A German redevelopment firm has acquired over two dozen historic downtown buildings in Atalnta, Georgia, with plans to buy about a dozen more.
It’s all part of a $200 million plan to bring the largely vacant, boarded-up structures south of the Five Points MARTA station back to their former glory.
The project by Newport US RE, the American arm of Newport Holding GmbH, could help to extend the revitalization of downtown from Underground Atlanta to “the Gulch.” Unlike Atlanta’s typical fashion of plowing over buildings for ever larger and glitzier new high-rises, Newport US’s plan is to renovate the historic structures for a mix of retail, restaurants, art galleries, office space and apartments.
“This area has been ignored for decades somehow,” said Jake Nawrocki, president of Newport US. “It’s almost unbelievable how this stock of buildings could sit for decades and decades at the center of the city at the Five Points MARTA station and City Hall and be in the condition they’re in.”
Newport has been active in the United States since June of 2016 through its subsidiary based in Atlanta. They aim to invest equity of up to $100 million in urban areas in the southeastern United States over the next 24 months, with a mid-term goal of establishing a substantial real estate portfolio emphasizing retail, office, and mixed-use commercial property nationally.
Unlike the nearby Underground Atlanta development, which has been criticized for lacking in transparency and neighborhood involvement, the Newport plan is to gather input, leverage the surviving assets, and build from what currently exists, leaders insist.
Ironically, at one point in the recent past, Newport was actually a partner on the Underground development.
Preliminary plans call for the current sea of parking lots and half-abandoned old buildings to eventually be transformed into the city’s foremost walkable arts district, complete with workforce housing, retail, loft offices, and restaurants.
Kiser Loft Apartments rendering courtesy of PSG Construction.
But Newport isn’t alone in South Downtown: working closely with Gallman Development Group and Pimsler Hoss Architects, PSG Construction has repurposed Atlanta’s historic e M.C. Kiser Building as an housing complex called the Kiser Loft Apartments.
The former shoe manufacturing plant turned office building at the corner of Pryor Street and Trinity Avenue is just a few blocks from the Georgia State Capitol and Underground Atlanta. This adaptive reuse project features 40 loft apartments.
M.C. Kiser Building in 1923
The project team has kept the building’s historic character by reusing the original infrastructure as design features. For example, the existing elevator now travels to a roof deck offering views of the Capitol and Downtown. This is South Downtown Atlanta’s first market-rate apartments since 2003.
An attached annex building will be converted for parking, allowing for one car per unit to appease lenders, though the building owner would prefer to see that space better utilized for retail amenities. With MARTA access, a car-sharing program, and amenities just a quick walk away, hopefully the parking won’t be needed for long.
Gallman Development Group, the developer, hopes the project will be a catalyst for other investment in the neighborhood. What with Newport’s major commitment to reusing South Downtown’s historic building stock, it seems the the wheels of revitalization are definitely in motion.
See June 26, 2017 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article by J. Scott Trubey and Leon Stafford.
See June 28, 2017 Curbed Atlanta article by Michael Kahn.
See July 13, 2017 Curbed Atlanta article by Michael Kahn.