Work on The Stitch, the park that will cap a section of the Downtown Connector, is set to begin in 2027, with more funding still being sought to complete the ambitious project.
During an October event at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, new renderings for The Stitch were unveiled, showcasing an indoor-outdoor “Gateway Pavilion” along Peachtree Street, cafe space, and green spaces.
The park would reconnect a section of Downtown that was cut when I-75/85 was built in the 1950s. Phase one of the park will span the interstate between Peachtree Street, Cortland Street, Ralph McGill Boulevard, and Currier Street.
Jack Cebe, president and CEO of the nonprofit Atlanta Downtown Stitch Inc., told Rough Draft that improvements and repairs would begin on existing streets before work on the cap park begins.
The Stitch is expected to cost an estimated $713 million and would add roughly 17 acres along a three-quarter-mile stretch of the Downtown Connector. Cebe said phase one will cost around $200 million.
The Trump Administration pulled more than $150 million in federal funding for the project last year, but Cebe said the nonprofit is applying for a new $60 million federal grant.
He said the new grant is for infrastructure resilience projects, and The Stitch qualifies as a stormwater management facility that will help prevent flooding on the Downtown Connector.
Cebe said The Stitch has secured $50 million from various sources – including the City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Regional Commission – for phase one.
The Stitch is planned to act as a catalyst for new housing and to revitalize a central part of Downtown, much in the same way that the Centennial Yards and South Downtown projects are bringing new energy to other parts of the district.
Cebe said The Stitch is being designed for active recreation and to provide space for community events like farmers’ markets and concerts. There will also be a large playground, perennial and native gardens, and an interactive fountain sculpture.
There are also hopes that The Stitch will help revitalize the nearly century-old Medical Arts Building, which has stood abandoned for decades. The 12-story Beaux Arts and Neoclassical building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits on the Peachtree Street edge of the park.
“It’s a beautiful building, so I personally hope it can be repurposed into something like housing,” Cebe said.
Cebe said he hopes The Stitch will be a catalyst for other cap projects to help reconnect communities. A plan to cap part of the Downtown Connector in Midtown was shelved in 2024.
In Buckhead, the half–mile HUB 404 cap park is also set to begin construction in 2027 and will cover a portion of Georgia 400 between Peachtree and Lenox Roads.
