Underground Atlanta renderings show parking lot dead zone in heart of Downtown

Because what a mixed-use development sitting on top of a MARTA station really needs is lot of space to put cars

By Thomas Wheatley Tuesday July 5, 2016 01:08 PM EDT

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Architectural renderings are great. They’re fun to look at and critique. But when you’re talking about a large-scale development such as Underground Atlanta, you have to consider the overall vision and how the development is going to work with — or against — its surroundings.

All that being said, look at this updated rendering of Underground Atlanta looking toward the southwest, and the size of the parking lot that will serve the proposed grocer at the mixed-use development. The state-owned parking lot has been considered so vital to the project’s success that city officials have proposed trading Buckhead’s Bobby Jones golf course for the parcel.

While you’re looking at the rendering, keep in mind that this development is adjacent to a MARTA station that serves heavy rail traveling north, south, east, and west. Georgia State University is a few blocks away. Residential occupancy rates are sky high. There’s already a glut of parking available in other decks. And it’s unclear how much parking will be included in the new residential developments that will be a part of the revamped Underground Atlanta.

What is this massive parking lot doing there? And if that parcel is replaced with a development, how much parking do developers think that project will need?

WRS President Scott Smith and another executive were not immediately available for comment on Friday. We will update if we hear back. After the jump, one of the more recent renderings of buildings and a map of the project area that, for some reason, highlights several Downtown parcels outside of Underground Atlanta’s footprint.

strong>UPDATE, 7/6/16: Kevin Rogers of WRS Real Estate reached out yesterday afternoon to discuss the project, the role of parking, and overall plans for redeveloping Underground. He also says plans now call for no surface parking lot. He will send new renderings that were completed within the last week or so when he returns to his office. We’ll have an update and a write-up with more details about Underground Atlanta.