Key Points
- Atlanta Beltline, Inc. and the Council for Quality Growth hosted the State of the Beltline on Sept. 24, celebrating history and sharing updates with attendees.
- Clyde Higgs, the President and CEO of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., announced the Beltline’s $2 million program offering grant funding to local developers and small businesses.
- Applications for the Beltline grant are open now through Oct. 24.
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 program focused on commercial affordability for businesses along the Beltline.
Local 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 we’re [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.”
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, over 26,000 permanent jobs have been created, the Beltline’s land holdings have grown to over 90 acres, the project has helped catalyze over $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 project in the country,” Higgs said. “…[The Beltline] feels like a trail to most folks, but we’re more than that.”
To learn more about the Atlanta Beltline’s active projects, visit beltline.org/learn/current-projects.
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