Newsroom
Get the story behind the places, faces, and current events shaping the downtownATL district.
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An investment group led by David Cummings and Jon Birdsong is acquiring Newport's South Downtown portfolio — 10 blocks of historic buildings and parking lots — to prevent foreclosure and build an entrepreneurial hub targeting 2026 World Cup milestones.
From the streets of Lagos in "Captain America: Civil War" to the sidewalks of New York in "Avengers: Infinity War," downtown Atlanta's blocks have doubled for cities around the world — earning Georgia the nickname Hollywood of the South.
More than 500 current and former CNN employees gathered at CNN Center in downtown Atlanta to celebrate the network's 43rd anniversary. Founder Ted Turner sent a letter declaring the network's story is far from over.
The College Football Playoff announced that Mercedes-Benz Stadium would host the first national championship game under the new 12-team format on January 20, 2025 — bringing the biggest game in college football to downtown Atlanta.
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta announced a $48 million expansion in 2022 — adding two new wings, a 10,000 square-foot education space, and a permanent home for the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.
Hundreds joined Ambassador Andrew Young for a peace walk from Centennial Olympic Park to Peace Park on March 10, 2022, celebrating the 90th birthday of the civil rights leader, former mayor, and architect of modern Atlanta.
The Georgia Music Accord, co-chaired by Ludacris and entertainment lawyer Joel Katz, launched a campaign to build a Grammy Museum in downtown Atlanta — backed by a $500,000 state-funded feasibility study and a vision to honor the state that produced James Brown, the Allman Brothers, and R.E.M.
WarnerMedia announced in June 2020 that CNN Center — the downtown Atlanta landmark that served as CNN's global headquarters for four decades — would be put on the market.
In 2019, the Metro Atlanta Chamber celebrated 160 years — a span that included founding the city's first business advocacy organization in 1859, landing three Super Bowls, recruiting the third-highest concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters in America, and launching ChooseATL to attract the next generation.
By 2019, Atlanta United was averaging 52,000 fans per game — more than double the MLS average — and ranking in the global top 10 for club attendance. The supporter culture that built that number was as diverse as the city itself.
The Atlanta nonprofit that uses soccer to teach leadership, discipline, and job skills to underserved youth celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2019 — by then operating mini-soccer fields at MARTA stations including Five Points and building what it calls the world's first transit league.
The building at 152 Nassau Street in downtown Atlanta — where Fiddlin' John Carson recorded country music's first major hit in 1923 — faces demolition for a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Resort. Preservationists are fighting to save it.
The Atlanta Hawks announced a 20-year naming rights deal with State Farm, renaming Philips Arena as State Farm Arena. The change accompanied a $192.5 million renovation that transformed the venue into one of the most modern arenas in the NBA.
Cabbagetown grew up around the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill, built by Appalachian families who grew cabbages in their front yards and cooked them in shotgun houses so close together the whole neighborhood smelled like soup.
Castleberry Hill's story begins with bootleggers, political riots, and a merchant named Daniel Castleberry who helped rebuild the neighborhood after it was burned to the ground. Today it's the National Park Service's pick for Atlanta's most complete surviving warehouse district.
