South Downtown Town Hall Presentation

TOWN HALL MEETING
February 23, 2016
WELCOME!
Kyle Kessler
Center for Civic Innovation
Project Manager - South Downtown
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Cherie Ong
The Creations Group
What is the South Downtown Initiative?
VISION: to build on the area’s historic character and existing assets to create
Atlanta’s most authentic and iconic downtown district – vibrant, connected, and
revitalized with more places to live, play, shop, learn, and work.
MISSION: to advance efforts to develop South Downtown as a vibrant, creative,
equitable, and sustainable commercial district serving businesses, residents, and
visitors to our community.
We are a self-organized group that has been meeting on a regular basis informally
and formally over the last 18 months. In 2015, the South Downtown Initiative (SDI)
became an official program of the Center for Civic Innovation.
Who’s been involved?
Center for Civic Innovation
LAZ Parking
Central Atlanta Progress
Transwestern
Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) Atlanta
Drapac Group
The Creations Group
Weissman, Nowack, Curry & Wilco
Creative Loafing
AGH LLC
The Goat Farm
Core Ventures
Invest Atlanta
Glenbrook Hills Capital
Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta
WRS Inc
Who else has been involved?
Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association
Atlanta Regional Commission
Castleberry Hill Neighborhood Association
Architecture & Design Center
Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) M
#weloveatl
Capitol Hill Neighborhood Development Corp.
We♡BuHi
City of Atlanta
Code for Atlanta
Fulton County
Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD)
State of Georgia
Georgia Institute of Technology
General Services Administration
Maker Faire Atlanta
What we do.
● increase vitality
● change perceptions
● empower local
leadership
● grow investment
Year in Review
Code for
Atlanta
2-day hackathon
20+ volunteers
3 follow-up events
website & survey launched
Discussions on
Underground
Atlanta
2 public talks
200+ attendees
local & national press
National Night
Out
100+ attendees
3 food trucks
Tour After
Tour After
Tour
Ad Club, bicyclists, college
students, developers, editors,
French Consulate, and many
more...
Park(ing) Day
9-hole mini-golf course
10+ restaurants
Best of ATL
est. 3,500+ attendees
150 VIPs
20 installations/performances
2+ inches of rainfall
Small
Developer
Bootcamp
120+ attendees
90 from metro Atlanta
11 other states
Mix & Mingle
120 tickets sold
$5,000+ in funds raised
Press
ArtsATL.com
ATL Urbanist
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Creative Loafing
Curbed
Georgia Public Broadcasting
GSU Signal
National Journal
New York Times
WSB TV
“Do You Give
a Damn?”
Survey
over 1,000 responses & counting
southdowntown.org/survey
What is South Downtown like today?
What should South Downtown be like?
What should South Downtown be like?
word
safe
vibrant
walkable
diverse
clean
fun
active
accessible
lively
historic
unique
friendly
frequency
word pairs
frequency
245
safe & vibrant
54
clean & safe
39
224
safe & walkable
29
88
diverse & vibrant
safe & safe
18
fun & safe
eclectic & vibrant
walkable & vibrant
vibrant & vibrant
safe & welcoming
diverse & safe
11
diverse & vibrant
9
78
76
53
41
40
37
35
33
32
14
11
11
10
10
10
Safety
Major Scott Kreher
Atlanta Police Department
Zone 5 Commander
Vibrancy
Audrey Leous &
Wesley Brown
Central Atlanta Progress
MARTA Makeover
MARTA Makeover
Kristi Rooks
WRS Inc Real Estate Investments
Project Developer - Underground Atlanta
Underground Atlanta
Anthony Harper
The Goat Farm Arts Center
BEACONS
Goat Farm Beacons
BEACONS aims to infuse space on South Broad Street with 21st-century thinkers,
disciplines, and values. We value emotional, passionate, and cultural assets over
financial ones. We believe social, creative, and intellectual capital are the key drivers
of community well-being. We want to foster a progressive identity making the area a
productive component of the city that rebuilds mutual trust and attracts vanguard
density.
Mammal Gallery, Eyedrum, Broad Street Visitors Center, Murmur, Downtown
Players Club, and more...
More Vibrancy
Real Estate News
94 Peachtree St SW
NE Corner of Peachtree & MLK
formerly Capitol City Bank
Real Estate News
97 Peachtree St SW
SW Corner of Peachtree & MLK
formerly H.L. Green Co.
Real Estate News
15 Forsyth St SW
NW Corner of Alabama & Forsyth
formerly Atlanta Constitution
Real Estate News
210 Pryor St SW
SE Corner of Trinity & Pryor
former Atlanta Public Schools headquarters
New Businesses
2 Boys BBQ
Brite Creations Next
Charlot’s Creole Cafe
CenterForm
Gotta Have It Catering
Sunrise Fragrance
Kelz Kitchen
The Local Spot
My Fair Sweets
House of Mone
Paranoia Quest
Ozean Subs
Not-So-New Businesses
Friedman’s Shoes since 1929
Rondo Distributing Co. since 1944
Atlanta Barber & Beauty Supply since 1946
Miller’s Rexall since 1965
Studies
Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta
Georgia State University (GSU)
Mini Technical Assistance Panel (mTAP)
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
A team of four professionals are reviewing the
scale and scope of redevelopment opportunities
and identifying projects, programs, and policies
that can be pursued to achieve redevelopment
goals in the district. This will include
opportunities that can be implemented in the
near term or be part of a longer-term strategy to
revitalize the community as well as specific
actions existing property owners can take to
catalyze further investment.
A team of three graduate students are reviewing
literature and best practices on various types of
districts - arts & culture districts, innovation
districts, eco districts, historic districts, “pink”
districts, etc. Their deliverables will include an
annotated districting review and report, a
decision matrix, and a simulation that assesses
the viability of districting approaches.
What else?
You can help!
Volunteer your skills and time.
Support local non-profits.
Make a donation and/or an investment.
Take our survey.
Shop at local businesses.
Join our newsletter.
Eat at local restaurants.
Go to shows and performances.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Tell your friends about what’s going on.
Attend area events.
Be a good neighbor.
southdowntown.org
facebook.com/southdowntown
@southdowntown
What’s next?
Upcoming Events
Friday, March 11th, 10:30am
Wednesday, March 16th, 7:30pm
Conscious Creativity
in partnership with C4 Atlanta
Social Studies: Affordability
in partnership with Creative Loafing
Ebony Noelle Golden, CEO of Betty’s Daughter
Arts Collaborative, will discuss using the arts for
personal and collective transformation, equity
and inclusion, true community building locally
and nationally.
Thomas Wheatley, News Editor at Creative
Loafing, will moderate a panel discussion on the
challenges Atlanta faces with housing and
policies that are being discussed to address these
issues.
Thanks!
Q&A
Thanks again!
southdowntown.org
facebook.com/southdowntown
@southdowntown