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Client: Multiple
Contact: Pope Bullock
Cooper Carry explored the redevelopment possibilities of an “urban void” of about 416 acres in central Atlanta – an industrial neighborhood crisscrossed by two rail lines, MARTA commuter rail, and an interstate highway. Changing development tides in the city imply new opportunities for redevelopment of the area. Regional transit planning anticipates new transportation system improvements will compound the crossroad’s complexity as high speed intercity rail lines and the Beltline light rail loop around intown are constructed, all crossing at this site.
These possibilities led us to re-envision the area as a sustainable, mixed-use transit-oriented development at the heart of the regional transit system, linked to neighboring destinations and the city’s principal arteries - Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue. Interior connections had to be created as well because the transportation infrastructure and waterways sliced the site into disconnected pieces. Reconstructing an elevated highway (Buford Highway) as an at-grade boulevard and creation of a combined park-plaza that slides beneath the elevated railroad at the center of the site solved many of the problems. Bridges over Peachtree Creek and the railroad enhance north-south connectivity.
Reestablishing the continuity of the site’s ground plain and surface water flow system permit new development to complement the functioning ecological systems of the site.