Ten acres of South Downtown are back on the open market, and the pitch leans hard on the neighbors. Atlanta-based investment firm SSG Realty Partners has listed the redevelopment site at Ted Turner Drive and Whitehall Street, just north of Interstate 20, at an asking price of $86 per square foot.
This is where Forge Atlanta was supposed to go. That project, from Urbantec Development Partners and initially called Artisan Yards, gained real momentum two years ago before tumbling into foreclosure. The property was previously the distribution center for Gourmet Foods International, which moved to a larger facility in Decatur several years ago. GFI hired SSG to sell it. The listed owner is McCall Railroad LLC, the lender on the failed project.
The scale of what was planned explains why the site keeps drawing attention. Forge Atlanta was envisioned at roughly 3.8 million square feet across seven buildings arranged around a central plaza, including 1.2 million square feet of residential, offices, a hotel, an entertainment venue, and a hub for Atlanta's life sciences sector. Site plans included a potential pedestrian bridge over active rail lines connecting to Castleberry Hill. Urbantec paid $26 million for the land in early 2021 and handed it back to its lender early last year.
SSG's marketing calls the area downtown's “Ring of Fire” and “one of the most dynamic development corridors in the Southeastern U.S.,” citing more than $10 billion in investment by the sellers' estimate. “This site offers an unparalleled redevelopment opportunity in one of the most active and rapidly evolving areas of downtown Atlanta,” said Peyton Stinson, SSG's director of residential land group. “Developers have a unique chance to shape the future of this vibrant, high-growth district.”
The geography backs that up more than most such listings do. The acreage sits immediately south of the former Gulch, where CIM Group's Centennial Yards is remaking 50 acres, with Atlanta Ventures' South Downtown holdings just north. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena, and the Reverb by Hard Rock Hotel are all within walking distance, and MARTA's Garnett station and I-20 access are close at hand.
What the listing does not resolve is the question that sank the last attempt: a site this large needs a buyer with the capital and patience to build several buildings at once, in a submarket that has spent a decade producing more renderings than construction. The land is well positioned. It has been well positioned for a while.
Original reporting by Josh Green for Urbanize Atlanta, published September 2024.
