Business

Tech Square Brings Boom In Development To Midtown Atlanta

August 5th, 2016

Just 15 years ago, Technology Square in Midtown was a mix of mostly blighted neighborhoods. Now, the area at Fifth and Spring streets that abuts the Downtown Connector is now a vibrant district with 15 corporate innovation centers, many of which are Fortune 500 companies, multiple incubators and accelerators and over 150 startups.

With the addition of private-sector companies like NCR Corp., which is relocating its global headquarters to Tech Square, moving into the space, total investment in the eight-block campus will soon reach $1 billion.

Now it’s a given that companies want to be close to Georgia Tech and Tech Square, but when former Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough first proposed jumping the Downtown Connector around 2000, people thought he was crazy.

The influx of companies in Tech Square has spurred residential and retail development as well. Within two blocks of Tech Square, there are nearly 1,000 units either recently completed or under construction, with about 250 units announced.

Nearly 100,000 square feet of retail has also been announced.

“It’s becoming a live, work, play community, said Steve Cross, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. A lot of people are living in all the apartments and condos going up.”

Ellie Hensley is an entertainment, health care and general assignment reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.