Historic Downtown Building Converts to Boutique Hotel
Atlanta welcomed a new boutique hotel, The Glenn Hotel, in the heart of downtown in January 2006. Located on the corner of Spring and Marietta streets, the new hotel features 110 guest rooms with 16 one-and two-bedroom suites and a 1,200-square-foot conference center. The ground floor contains the 140-seat BED restaurant and a rooftop lounge, a concept made popular at Miami and New York City locations.

New Hotel Offers the Comforts of Home
In February, the Atlantic Station development welcomed a 26-story hotel and condo high-rise called TWELVE. The new property features 380 condos, 101 suite-style hotel rooms, a full-service restaurant, retail space and a 6,000-square-foot ballroom. The ballroom includes two outdoor terraces, pre-function space and opened in November. Atlanta’s famed restaurateur, Bob Amick, opened his newest concept in the hotel in December, called Lobby.

Niki in the Garden Debuts in Atlanta
The Atlanta Botanical Garden debuted an unprecedented exhibition of world-renowned Niki de Saint Phalle’s sculptures at Niki in the Garden in April.  Saint Phalle’s magical works are placed through the Garden including her famous enormous animals, mythical figures, totems, sports heroes and her signature Nanas – oversized, often dancing, powerful women celebrating life.  These sculptures are brilliantly embellished with mirrors, glass, semi-precious stones and ceramic mosaics that come to life in all kinds of light.  Massive in scale, some pieces reach as high as 18 feet. The exhibition concludes on Oct. 31, 2006.

Six Flags Over Georgia Unleashes a Giant
Six Flags Over Georgia introduced Goliath, Georgia’s first “hyper” coaster, or coaster reaching more than 200 feet in height. Goliath covers 8.5 acres, traveling outside of the park and back. Riders on Goliath travel more than 4,400 feet at speeds of 70 miles per hour, through zero-gravity “floating” hills and drops and a giant spiral, up through the treetops and back down within feet of two giant ponds.  The park’s eleventh coaster, Goliath will serve as Six Flags Over Georgia’s new skyline icon, visible for miles around.

New Museum Commemorates Atlanta Olympics
In June the Atlanta History Center opened a new 20,000-square-foot wing dedicated to memorializing the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.  The $10 million addition is a highly interactive three-level museum and was opened July 15, 2006, to coincide with the 10^th anniversary of the Atlanta Games. The facility occupies 6,000 square feet and offers an exploration of the history of the Games and Atlanta’s Olympic legacy – how the Games came to take place here and changed the city.

New Transportation Options to Top Attractions
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) introduced two new transportation options connecting Atlanta’s top attractions: in May, the Atlanta Tourist Loop (ATL) began linking major hotels with some of the city's top attractions, including the Georgia Aquarium, the Martin Luther King, Jr. historic district, CNN Center and Underground Atlanta; in June, the A-Z route launched, running directly between the Georgia Aquarium and Zoo Atlanta. Toohey's Trolleys also introduced a shuttle service, ferrying riders in a 2.3-mile loop between the Georgia Aquarium and Underground Atlanta.

Atlanta New Home to King Papers
In June, Mayor Shirley Franklin and Atlanta’s civic, education and business leaders purchased thousands of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s personal papers, which include handwritten notes, sermons, letters and books that belonged to the civil rights leader. The $32 million purchase will bring the historical treasures to Atlanta for good. While a permanent location for the papers has not been decided, Atlanta’s Morehouse College, King’s alma mater, will be the caretaker of the papers when they arrive.  

Bob Amick Opens his Newest Concepts
Famed Atlanta restaurateur Bob Amick, whose properties include Atlanta hotspots ONE.midtown Kitchen, TWO.urban Licks, Piebar and Lobby, will open two new restaurants in the coming year. First is Trois, a modern French brasserie, which will occupy three floors and 14,000 square feet of a Peachtree skyscraper. The first floor will serve specialty cocktails and appetizers. The main restaurant will serve 150 for lunch or dinner, and a 175-seat private event facility will occupy the third floor. In Fall 2006, Amick will also open Tap, a British-style pub located in the 1180 Peachtree building.

Shaun’s to open in Inman Park
Chef Shaun Doty will return to his culinary roots later this summer to open his eponymous restaurant, Shaun’s, in the heart of historic Inman Park. The décor of the 3,000 square-foot restaurant will showcase the old world charm of the brick building and feature 65 seats inside and 25 on the patio.  Chef Doty will create the same ingredient driven, seasonal, creative American cuisine, which has earned him accolades from critics and diners alike.

Atlanta Becomes Tenth CityPass Destination
In September, the Atlanta CityPass will debut to connect the city’s top attractions. The first Southeastern city and tenth overall city to offer CityPass, the Atlanta CityPass showcases eight world-class attractions which illustrate Atlanta’s influence around the globe. Included are: the Georgia Aquarium, The World of Coca-Cola, Inside CNN Atlanta Studio Tour, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta History Center, Zoo Atlanta, Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. CityPass is currently streamlining weekend getaways and leisurely vacations in nine other destinations – New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Hollywood and Southern California.

MARTA Makes it a Breeze
All 38 of the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s (MARTA) rail stations are now digital, as the transit system adopts the new, computerized “Breeze” fare gate system. Over the past six months, MARTA stations throughout Atlanta have been installing six-foot high entry/exit gates, Breeze Vending Machines, Breeze Fare Boxes and Breeze Card Readers. They system will be fully operational in September, and the traditional tokens and magnetic stripe cards used to collect fares will be replaced with smart cards with internal computer chips that can be encoded with time-based passes, trips or a dollar value. The $190 million transition makes MARTA the first transit system in the country to install an all-electronic system.

The Louvre Comes to Atlanta
The High Museum of Art has developed an unprecedented partnership with the Musée du Louvre in Paris that will bring hundreds of works from the Louvre’s collections to Atlanta.  “Louvre Atlanta” is scheduled to launch in October 2006 and conclude in October 2009.  The partnership will bring works to Atlanta by such masters as Raphael, Velasquez, Poussin, Durer, Rubens, Watteau and Rembrandt. The collaboration will also include the exchange of cultural expertise, educational programs and the development of joint bilingual publications, conferences, films and seminars exploring exhibitions and related themes.

Downtown Hotels Keeping up with the Times
As a trend in hotel renovations and upgrades continues, so do the efforts of Atlanta’s hotels to surpass their high quality of service and standards. Hotel restaurants are becoming destinations, front desks and lobbies are morphing into welcoming, open areas, and new rooms are just like home. The Hyatt Regency Downtown is undergoing $10 million worth of renovations to 200 guest rooms in their Ivy Tower, the Four Seasons Midtown is spending $8.5 million on 244 guest rooms and adding a luxury spa, and the Renaissance Waverly at Cobb Galleria is in the midst of $7.5 million worth of renovations to the property’s ballrooms, restaurants, meeting space, lobby and fitness center. Atlanta’s largest hotel, the Marriott Marquis, is spending more than $100 million to remodel its 1,600-plus rooms and recreating all five of its restaurants.

Callaway Gardens Adding a 155-Room Lodge
Callaway Gardens is adding a new, “four-star amenity” to its existing cottages, villas, inn and conference center.  The resort in Pine Mountain has broken ground on The Lodge and Spa, a 150-room, four-story hotel with a 13,000-square-foot spa and health club.  The Lodge will feature 500-square-foot, Craftsman-style rooms with four-fixture bathrooms and separate seating areas.  Each room will have large windows and a balcony, decorated with soft colors evoking the natural space outside.  The Lodge and Spa is expected to be completed in the fall of 2006 and room rates will start at $150, with suites in the $500 to $800 range.

2007

World of Coca-Cola Attraction Relocates and Expands
World of Coca-Cola will be moving from its Underground Atlanta site to the new area beside the Georgia Aquarium.  Expected to open in early summer 2007, the new 75,000-square-foot attraction will house more than 35,000 square feet of exhibit space.  The new World of Coca-Cola will feature contemporary glass-and-stainless steel architectural design on one side, dominated by a 27-foot "frosted" replica of its famous contoured bottle encased in a 90-foot glass cylinder. The other side will be traditional. Visitors can expect more samples at the popular serving stations where guests taste the variations of Coke around the world and displays will be more interactive. The new location will include more than four acres of outdoor space, including a large lawn, a reflecting pool, and a plaza shared with the aquarium that will pay tribute to Coke inventor John Pemberton.

Historic Winecoff Hotel Becomes the Ellis Hotel
Located on Peachtree Street, the 127-room Ellis Hotel will be strategically located across the street from both the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the former Macy's building in downtown Atlanta. The hotel will house a ground-floor café and a second floor devoted to meeting space, a cocktail lounge and dining. Originally constructed in 1913, the Winecoff Hotel is the site of one of the deadliest hotel fires in U.S. history. Billed as the first "fire proof" hotel because of its brick construction, 119 people perished when a fire on the third floor spread through the entire building. The long-awaited redevelopment of this property will return the building to its former glory as a luxury boutique hotel, enhanced by state-of-the art technology and design.

W Hotel Opens in Downtown and Midtown
W Hotels are slated to open in downtown and midtown Atlanta, adding to the hotel market.  A 257-room hotel is planned for the mixed-use project Ivan Allen Plaza in downtown Atlanta.  The urban boutique hotel of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the W Hotel will also include 75 condominiums. In midtown, the Sheraton Colony Square Hotel at Peachtree and 14th streets will be transformed into a sleek, ultra-modern W, giving the city the most W hotels in any U.S. market other than New York.

Hilton Garden Inn Comes to Downtown
Hilton Garden Inn is set to open near the Georgia Aquarium in September 2007, adding 242 rooms to the market. The hotel is being developed by Legacy Property Group as part of their mixed-use facility Park Pavilion, which will encompass 32,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space and parking.

Cobb Welcomes New Performing Arts Centre
Cobb Galleria has broken ground on a $106 million multipurpose performing arts center that will open in 2007.  The first phase plans for a 2,750-seat theater, 10,000 square feet of meeting space, state-of-the-art lighting and acoustics and a five-level parking facility that can accommodate 1,500 cars.  Full-service food and beverage capabilities, rehearsal rooms, a café and a gift shop are additional features of the development.  The avant-garde design will feature a pedestrian-friendly entry park with green space, walking paths, botanical gardens, plazas and water features.  Future phases of the project include plans for a 700-seat recital hall and 200-seat black box teaching theater.

2008
Grammy-Winning Orchestra Builds Premier Facility
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) announced that it will break ground on a new facility in 2008.  The $300 million new home of the symphony will be on 6.2 acres at Peachtree and 14^th streets.  Plans call for an 836,000-square-foot office building with ground-level retail and a Symphony Center with 2,000 seats in the main hall and 350 seats in the chamber hall.  Outside features include an 18-story ribbed steel arch that curves above the main building centered between two smaller arches on the sides of the building, along with hydraulic wings that fold over the glass atrium and open when the ASO is in the house. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the new facility is scheduled to open in 2011.

Luxurious St. Regis Opens in Buckhead
An ultra-luxurious 26-story hotel, the St. Regis, is scheduled to open in Buckhead in 2008 with 150 rooms and 50 condos at Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads.  The St. Regis is to offer top-drawer services and amenities and include a 9,200-square-foot ballroom. The residences will be located to offer commanding views from the top floors and corners of the building.

2010

One of the World’s Most Accessible Airports Expands
In January 2004, the Atlanta airport was renamed Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as a tribute to late Atlanta mayors William B. Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson, both strong supporters of the airport and its continued growth.  Other improvements include a $5.4 billion development program, which will expand, repair and upgrade designated areas within the airport’s facilities.

A fifth runway will be completed in 2006, accommodating commuter aircrafts and helping to eliminate congestion on the existing four runways. 

In 2010, a new international terminal will be completed, allowing passengers to access the landside without having to use an automated people mover.  It will include access to the roadway network, a parking structure and a provision for the southern MARTA extension to the terminal.  Enhanced road and rail access will be added to Hartsfield-Jackson and a consolidated rental car facility will be built to accommodate all rental car companies operating at the airport.  Concourse E is expanding with 900,000 new square feet, including international passenger ticketing facilities, 10 additional gates, two levels of curb-front parking and approximately 1,100 public parking spaces adjacent to the terminal.  An expanded airport people mover will also provide direct access to MARTA.

Center for Puppetry Arts Plans Expansion and New Exhibition
The Center for Puppetry Arts, the largest museum dedicated to puppetry in the country, is planning an expansion that will double the museum’s current size and will allow for the museum to bring many of its treasures of out storage. The museum has approximately 4,500 items in its collection.  The museum will also open a new, long-term on-site exhibition in 2010. The interactive exhibition will bring to life puppetry’s global and ancient history. The exhibition’s prevailing theme will explore puppetry as a universal lens that brings cultures into focus, allowing for the exploration of both shared and unique features of the human experience across the globe and across history.

2005

Georgia Aquarium
The Georgia Aquarium, at eight million gallons and 505,000 square feet, is the largest aquarium in the world with more than 100,000 freshwater and saltwater fish and mammals and 500 species.  The facility houses a banquet room with the capacity to seat 1,100 for dinner and more than 10,000 for a reception, featuring two private viewing windows featuring the whale shark and beluga whale exhibits.  A $200 million contribution by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus has helped to underwrite what promises to be one of Atlanta’s most popular attractions, bringing an estimated two million visitors in its first year of operation.

High Museum and Woodruff Undergo Major Expansion
The premier art museum in the South, the High Museum of Art attracts more than half a million visitors each year, hosting world-renowned exhibits with works by Van Gogh, Norman Rockwell and Michelangelo.  The High recently opened expanded facilities that double the museum in size, creating a “village for the arts” at the Woodruff Arts Center.  Designed by architect Renzo Piano, three new buildings surrounding a public piazza more than double the Museum’s size to 312,000 square feet, allowing the High to display more of its growing collection, increase public programs and offer new visitor amenities, including restaurant Table 1280.

New Development Creates a New City
The Atlantic Station project is a 138-acre mixed-use development in Midtown.  The $2 billion development opened its first phase in October 2005 including 12 million square feet of retail, office and residential space as well as 11 acres of public parks. The new construction is divided into three areas: The District, The Commons and The Village.  The District includes one million square feet of open-air retail and entertainment venues, including a two-story movie theater, office space, loft apartments and town homes. The Village area contains mass retail locations surrounded by neighborhood shops, office space and loft-style apartments. Home furnishings retail chain IKEA has also joined the neighborhood, opening its first store in the Southeast in June. The Dolce Group is debuting Atlanta versions of their celebrity-attracting restaurants Geisha House, Dolce and Kingpin at Atlantic Station in 2006.  Lobby at TWELVE and Strip – Steak and Sushi also offer unique dining experiences.

AMERICASMART n ATLANTA Announces Major Expansion
AMERICASMART n ATLANTA has acquired the former Greyhound Lines terminal property on Andrew Young International Boulevard and will undertake a two million-square-foot expansion of its 6.2 million-square-foot wholesale trade mart complex.  The expansion follows an eight year growth spurt for the facility, which houses the world’s largest single collection of consumer gifts, home furnishings, area rugs and apparel goods.  Construction began in early 2005.

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