Atlanta News

From the Saporta Report:

At a joint meeting of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) board and the Transportation and Air Quality Committee (TAQC) on Wednesday, board members voted to approve an amendment to the ARC’s regional transportation plans, which adds about $207 million to the budget for transportation projects around the metro area.  The action applies to the ARC’s […]

The post ARC board approves amendment to transportation plans, discusses uncertain status of federal grants for local priority housing projects appeared first on SaportaReport.

From WABE Arts and Culture News:

There are no limits to what Althea Holmes can do. However, she’s spent much of her life navigating a world that often underestimates what’s possible for people with rare conditions. Holmes, […]

From the Saporta Report:

At the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) board meeting on Wednesday, the ARC announced its 2025 awards for Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) grants and the recipients of this year’s Community Development Assistance Program (CDAP).  Six LCI planning studies will be funded through more than $1 million in grants from ARC to make metro area communities more […]

The post ARC awards 2025 Livable Centers Initiative grants, announces Community Development Assistance Program recipients appeared first on SaportaReport.

Report: 'Downtown' ATL among national leaders in post-pandemic apartment construction Josh Green Thu, 05/15/2025 - 14:13

Few places in the United States have swelled with new apartment construction like intown Atlanta since the pandemic, a new analysis using Yardi Matrix data has found. 

Core Atlanta subdistricts have stood out during a recent nationwide slowdown in apartment building, tallying more than 11,000 new rental units in projects that have beefed up and transformed the Midtown skyline and parts of downtown, according to national apartment search platform RentCafe. 

The wave of new apartment options appears to be the highest Atlanta has seen over the past three decades, according to the analysis. 

Those findings were part of RentCafe’s new Downtown Construction Report that examined the 50 largest U.S. cities, with a goal of spotlighting places making big bets on urban revival with new-construction and adaptive-reuse rentals. 

Many of the Midtown high-rise rentals shown here in December 2022 delivered last year, continuing a multifamily boom. Urbanize Atlanta

The Yardi Matrix data was limited to buildings with 50 units or more through January this year. But it stretched back for 35 years—to 1990, when Atlanta was a vastly different place. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Midtown and downtown Atlanta had completed 11,130 apartments—bested only by the downtowns of Washington D.C., Chicago, and Denver, respectively, per the analysis.  

Analysts also found that apartment construction in Atlanta exploded after another calamity, the Great Recession, as nearly 16,000 units were finished in the 2010s. (Talk about resurgens.) That tally was twice as many as the previous decade—and five times what Atlanta saw in the 1990s, per RentCafe. 

It’s important to note that intown apartment hot zones such as Buckhead, Atlantic Station, and Old Fourth Ward were excluded from the tally, according to a breakdown of zip codes provided to Urbanize Atlanta.  

Breakdown of the five zip codes considered in the RentCafe analysis—30303, 30308, 30309, 30312, and 30313—stretching across Midtown, West Midtown, and downtown. USmapguide.com

Another interesting finding: The share of adaptive-reuse apartments—that is, older buildings being converted to residential units—dropped in Atlanta from 7.5 percent in the 2010s to 1.5 percent after 2020. 

But with more than 2,000 office-to-apartment units in Atlanta’s pipeline, the forecast says that could change soon.

Washington D.C., the leading city for the sheer number of downtown apartments finished between 2020 and 2024, tallied nearly 23,000 units, more than double what Midtown and downtown saw, per the analysis. 

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Breakdown of the five zip codes considered in the RentCafe analysis—30303, 30308, 30309, 30312, and 30313—stretching across Midtown, West Midtown, and downtown. USmapguide.com

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Subtitle More than 11,000 new rental units completed in city’s core over past five years, analysis finds

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From the Saporta Report:

 A question remains in light of the dangerous conditions families endured at a now-shuttered Roswell hotel — and after cries for help at a similarly troubled apartment complex in College Park: How did we get here? “More than 100 rooms were occupied at the Economy Hotel when Roswell officials moved to shut it down last […]

The post Shuttered hotel exposes the trap between unsafe housing and homelessness appeared first on SaportaReport.

From WABE Arts and Culture News:

Beyoncé may not be heading to Atlanta until July, but her fashion style can already be found across various Goodwill locations in metro Atlanta. The thrift store chain on May […]

From WABE Politics News:

Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch on Thursday launched his campaign for lieutenant governor, becoming the latest Republican to say he would model his candidacy on President Donald Trump. Burt […]

From WABE Arts and Culture News:

The heart of American jazz beats in Atlanta every year at Piedmont Park, in one of the biggest free jazz festivals in the country. This year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival boasts […]

From WABE Politics News:

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation on Wednesday setting up statewide regulations of vehicle booting. Vehicle booting occurs when a company uses a device, often a metal clamp around the […]

From WABE Politics News:

A pregnant woman in Georgia was declared brain-dead after a medical emergency and has been kept on life support for three months by doctors to allow enough time for the […]

From the Saporta Report:

Centennial Yards Selects Live Nation to Operate Downtown Atlanta’s Newest Iconic Entertainment Venue Photo renderings courtesy of Centennial Yards Company. Centennial Yards Company announced that it has executed a long-term lease with Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company, to bring a new live music and entertainment venue to the heart of Downtown Atlanta. […]

The post Reporter’s Notebook: Centennial Yards new Downtown ATL entertainment venue, AgLanta Grown, AWARE Wildlife Night Owl 5K, Petals and Poses yoga experience appeared first on SaportaReport.

Arts Atlanta:

The Atlanta Fringe Festival is back,  once again throwing open the doors for the weird, the wonderful and the occasional wtf?! Since 2012, the unjuried, lottery-based fest has made space for everything from refined, sharply produced showcases to scrappy passion projects held together with duct tape and a dream. With more than 400 showtimes across...

From WABE Local News:

Commissioners in Coweta County have voted to pause data center-related development for nearly six months. The move is meant to give the commission time to sort out zoning ordinances for […]

Arts Atlanta:

Atlanta Symphony bassist Michael Kurth and his neighbors got started the way so many rock groups do, as friends looking for something fun to do. :: Acclaimed composer and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra bassist Michael Kurth is kicking my ass at a game of pool. We’re at Laseter’s Tavern to discuss his upcoming May 21 concert...

From WABE Politics News:

Walmart’s first-quarter profit slipped, and it said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump. There are over 180 Walmart locations in Georgia. […]

Arts Atlanta:

The multidisciplinary Israeli artist and writer creates a space where unexpected candor and connections can be formed. :: Jason Danino Holt doesn’t perform your grandmother’s traditional theater. For the last four months, the Israeli multidisciplinary artist and writer has been a visiting artist-in-residence at The Breman, doing workshops and lectures around the metro area in...

From WABE Politics News:

BEIJING (AP) — The new U.S. ambassador to China, former senator and business executive David Perdue, arrived in Beijing on Thursday, just days after China and the U.S. agreed to […]

For lonesome Grant Park building, it's back to square one after grocer bails Josh Green Thu, 05/15/2025 - 09:00

An architecturally striking building in one of Atlanta’s most celebrated parks that’s sat empty during three different presidential terms will reportedly remain that way for the near future. 

After nearly a year without construction progress, the city’s pick to fill the Grant Park Gateway project’s retail portion, Savi Provisions, is officially out, as the AJCfirst reported.  

The city’s Departments of Procurement and Parks and Recreation picked the gourmet grocer in June over two other concepts vying to fill the entire 7,000-square-foot Gateway space. The distinctive building, officially opened in January 2021, overlooks a 2.5-acre park atop a parking garage, crowning a space that city leaders have described as “iconic.” 

The city council approved Savi’s selection last fall. But nearby residents and officials including city councilmember Jason Winston, whose District 1 covers Grant Park, have more recently expressed frustrations at Savi’s lack of construction progress and transparency. Months after Savi had won the Gateway sweepstakes, the company still hadn’t signed a lease, stymying the process of building out the voluminous space next to Zoo Atlanta, as Winston told Urbanize Atlanta earlier this year. 

News that city officials were cutting bait with Savi came during a Community Development/Human Resources Committee meeting Tuesday. The committee voted to endorse an alternate Gateway plan put together by Terminus Commercial Real Estate Partners that had initially lost out to Savi, a quickly growing regional grocery chain. But the Terminus selection will still have to be approved by the full Atlanta City Council, and when it might open isn’t known, the newspaper reports. 

The 2.5-acre park space in relation to the restaurant structure. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Terminus’ submitted plan for the Gateway space was called “Gateway Park and Market.” 

The team included Terminus, an Atlanta-based CRE firm, alongside Kraig Torres, owner of alcohol purveyor Hopcity, and Mike Walbert, a longtime Atlanta event curator. Their concept called for a micro food hall “foodie destination” and “cultural experience” that leans heavily into public programming and capitalizes on proximity to Zoo Atlanta.

A Department of Parks and Recreation official said this week Terminus is planning three fresh food vendors for the space, plus a grab-and-go market, coffee and tea options, a full-service bar, and a deli counter, among other aspects, per the AJC. 

Founded in 2009, Savi counts locations in North Carolina and 16 stores across metro Atlanta, spanning from the airport to Howell Mill Road, Decatur, and Brookhaven to the Crabapple district in Milton. It’s known for its wine selection and organic foods.

The third finalist was Rease Group Holdings Inc., an Atlanta-based company led by CEO Andy Rease and founded in 2010. Few details about that idea were publicly divulged.

Winston has said no public funds or other incentives were used to entice Savi or its competitors to lease the Gateway space.

The spacious interior of the Gateway building, as seen in early 2021, looks largely the same today. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Invest Atlanta has approved more than $8 million to help Savi open two other locations in what city leaders have classified as food deserts: the former Walgreen’s space near Woodruff Park downtown and another in Cascade. A Savi company official recently told the AJChe’s struggled to obtain liability insurance for new stores in areas considered economically distressed.

Savi’s buildout of the Gateway space was expected to have taken about six months. 

The $48-million Gateway project replaced a parking lot with the park-topped garage, finishing construction in 2020 but officially opening in January 2021. The following year, it earned the Atlanta Urban Design Commission’s Award of Excellence for sustainable design. 

City officials took ownership of the Gateway space from the Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority two years after it’d opened, which project leaders called a key first step in getting it leased and occupied. The city’s first Request for Proposals issued in February 2023, however, didn’t attract a single bid from prospective tenants. Department of Procurement officials blamed that on rising construction costs spurred by inflation and increased interest rates.

The second stab at an RFP, issued in February last year, was a more detailed pitch to businesses that could fill such a large space. It called for a single enterprise to create a Gateway concept that would “increase the property value of the neighborhood [and] improve the area’s livability.”

Will that finally happen soon? Only time will tell. 

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• Grant Park news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

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Subtitle Report: Savi Provisions is officially out, and long saga to fill Gateway structure continues

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From WABE Politics News:

Last summer, as political debate swirled over the future of Georgia’s experiment with Medicaid work requirements, Gov. Brian Kemp held a press conference to unveil a three-minute testimonial video featuring […]

From the Atlanta Daily World:

Photo: Getty Images A 12-foot bronze statue of a Black woman erected in Times Square sparked a flurry of racist reactions online. The statue, found in the middle of New York’s Times Square, was created by artist Thomas J. Price as part of a series called “Grounded in the Stars,” which organizers said confronts preconceived … Continued

The post 12-Foot Bronze Statue Of Black Woman In Times Square Sparks MAGA Fury appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.

From the Atlanta Daily World:

Photo: Getty Images Black women lost more jobs than other demographics in April, highlighting the effects of the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion, according to a report. While the overall unemployment rate for April 2025 remained stagnant, Black women lost 38,000 jobs and their unemployment increased by 106,000, data from the … Continued

The post Black Women Lost Most Jobs Among All Workers In April: Report appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.

From the Atlanta Daily World:

Photo: John Ewing For Omaha Democrat John Ewing. Jr. pulled off a historic upset in the race for mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. On Tuesday (May 13), Ewing, the Douglass County Treasurer, defeated Republican incumbent Jean Stothert, who was campaigning for her fourth term as mayor, per Newsweek. Ewing has now made history as Omaha’s first … Continued

The post John Ewing Jr. Ousts GOP Incumbent To Become Omaha’s First Black Mayor appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.

From WABE Local News:

This story was updated on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at 8:12 p.m. Georgia prosecutors in the sweeping racketeering case against activists opposed to Atlanta’s public safety training center say they […]

From the Atlanta Daily World:

MAY 14 1885—Erskine Henderson, an African American jockey, wins the Kentucky Derby on “Joe Cotton”—a horse trained by Alex Perry—an Af­rican American trainer. Henderson was the sixth Black jockey to win the coveted race. Indeed, Black jockeys and trainers dominated the Kentucky Derby from 1875 to 1902. However, while some of the reasons are not … Continued

The post This Week In Black History May 14-20, 2025 appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.

From WABE Politics News:

Dozens of Kennesaw State University students and others gathered outside University System of Georgia offices in Atlanta Wednesday to ask the Board of Regents not to eliminate majors in Black […]