realm improvements — leaves a downtown that still works after the tournament ends.
Original reporting: Atlanta News First (June 5, 2026)