The red crane that has stood over the Waldo's site in Old Fourth Ward for more than two years is coming down, and the sight of it going has understandably prompted worry that a closely watched project is being cancelled before it ever climbed above ground. Officials say that is not what is happening.
According to Peter McGuone, senior vice president with Waldo's Stream Realty leasing team, the site is not being abandoned. It is going through redesign, re-permitting, and repricing after project leaders decided to remove a large office component from the mix, at least for now. The crane is being taken down to control costs and is expected to be erected again in early 2025.
The first foundational phase — construction of an underground parking garage — is finished. The second phase still calls for a 170-key Motto by Hilton on the portion of the site closest to Edgewood Avenue. But with the office piece shelved, the hotel had to re-enter the design process before it could move forward.
“The office component will be left for future development,” McGuone said, “as the office market recovers.” What is being deferred is a 119,000-square-foot, six-story mass-timber office building planned for where Boulevard meets Gartrell Street — the kind of building that looked like a sure thing when the project was conceived and looks like a very different proposition now.
Waldo's held a festive ceremonial groundbreaking in November 2019, promising hotel rooms, offices, retail, and townhomes along Boulevard just south of Edgewood Avenue. The pitch was that it would help fill the investment gap between the BeltLine's Eastside Trail and downtown. Then came the pandemic, an economic downturn, and a string of other setbacks.
The project also matters beyond its own block because Motto by Hilton has been trying to enter the Atlanta market through it since before the pandemic. With Waldo's delayed more than three years, a separate Motto proposal has since surfaced at 524 West Peachtree St. Which one opens first is now an open question.
Original reporting by Josh Green for Urbanize Atlanta, published October 2024.