U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) presented an oversized check for $750,000 to the Buckhead Community Improvement District for HUB404, a park that would cap Ga. 400 and reconnect areas split by the highway.
HUB404 is the planned half-mile-long park that would span nine acres and bridge Lenox Road and Ga. 400 in Buckhead. It would link PATH400 to the Atlanta Beltline, Buckhead MARTA station, neighboring streets and to neighborhood parks.
“HUB404 will be transformational for Buckhead, and we greatly appreciate this significant funding that will help make it a reality,” said Jim Durrett, executive director of the BCID, in a news release. The BCID is leading the effort to secure public funds for the estimated $270 million project.
The $750,000 federal funding for HUB404 was announced in January. Williams and the Georgia delegation in Congress secured funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUB404 is envisioned as a multi-purpose public space and “an agent of social change” that would become a destination for the local community, commuters and visitors, said Anthony Rodriguez, executive director of the HUB404 Conservancy. The conservancy is the nonprofit organization raising funds from private and corporate sponsors.
“This is a visionary and transformative project, and civic infrastructure projects like these, which build trust and connection in our communities, are often considered ‘nice to have’ rather than a vital investment,” Rodriguez said in the release.
“If we want to build unity in our communities, we must prioritize places that bring us together and create common ground,” he said.
Engineering of the pedestrian bridge from Lenox Road to Peachtree Road, the project’s first phase, is underway as part of BCID’s Lenox Road complete street project. Engineering for the remainder of HUB404 is set to begin next year.