ATLANTA — A European real estate company has bought more than 50 buildings in a section of downtown Atlanta that has long been in trouble.
They bought five properties this month alone.
the company said Justin Gray, Channel 2 Consumer researcher who plans to make a dramatic change in a neighborhood known for empty parking lots and empty buildings.
Newport Real Estate has bought a large percentage of the property in what for years has been a struggling 10-block section in south downtown Atlanta.
“We’re at 53 buildings and about six acres of surface parking,” April Stammel of Newport Real Estate said of the properties.
The first phase of Newport’s vision is almost a reality. They call it Hotel Row.
“So essentially Hotel Row, from our perspective, is complete,” Stammel said.
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The area used to be made up of a series of small hotels next to the city’s old train station. Now its neighbor is the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Newport has lined up a number of small businesses including a pizzeria and coffee shop preparing to move.
Across the street, an entire block building is being renovated for offices and shops. Permits are being processed for the next section: two apartment towers with more than 600 homes in total.
“Every 6 to 12 months (we are) going into pre-development on another substantial block,” Stammel said.
Newport hopes to transform the stretch of vacant buildings and long-abandoned surface parking lots into a live-work-play district.
“You just want to bring life down here?” Gray asked Stammel.
“That’s all we want to do: life,” Stammel said.
Newport told Gray they plan to save as many historic structures as they can and use the parking lots for new construction.
On the fringes of the area are essentially two other giant development projects by other companies: Gulch on one side and Underground Atlanta on the other.
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