“Downtown Atlanta is back, y’all.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens declared the urban core’s revival at the largest-ever annual Central Atlanta Progress and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District meeting and awards celebration on Mar. 11.

The annual meeting came with plenty of updates about the state of downtown Atlanta, and one major announcement: The group known as CAP, ADID and ATLDTN has rebranded to a single moniker.

Now, all the acronyms will exist as Downtown Atlanta, Inc. It marks a new era for the public-private partnership as downtown sees a wave of investment and prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.

The neighborhood has seen some major improvements in the past year, galvanized by energy and promised tourism from the World Cup. That change is perhaps best reflected in the growing meeting – this year, organizers had a jam-packed agenda for a room of hundreds at the Georgia Aquarium.

It starts with statistics. By the numbers, downtown has seen more than 10 new businesses open in 2025, added 337 new housing units, kicked off seven major pedestrian enhancements and invested hefty sums in safer streets.

It’s also benefited from some big projects. This year, The Stitch became an official nonprofit called Stitch Inc. with board members and an adopted master plan. Despite a loss in federal funds, the highway-capping project continues to chug along.

South Downtown is changing, too. Two major projects, Centennial Yards and SoDo, represent millions of dollars of investment into the city’s urban core.

“These four square miles really are the heartbeat of our city,” Dickens said. “Momentum fills our streets, and projects rise everywhere downtown.”

It’s a mirror image of Atlanta 30 years ago. In 1996, the city welcomed the Olympics to its streets. The international sporting event spurred development in downtown Atlanta, including housing, stadiums and even Centennial Olympic Park.

“The 1996 Olympics, and specifically Centennial Park, were sparks for the amazing entertainment district we now enjoy,” CAP President AJ Robinson said.

In honor of the Olympic impact on downtown, the newly minted Atlanta Downtown, Inc. honored Billy Payne with the Dan & Tally Sweat Lifetime Achievement Award. Payne is the attorney who led the efforts to bring the 1996 Summer Olympics to the city of Atlanta.

“Before Atlanta had grown into the regional, international hub that it is now, he had a vision that seemed impossible, and that was to bring the Olympics to Georgia and welcome the world to Atlanta like never before,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said.

Payne seized the once-in-a-generation opportunity to open doors for Atlanta. 30 years later, the city is at another pivotal point. The eight FIFA Matches set for Atlanta this summer have been compared to “several Super Bowls” and will bring an estimated 300,000 visitors to the city.

“It’s because of that spirit, that spirit of we Atlantans, that we are able time and time again to dream big and then bring our dreams to life,” Payne said in his acceptance speech. “I guess we’ve done it so often now, the truth is that we just are who we are. When it comes  to performance, it’s in our DNA, it’s the strength of this community, and it’s what the world will see this summer at the World Cup.”

The organization also honored Dorothey Hurst, head of marketing and communications for the Atlanta Municipal Market with the Warner Bros. Discovery Community Leadership Award. The Downtown Economic Impact Award went to Dan Corso and the Atlanta Sports Council.

Moving forward, the former CAP/ADID will move full steam ahead on downtown projects and revitalizing the city’s urban core, with the help of major partners like Corso, Payne, Hurst and even Atlanta Influences Everything creator Bem Joiner, who helped rebrand the organization.

“Our goal was to name the palace and the organization,”Joiner said. “The objective is to make downtown more accessible, more inviting and more exciting, as well as more tangible.”

He continued, “We aspire to speak not only as fans of downtown, but as champions of downtown.”

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