Category: Downtown Development

Images: Old CNN Studios to morph into 'The Looking Glass' downtown

The studios where CNN once broadcast to the world are about to get a tea party, a rabbit hole, and room for a thousand guests at a time.

Rendering of The Looking Glass, an Alice in Wonderland-themed venue planned for the former CNN Studios at The CTR

The CTR keeps getting stranger — in the best way. The newest tenant announced for CP Group's 1.2-million-square-foot remake of the former CNN Center is The Looking Glass, an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed immersive social destination planned for the old CNN Studios space at 190 Marietta Street, overlooking Centennial Olympic Park.

Created and operated by AMP Up1 Hospitality, the concept will sprawl across roughly 38,000 square feet on multiple levels, with capacity for more than 1,000 guests at once. The format is choose-your-own-adventure: distinct themed "chapters" designed, in the operators' words, to reward curiosity and remind people what it feels like to play again. One pass unlocks everything, and the pitch promises no two nights — or people — leave the same.

AMP Up1 head Josh Rossmeisl isn't underselling it, calling The Looking Glass "the defining project" of a 30-year career. Construction begins once the World Cup wraps, with a debut targeted for the second quarter of 2027 and operating hours running late morning into the evening.

The context makes this more than a novelty announcement. The CTR officially opened to the public in mid-June with an 11-concept food hall and the largest bar in Atlanta, and a Mastro's Ocean Club is on the tenant roster. Where the building once produced 24-hour cable news, it's now assembling a full day-to-night entertainment stack directly on the park.

For downtown, the significance is in the category: this isn't another restaurant or office lease. It's destination entertainment — the kind of anchor that gives visitors a reason to cross the street after the game, the convention, or the concert lets out. Wonderland, it turns out, has a Marietta Street address.

Original reporting: Urbanize Atlanta (June 18, 2026)

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