In celebration of the completed first phase of construction, Pittsburgh Yards ®, a community-driven development in Southwest Atlanta, will host a free public event on Saturday, September 18 from 12:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. The community-planned, outdoor celebration will include a marketplace with local businesses, family activities, free children’s books, and tours. The celebration will also feature performances by local entertainers, including the Douglas Alumni Drumline, DJ Earl, jazz performers Jody Mayfield and Ronald Hampton, Atlanta African Dance and Drum musicians, spoken word artist ABYSS and the Moving in the Spirit Dancers.
Located adjacent to the soon-to-be-opened Atlanta BeltLine Southside Trail – Segment 1, Pittsburgh Yards is designed to generate more equitable entrepreneurship and job opportunities for residents in the surrounding communities of Neighborhood Planning Unit V. The completion of its first phase of construction includes the major renovation of a 61,000-square-foot former trucking terminal on the site, which has been formally named The Nia Building ™. The Nia Building offers 101 leasable coworking spaces at affordable rates, a construction workshop, conference spaces, an amphitheater and five apartment units. It will eventually include a shared-use kitchen and market.
The first phase of redevelopment at Pittsburgh Yards also includes outdoor space for repurposed shipping containers that can become workspaces and storefronts, as well as a large green space, now known as James Bridges Field.
The Atlanta BeltLine staff will be present at the Pittsburgh Yards community celebration to give tours of Southside Trail-Segment 1, answer questions, and provide information about Atlanta BeltLine Partnership programs.
The redevelopment of Pittsburgh Yards played a major role in the selection of Southside Trail-Segment 1 as the first segment of the Southside Trail to undergo construction. Approximately one mile long, it runs from the southern terminus of the Westside Trail at University Avenue to Pittsburgh Yards, just west of the I-75/I-85 overpass and connects four open and emerging job centers – Pittsburgh Yards, Murphy Crossing, the Met, and Lee + White.
In March 2020, a Special Service District (SSD) was passed to help fund the completion of the Atlanta BeltLine trail corridor, including the remaining four segments of the Southside Trail. The Atlanta BeltLine Southside Trail provides the missing link of connectivity between the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail and Eastside Trail. The passing of the SSD also unlocked funding for programming designed to ensure greater long-term affordability and equitable access to opportunity around the BeltLine in housing, small business support, and job creation.
We need more private-public partnerships like this with efforts focused on the underdeveloped and underserved areas of our city rather than trying pack everything in MidTown and Buckhead.