About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2025)
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.”
