The Exchange Building, formerly the food court, will be reimagined as a series of smaller buildings that are more in keeping with the scale and context of Underground Atlanta and Alabama Street. Landscape, hardscape, lighting, and art will enliven the courtyard, with food and beverage services running around its perimeter. S9 Architecture has redesigned the connections to Upper and Lower Alabama, Upper and Lower Pryor, and Central Avenue to facilitate pedestrian foot traffic while still maintaining a courtyard feel in the alleyway. Rendering courtesy S9 Architecture.
WRS, the developer who is heading up the transformation of Underground Atlanta has released new images of what the project will someday look like.
Construction on block three of the four-block redevelopment project began in January and will be completed in a little over a year. That section will have “more than 150,000 square feet of retail, office and communal areas,”the company said.
Among the proposed changes:
– The removal of the former Underground Atlanta food court along Central Avenue. This will open up the alley level to the street as shown in the above rendering.
– WRS is opening up the “Exchange” building to Upper Alabama to provide more of an open-air connected corridor between Kenny’s Alley and Upper Alabama.
– Replacement of all retail windows with modern/industrial office storefronts that will be customized based on tenant size.
– Repair of the c 1882 Block Candy Co building at 86 Pryor, and replacement of its 1980’s storm windows with historically-accurate and energy efficient ones.
– Removal of 1980’s “mall” touches like escalators and miscellaneous metal screening.
– Repair and repaint all façades, with addition(s) of street art and murals throughout.
– Reworking interior access so that it functions more like an office / workshop space rather than a circuitous mall.
Source: WRS.
“Block 3 is also the permanent home of The Masquerade, who recently finished cosmetic renovations and the coworking pop-up Post-Office Cowork and coffee shop at 86 Pryor,” the company added.
In the design by S9 Architecture, Kenny’s Alley will get a new “front door” connection to Central Avenue. The breezeway will be demolished and replaced by a large, central stair that can be used for programmed events, casual seating, and outdoor dining. The stair will lead into a new “urban room” that anchors the area while remaining porous to the fabric of the city. Food and beverage tenants and The Masquerade music club will animate the ground level. Creative-class offices, complete with outdoor spaces, will be located on the upper floors of buildings lining the block. Rendering courtesy S9 Architecture.By opening it up to light traffic and on-street parking, Alabama Street will be de-malled and reintegrated into the urban grid in a key move by S9 Architecture. Escalators in the former Food Court building will be removed and replaced with a grand stairway that links the three levels of Kenny’s Alley directly to Alabama Street. Smaller retail and food and beverage tenants will front directly onto Upper Alabama Street and a new internal courtyard. Rendering courtesy S9 Architecture.
