Atlanta the City

This is the lovely Grant Building on Walton Street in Downtown Atlanta. It opened as offices in 1898; at that time it was called the Prudential Building.

It's considered to be the second-oldest steel structure in the southeastern U.S., with the oldest being the nearby Flatiron Building (1897).

It had been flailing as an office building for years before being purchased in 2022, jointly, by Wolfe Investments Bluelofts. The owners announced they would convert the offices to Class A residential units.

No work has been apparent during any of my visits, though that doesn't necessarily mean nothing has happened. Does anyone have good news to share (or bad) about the status?

Strangely, this building doesn't appear to be protected from demolition in any way that I can find, such as through local landmark status or a facade easement. It's listed on the National Register, but that doesn't offer protection -- what it does offer is tax incentives for anyone renovating it.

Best wishes to you, Grant Building. I got to visit the mezzanine level back when it was offices and what a beauty it is.

I can't say anything about John Portman's Hyatt Regency that hasn't been said before.

On the inside it's a dazzling sight, elevating the art of atrium design to the level of architectural triumph. On the outside it's a mirthless monument to beige, hostile to the public realm of our sidewalks.

I enjoy being here for a conference and hearing from people (even locals) who are seeing it for the first time.

"Hey Darin, what's that big old building on Peachtree Street that's been sitting empty for as long as I can remember?"

An excellent question, my friend! This is the Medical Arts Building. It opened in 1927 to house medical offices. The architect was G. Lloyd Preacher, who also designed Atlanta City Hall building and the Carnegie Building.

"How long has it been empty?"

Sadly, it appears to have sat unused for about 1/3 of its life. The last time it was occupied was when the bottom floor had a retail space about 20-30 years ago.

"Why is it empty?"

In the late 1980s the medical tenants moved out because the streets around the building were blocked by a project to widen the interstate.

"Can't it just be torn down?"

No it can't. The building's lovely brick facade was donated to the nonprofit Easements Atlanta, which offers it protection from demolition.

"What about that news article from several years ago? I thought it was being converted to a hotel or something?"

Nope. Didn't happen. Probably funding issues. The work of turning this into a hotel is very expensive.

"What now?"

We wait. Maybe pray. Perhaps the city could purchase it and partner with a developer to put affordable housing here? This would also be enormously expensive, but it's also hard to put a price on the value of having a dead space turn into housing.

"Can't we just wait for The Stitch to be built? Surely that amenity will prompt a developer to turn this a very expensive, luxury boutique hotel."

Prithee, vex me no longer with your chattering. I bid you good day, sir.

"But surely this is..."

I said GOOD DAY, sir!

We had a nice walk through Fourth Ward Park tonight. What an amazing park this is.

Walking to a conference in Downtown Atlanta today and playing a game of Spot the Parking Facilities 😋

Peachtree Center Avenue is a sobering reminder that not all the "density" you see in a city is really human density. Sometimes it's just cars

I call this zone the Parking Apocalypse.

I spent a lot of time on MARTA trains this weekend (yay!) and got a nice reminder of how many good views there are from the stations, like King/Memorial and Candler/Edgewood. It was also a reminder of how nice Atlanta looks in the early spring.

I'm once again asking our developers and architects to please stop dehumanizing the public realm with these soul-sucking parking decks that hover above the sidewalk.

Instead of putting eyes on the street, this new building in Midtown Atlanta puts headlights on the street.

I'm not asking for everything to look exactly like Paris or Amsterdam. I'm asking for urban design that respects our public spaces. Act like it's a city.

And in case you're wondering, this is not simply an issue of parking mandates. Because of its proximity to MARTA rail stations, no parking is required on this property.

Please note: by pointing out that this amount of parking is not required by the city, my aim is to clarify the situation. I'm not asking for zero parking for all new developments. I want sensible reform that de-centers car trips and car storage in our cities. We can do better than this.

Today I took a few minutes to admire the southeast entrance to Garnett MARTA Station. It's nice! How cool would it be if all the parking lots on this side were filled with great transit-oriented development instead?

From seven years ago, my wife & son headed out to work & school in the morning (we lived in a Downtown building, prior to our current O4W condo).

I've reached that weepy stage of remembering the little version of my kid now that he's prepping for college later this year. Whatever shortcomings we've had as parents, at least he grew up learning to navigate a city on foot & transit.

Views from an eastbound MARTA train

The view from the edge of the platform at Candler Park/Edgewood MARTA Station this evening. I like getting off the train and walking over to see this.

Far in the distance you can see some towers of Downtown, mixed in with the trees.

From left to right: Twelve Downtown, opened in 2007; Peachtree Summit, opened in 1975; Atlanta First United Methodist, 1903.

Architecture spanning over 100 years, spotted from the window of a moving 816 MARTA bus in Downtown Atlanta. Buses are a great way to see the city.

Photos from a lunchtime trip to Broad Street today. I had good food at Taqueria on Broad, good coffee at Thousand Hills, and a nice MARTA bus ride back home.

Though I'm in favor of the new MARTA bus network overall, unfortunately I'm losing this bus (the 816) that takes me to Downtown for lunch. I'm determined to have lunch here as often as I can while the 816 is still here.

A foggy winter day in Midtown Atlanta

Hey you know what would be nice to have in between the sycamore trees and the patios on the Eastside Beltline? A couple of train tracks. Put 'em right here Andre Dickens -- I think we've done enough studies.

Long spaces in Downtown Atlanta: two hotel atriums, and the escalator and platform of a MARTA station.