Last week, we announced the groundbreaking for the new Atlanta Tech Village in South Downtown Atlanta. After starting the Atlanta Tech Village in late 2012, one of the most popular questions I heard was, “When are you going to open a second location?” Back then, we were learning the ins and outs of building community and running a co-working facility. After doing it for a few years and feeling like we understood more, we did peek around at other buildings only to find that the real estate market was white hot, and real estate prices had significantly outpaced the rents chargeable to startups. My answer to the question was simply that it was a one-and-done; no new locations because the math didn’t make sense. Fast forward over a decade, and we just broke ground on our second location in South Downtown Atlanta (Instagram, LinkedIn).
Anyone who’s been to downtown Atlanta knows that there are a variety of challenges and opportunities. Much like what has been covered in the news over the last year around doom loops in cities across the United States, downtown Atlanta has been hit particularly hard. Put simply, a doom loop is when office buildings start to empty out due to work-from-home and remote work. When office workers don’t come in, service businesses in the neighborhood, like restaurants and dry cleaners, go out of business as well. This then hurts property values, such that fewer property tax dollars are generated resulting in fewer city services, and this doom loop continues in a downward spiral.
In October of last year (2023), I was at a Metro Atlanta Chamber executive committee meeting. After the meeting, I was catching up with some friends, one of whom runs the largest commercial office space landlord in Atlanta. We were talking about what’s going to happen with all this empty commercial real estate and how it’s going to play out across the country, but especially in Atlanta. He then shared with me that the developer in South Downtown Atlanta, Newport, had just had all 53 buildings and 10 city blocks in their portfolio go into foreclosure. I had read about this project over the years and even been presented it back in 2018 as a potential location for a second Atlanta Tech Village location, but I had never visited it, nor had I studied it closely. After the meeting, I went back to my laptop and dove into learning as much as I could about anything and everything related to the South Downtown Atlanta redevelopment. The most eye-opening thing to me was how there is this incredible collection of historic buildings literally in the neighborhood where Atlanta was founded, and due to a variety of reasons, they were nearly untouched, like a beautiful time capsule.
After getting a better feel for it, I reached out to some friends to get feedback and ideas on what it would be like to build an entire tech startup innovation district, taking many of the concepts that we developed over 10+ years at Atlanta Tech Village and applying them to an entire neighborhood across 50+ buildings. It was not too dissimilar from having our own college campus, only the campus is adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena, the newly announced Cosm concert venue, the State of Georgia Capitol, City of Atlanta City Hall, the largest university in the state in Georgia State University, and the busiest train station in Metro Atlanta, Five Points MARTA. As the idea started to crystallize, the obvious next step was to go down and see it in person, to walk the buildings, and to feel the history and the culture of the heart of Atlanta.
I reached out to a friend who knew the neighborhood well and the Newport team for a tour. Seven or eight of us showed up, not knowing what to expect, and proceeded to spend the next six hours walking through amazing buildings, going up on rooftop patios, looking out over the city, rummaging around old department stores, and imagining what could be in the most walkable city blocks in the region nestled between multiple train stations and three interstates. After going through building after building, it became apparent that this truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build an entire neighborhood dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed. From the living quarters in great historic buildings to all the transit opportunities, beautiful loft office spaces, and one of the biggest entertainment districts in the country, it was clear there was something unbelievably special in South Downtown Atlanta.
After buying the properties, mostly through foreclosure and deed in lieu of foreclosure, in December of last year and January of this year, we immediately set to work on a grand plan for the neighborhood, with the Atlanta Tech Village as the center of it (fun Atlanta Magazine story). Now, six months later, we’ve broken ground on the new Atlanta Tech Village downtown location set in a beautiful historic hotel from 1909 called the Sylvan Hotel, atop an incredible retail space that was the Imperial Fruit Co (a postcard company!) for many years on historic Hotel Row adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, host of the 2026 World Cup.
The vision for the neighborhood is to be the number one place for entrepreneurs to go to succeed. Through a combination of living laboratory, where entrepreneurs help each other, and the greater community through mentors, business leaders, and civic leaders work together to grow our startup community. We will open the new Atlanta Tech Village location early next year (2025) while renovating the majority of the neighborhood for our grand opening on a larger scale during the 2026 World Cup, complete with multiple ATV-themed locations spread throughout.
Of course, we need help. We need pioneers who want to see a thriving downtown Atlanta, full of entrepreneurs and startups inventing the future. We need mentors and coaches helping these entrepreneurs put their stamp on the city. We need investors funding the next generation of innovation. We need restaurateurs and retailers to fill up the historic store fronts. We need business leaders supporting downtown.
Sign up for an ATV tour, join our South Downtown newsletter, buy a cup of coffee at Spiller Park, and come experience the culture and history of South Downtown Atlanta today. With your help, we’re going to put downtown Atlanta on the map as the home of startups.
Entrepreneur
via https://www.aiupnow.com
David Cummings, Khareem Sudlow
