Photo via midtownatl.com
Midtown Atlanta has drawn $21 billion to $22 billion of investment in 25 years, Kevin Green, President and CEO of Midtown Alliance, said on Sunbelt Developers.
At the time of the 1996 Olympics, visitors were told to stay out of the district. Now the business district's own improvement fund owns a four-acre lot at its center, where two earlier projects failed, and it is turning the lot into a permanent park.
"We had this giant four-acre hole centrally located in the middle of Midtown that had... failed development plans... frankly, it was one of the biggest eyesores in the city."
Kevin has led Midtown Alliance since 2011, when he succeeded Susan Mendheim, its first president. The organization runs the Midtown Community Improvement District, whose money comes from commercial property owners and pays for streets, trees, public safety and now the land for the park.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 68 minutes of audio, 9 minutes of reading.
Here are the 10 lessons that matter.
Sunbelt Developers · Oct 28, 2026 · 1h 8m · 59m saved
With Kevin Green, President and CEO of Midtown Alliance
Key Takeaways
Midtown went from a place people avoided after dark to $21 billion to $22 billion of investment in 25 years
A single plan rezoned 1.4 square miles at once, the largest rezoning in Atlanta's history
Midtown's improvement district pays about 15% of its street projects, and federal, state and city money pays the rest
A four-acre hole left by two failed projects is being turned into a park instead of a tower
Midtown Alliance had saved $10 million in cash toward "a big move"
49 design teams answered a call that expected 12 to 15, and a team led by the High Line's designer won
Philanthropists want neighboring property owners to pay in before they fund the park
1. A No-Go Zone in 1996
Around the 1996 Olympics, Midtown was known for surface parking lots, vice and broken glass, Kevin told Tim Wright, who hosts Sunbelt Developers.
Kevin describes pre-Olympics Midtown as unsafe, particularly at night
"When the Olympics happened, Midtown was a place people were told not to go. It really wasn't safe, particularly after dark." — Kevin Green
Property owners in the district wanted that to change. Developer Steve Nygren was among the stakeholders who pushed for a formal plan.
