The Progress Report: Downtown Atlanta’s public-private successes

Editor’s Note: The Progress Report is a new unConventional quarterly series that explores the relationship between Central Atlanta Progress/Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority.

Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (CAP/ADID) have a long-standing and rich relationship with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA).

CAP/ADID represents the interests of Downtown Atlanta’s so-called “private footprint” (aka commercial property owners) and the Atlanta business community more largely, and the GWCCA is the biggest public footprint within Downtown. These footprints merge on many subjects and missions and have managed to collaborate to achieve a great deal of success together. 

Let’s take a quick look at just a few ways CAP/ADID and the GWCCA have worked together in recent years.

Public Safety and Operations

The GWCCA is a key partner in making Downtown vibrant.  As such, the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (home to the Ambassador Force and Clean Team) partners with the Authority on a daily basis, supporting the Authority with public safety, cleanliness, and emergency preparedness and response activities. ADID coordinates support to various campus events and ensure guests have a positive experience while off the GWCCA campus as well. ADID attends all traffic and parking coordination meetings, as well as all pre-event meetings on the GWCCA campus. ADID also assigns an Ambassador to be the primary contact for all conventions and major events.

Transportation Infrastructure

Transportation is a priority of both of our organizations, and we’ve collaborated in this area in a variety of ways. The Authority was an advocate for and funding partner of the bike lane along Baker Street (from Luckie Street to Centennial Olympic Park Drive). While the partnership to implement this project was not directly with CAP/ADID, the newest bike infrastructure segment (implemented by the Authority and the PATH Foundation) links directly to the Portman Blvd. PATH – an ADID-funded project – improving the east-west bike connectivity Downtown. The GWCCA-PATH segment, though modest in length, connects Georgia Tech to Stone Mountain by bike via an 18-mile separated bike facility. No small feat!

Sustainability

The Authority campus was a participant in the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge (ABBC), an initiative led by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Resilience, managed locally by CAP/ADID, with support from Southface Institute, Livable Buckhead, and Midtown Alliance. The Authority was one of ABBC’s first participants, and the campus’ significant amount of square footage helped Atlanta surpass its original goal of enlisting two million square feet in the program. Throughout the program, the Authority was willing to be an early adopter and test out and prove that new technology could reduce energy and water use. Beyond the ABBC, the Authority remains an active stakeholder in CAP/ADID’s sustainability work, including our forthcoming Downtown Sustainability Action Plan.

Marketing – Centennial Park District

On the marketing and programming side of things, CAP works closely with the Authority’s marketing and communications team to promote campus events, particularly public events at Centennial Olympic Park, like the just-opened International Winter Wonderland. The Authority is also a key stakeholder in our efforts to promote the Centennial Park District, the premiere entertainment district that has organically emerged around the Park since the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.

Be it bicycle infrastructure, sustainability efforts, the visitor experience, or talking about the great things happening in our neighborhood, CAP/ADID is grateful for its enduring, generative relationship with the GWCCA.