14 | OCTOBER 2025
ROUGHDRAFT.NEWS
BUCKHEAD
For more Buckhead headlines, subscribe to our daily newsletter at RoughDraftAtlanta.com/newsletters.
State of the Beltline address highlights accomplishments
By Katie Burkholder
Nearly 350 community members,
business leaders, and elected officials met at
The Eastern on Sept. 24 for the State of the
Beltline, hosted by the Council for Quality
Growth.
The event celebrated the Beltline’s 20-
year history and accomplishments while
highlighting the work to be done ahead
of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2030
Beltline completion goal.
The information shared at the event,
which covered updates on current projects
and partnerships, included an announcement
from the President and CEO of Atlanta
Beltline, Inc., Clyde Higgs, for a $2 million
INTERNATIONAL REAL
a REAL E
9. X
^2-•
program focused on commercial affordability
for businesses along the Beltline.
Focal developers, property owners, and
small businesses will be able to apply for this
program to receive $150,000 to $500,000
in grant funding, Higgs said during a
conversation with Anna Roach, the executive
director and CEO of the Atlanta Regional
Commission.
“We all love the Beltline, but were
[seeing] the highest [commercial] rents on
the Beltline right now — not Buckhead, not
Perimeter, but right there on the Beltline,”
Higgs said. “So, we need to make sure that
we are preserving the culture, the legacy of
Atlanta, and making sure that everyone is
winning because of this investment.”
Atlanta Beltline CEO Clyde Higgs (right) announced a $2 million
grant funding program. (Photo by Katie Burkholder)
CELEBRATING 20
ANNA ROACH
Executive Director
CLYDE HIGGS
President & CEO
Atlanta
See" Beltline
FIRESIDE CHAT
PNERATIONAL IMPACT: DREAMING, DOING, DELIVERING
Applications for the program are open
now through Oct. 24.
Higgs said the new grant program aligns
with the Beltline’s priority of fostering
affordability. The Beltline has reached 76
percent of its 2030 goal of reaching 5,600
units of affordable housing, and Higgs said
he expects the project to exceed the goal by
about 1,500 additional units.
Ruben Brooks, the Chief Operating
Officer of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., shared other
progress updates. The Beltline is currently
12.8 miles long, but Brooks said nearly 18
miles of continuous corridor will be open
and functioning by July 2026, in time for the
FIFA World Cup.
Over the last two decades, the Beltline
has attracted 2.5 million visits per year, more
than 26,000 permanent jobs have been
created, the Beltline’s land holdings have
grown to more than 90 acres, the project
has helped catalyze more than $9 billion
worth of private investment, and the Atlanta
Beltline marketplace has grown 14 businesses
across four different locations.
“[The creation of the Beltline] was really
about bravery, having the gumption to take
on what we describe as one of the nation’s
largest and most ambitious redevelopment
projects in the country,” Higgs said. “...[The
Beltline] feels like a trail to most folks, but
we’re more than that.”
First major segment of
Path400 completed
Live the Dream
in Chastain Park
4140 HILLSIDE PLACE NW | ATLANTA
SOLD | UNDER CONTRACT IN 11 DAYS
Recognized by The Atlanta Business Chronicle as
one of Atlanta's top five most expensive sales in July 2025.
Jan Hart
REALTOR® I Licensed in GA & FL
c. 678.596.3684 | o. 404.480.HOME
JAN@ANSLEYRE.COM | JANHARTGROUP.COM
@JANHARTANSLEYATL
ANSLEYRE.COM | 3035 PEACHTREE ROAD, SUITE 202, ATLANTA, GA 30305 | 404.480.HOME
By Rough Draft Staff
Livable Buckhead, along with city
officials and community members,
celebrated the completion of the final major
segment of PATH400 in Buckhead with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony and community
festival on Sept. 26.
The new 0.75-mile stretch, which runs
between Wieuca Road and Loridans Drive,
features an 80-foot-high bridge and creates
nearly three contiguous miles of greenway,
enhancing pedestrian and bike connectivity
in the area.
The opening marks the culmination
of a three-year construction project on the
Wieuca-Loridans segment, according to a
press release from Livable Buckhead.
The celebration featured remarks from
project partners, a lively bike parade,
and the whimsical “Pups and Pigtails”
parade with neighborhood pets and llamas
crossing the new bridge at Mountain Way
Common.
Officials participating in the event
included Denise Starling, Executive
Director of Livable Buckhead; Pete
Pelligrini of the PATH Foundation;
Atlanta City Councilmember Howard
Shook; Justin Cutler, Commissioner of
the City of Atlanta Department of Parks
and Recreation; and Solomon Caviness,
Commissioner of the City of Atlanta
Department of Transportation.
“This is one of those moments where
you stop, look around and say, ‘Wow! We
actually pulled it off,’” Starling said in a
statement. “This stretch of PATH400 isn’t
just concrete and steel, it’s an 80-foot-high
bridge in the treetops, a safe walk to school
for Sarah Smith kids, and a front door to
Mountain Way Common that’s going to
keep getting better every year.
“PATH400 has always been about
connecting people — to their schools,
their parks, their neighborhoods and to
each other — and today we quite literally
connected the dots,” the statement
continued. “That’s a promise we made, and
it feels pretty amazing to deliver on it.”
