The Stitch, a vision 20 years in the making to cap the Connector with a 14-acre park to reconnect Downtown to Midtown and the Old Fourth Ward, now has a roadmap and the funding to begin making the transformational project a reality.
Central Atlanta Progress officials unveiled a draft master plan for the multi-phase project on Oct. 23 to Downtown residents and businesses. CAP has secured $200 million for the first phase, a 4-acre park to be built over the interstate between Peachtree and Courtland streets. Construction is slated to begin by September 2026 and completed in 2030.
The park will include a gateway pavilion, pedestrian and multi-use plazas, urban gardens, a playground, event pavilion, public art and an interactive water feature.
“This is considered the heart of The Stitch,” said Jack Cebe, development manager of the project. “We wanted to make sure there was a little bit of something for everyone in this first phase to make it as impactful as possible, right out of the gate.”
The Atlanta City Council approved this week $120 million in infrastructure bonds to go toward Downtown street resurfacing, installing more than 100 new street lights and 14 miles of sidewalk repairs to prepare for the FIFA World Cup. This investment will further the transformation of Downtown, said A.J. Robinson, president of CAP.
“We’re getting a slug of infrastructure that’s of an historic nature over these next few years,” he said. “When you take that $120 million and you talk about $200 million for The Stitch, that’s a significant amount of infrastructure work in our community.”
Once completed, The Stitch would reconnect mainly Black neighborhoods divided in the 1940s and 1950s by the federal highway system. The desire is also for The Stitch to attract new development into the area that has endured decades of disinvestment.
Other key points in the draft master plan:
• A goal that 30% of new and existing residential units within approximately half mile of the project will be affordable. The master plan proposes extending the East Side tax allocation district to assist with funding affordable housing.
• Creating a public-private partnership with support from the city of Atlanta as the governance structure for the completed Stitch park. The city would retain ownership of the park, but the nonprofit organization would take the primary role for operations, management, and maintenance.
• Define a zoning subarea district for the Stitch. Characteristics such as floor area ratio, parking, and more can be defined through a zoning overlay, much like what the Atlanta Beltline implemented.
Besides making zoning changes, the master plan proposes the creation of a special service district where commercial and multifamily property owners would pay an additional tax to cover costs for The Stitch’s operations and maintenance.
The project’s total cost is estimated to be between $720 million and $750 million. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2036, though this depends on securing additional funding.
The Stitch full master plan document — more than 400 pages — will be released Oct. 31. The public comment period will be 60 days.
