Views from 12 Centennial Park Atlanta Tower

jfsatlbldr · #1 Posted: **Feb 24, 2007, 5:36 PM**

The skies were somewhat overcast so these are not quite up to standard but will improve later;

Trae · #2 Posted: **Feb 24, 2007, 7:16 PM**

Love those photos Joe. Traffic looks horrible on the connector.

Andrea · #3 Posted: **Feb 24, 2007, 8:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trae

Traffic looks horrible on the connector.

Yeah, and notice how most of it has nothing to do with downtown Atlanta. The connector is primarily an inter-suburban freeway that just happens be routed right through the middle of the city.

I love these photos, too -- fantastic job as always, Joe.

Chris Creech · #4 Posted: **Feb 24, 2007, 9:41 PM**

Great Pics, nice how when you get just a little bit off that Peachtree Spine the views really open up. Some of those views seem relatively protected from future development too, which should be a big selling point.

I know there's lots of things still to break ground, they remind me though just how much that area is still just surface parking lots.

And also...

I still think this big chunk of land below represents a prime development parcel. It can't be that hard to build over a two lane express ramp. That one day is going to be a key piece of tying this area together and covering the connector.

Also, I'd read where Atlanta was getting rid of most of the old Senior high rises, except the smallest ones (like the one on 10th in Midtown). I wonder if that means the old Portman designed tower in the pic below here (Upper left) is going? I wonder if that would be convertable or be torn down? I think that was one of his very first buildings - even before Peachtree Center, and after Avondale Mall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfsatlbldr

trainiac · #5 Posted: **Feb 24, 2007, 11:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea

Yeah, and notice how most of it has nothing to do with downtown Atlanta. The connector is primarily an inter-suburban freeway that just happens be routed right through the middle of the city.

Ah, yes. The great car sewer

Quote:

I love these photos, too -- fantastic job as always, Joe.

Yes, thanks! Doesn't look quite as scary as the Terminus shots a few weeks ago. If I was buying at Twelve, I'm not even sure which side I'd want, they all have pretty amazing views. That would be some penthouse.

Nice to see Polaris look so prominent. Anybody heard anything about it lately? It's been empty for a couple of years now I think.

foxmccleod · #6 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 6:02 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Creech

Great Pics, nice how when you get just a little bit off that Peachtree Spine the views really open up. Some of those views seem relatively protected from future development too, which should be a big selling point.

I know there's lots of things still to break ground, they remind me though just how much that area is still just surface parking lots.

And also...

I still think this big chunk of land below represents a prime development parcel. It can't be that hard to build over a two lane express ramp. That one day is going to be a key piece of tying this area together and covering the connector.

Also, I'd read where Atlanta was getting rid of most of the old Senior high rises, except the smallest ones (like the one on 10th in Midtown). I wonder if that means the old Portman designed tower in the pic below here (Upper left) is going? I wonder if that would be convertable or be torn down? I think that was one of his very first buildings - even before Peachtree Center, and after Avondale Mall.

There is a design floating around to remove the onramp by rerouting the traffic around to Ivan Allen, accessing the ramp from there, which would open virtually the entire parcel.

I also believe the article stated that both high-rises would come down on Centennial Olympic Drive, the one in the photo and the one at North Ave.

sprtsluvr8 · #7 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 11:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea

Yeah, and notice how most of it has nothing to do with downtown Atlanta. The connector is primarily an inter-suburban freeway that just happens be routed right through the middle of the city.

I love these photos, too -- fantastic job as always, Joe.

I'm wondering how you can tell that most of the traffic has nothing to do with downtown? In the southbound lanes they are just approaching the edge of downtown (and probably the edge of sanity) and northbound we can't really see where those people entered the connector. I for one use the connector a lot...admittedly at off peak hours, God willing. I live at one end of it, getting on at Langford Pkwy, and have friends and destinations at the other end in Midtown. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I would estimate that a large number of cars on the connector are heading for/leaving downtown and Midtown locations...and others are traveling from one in-town area to another.

Andrea · #8 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 12:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Creech

Also, I'd read where Atlanta was getting rid of most of the old Senior high rises, except the smallest ones (like the one on 10th in Midtown). I wonder if that means the old Portman designed tower in the pic below here (Upper left) is going? I wonder if that would be convertable or be torn down? I think that was one of his very first buildings - even before Peachtree Center, and after Avondale Mall.

I think he'd started on Peachtree Center some years before that. The Mart was built in 1960, I believe, and the first office towers and the Hyatt Regency went up in the mid-60s.

I never realized that Portman designed Avondale/Columbia Mall. It was also mid-60s and was rather upscale when it opened. Portman gets associated with so many things in Atlanta which he did not do (the Five Points MARTA station, efforts to tear down the Fox, etc.) that it's sometimes hard to tell.

(four 0 four) · #9 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 5:27 PM**

Thanks Joe! Great photos, as usual.

Terminus · #10 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 5:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Creech

Great Pics, nice how when you get just a little bit off that Peachtree Spine the views really open up. Some of those views seem relatively protected from future development too, which should be a big selling point.

I know there's lots of things still to break ground, they remind me though just how much that area is still just surface parking lots.

And also...

I still think this big chunk of land below represents a prime development parcel. It can't be that hard to build over a two lane express ramp. That one day is going to be a key piece of tying this area together and covering the connector.

Also, I'd read where Atlanta was getting rid of most of the old Senior high rises, except the smallest ones (like the one on 10th in Midtown). I wonder if that means the old Portman designed tower in the pic below here (Upper left) is going? I wonder if that would be convertable or be torn down? I think that was one of his very first buildings - even before Peachtree Center, and after Avondale Mall.

This area is about to be completely redesigned, if I recall correctly.

Some friends and I downtown have thought about contacting GDOT about seeing if they'd let us raise money to fence off a portion of this unbuilt right-of-way (on a part where you don't have to cross a ramp) to build a neighborhood garden.

SteveD · #11 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 5:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trainiac

... If I was buying at Twelve, I'm not even sure which side I'd want, they all have pretty amazing views...

True, but remember, the eventual north tower will completely block what is shown in the third pic, so for that view, you'd want to procure a unit in the north tower...the converse being true for south-viewing units in the eventual north tower...

Great set Joe!

SteveD · #12 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 8:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxmccleod

There is a design floating around to remove the onramp by rerouting the traffic around to Ivan Allen, accessing the ramp from there, which would open virtually the entire parcel.

I love that idea. I wonder though if the folks at Barry and Allen Plaza would try to mount any opposition to it, since that would make the W Hotel and residences much less visible to southward traffic on the connector, and block north views.

Fiorenza · #13 Posted: **Feb 25, 2007, 11:52 PM**

This was taken 2/2/2007 at 11.30

Atlriser · #14 Posted: **Mar 14, 2007, 2:27 PM**

Love it love it love it! Thanks for the great pics yet again!

G-DOT's figures show over 50% of the traffic on the connector is pass thru. Why do people keep arguing about this fact on the forum? During non rush hour times that figure approaches 75% of traffic. If you drive the connector daily and nost just rush hour, you'd see the number of out of state tags and quickly realize the volume that is simply passing through the state north or south.

Consider that 75 and 95 are 2 of the most travelled north south interstates in the entire country from Florida all the way to Canada and the growth along 85 outside the metro area is making this route explode with traffic as well. Connect 75 and 85 through a major urban area and you see the results in Atlanta on the connector.

Try 95 along the GA coast and you see the pure volume load as well outside of a metro area. Plus remember the mountains north of here block traffic moving east to west so you must pass south to Atlanta then back north thus creating a strain on 285 to deal with this volume.

oldpainless · #15 Posted: **Mar 14, 2007, 5:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea

Yeah, and notice how most of it has nothing to do with downtown Atlanta. The connector is primarily an inter-suburban freeway that just happens be routed right through the middle of the city.

please... for once will you set aside your knee-jerk suburban-hatred for one moment and realize that downtown's success is largely dependent on its excellent transportation access...

Andrea · #16 Posted: **Mar 14, 2007, 7:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldpainless

please... for once will you set aside your knee-jerk suburban-hatred for one moment and realize that downtown's success is largely dependent on its excellent transportation access...

Er, I don't hate the suburbs. That's where 90% of the people in metro Atlanta live, and it could certainly be argued that in many ways they offer a better quality of life than the city.

But that's an entirely different issue from running suburban freeways through the middle of the city. Downtown Atlanta's success is not dependent upon vast numbers of workers commuting into the central city by automobile. Probably about 10% of metro area jobs are in downtown, and many of the people who hold those jobs already live in town and don't need the connector. Many take public transit. Some walk. Most take the surface streets. I worked in the heart of downtown for 10 years and never once needed the connector to get to or from work, and that was true of most people in our company.

The connector as it exists has essentially become a suburban interchange. If you don't believe me, check the traffic counts, or simply drive it and you'll see that the vast majority of this river of vehicles is merely passing through. If you're going northbound, for instance, the number of vehicles exiting into downtown is a relative trickle, and of course once you get past 5th Street you literally can't get off until you reach Buckhead.

My point is that we'd be far better off with an upgraded network of surface streets and urban boulevards in the cntral urban core. Freeways should be located in the suburbs where their burden will rest on the neighborhoods who prefer to use them.

Pillsbury Doughboy · #17 Posted: **Mar 14, 2007, 7:27 PM**

I love the photos!!! Thanks for sharing them.

I agree with Andrea. In my experiences with downtown during rush hour, I've always been amazed at how well the traffic moves on the surface streets. Once you get on the Connector, however, it's a giant gridlock. It does seem to me (as an outsider) that a good chunk of the Connector traffic has little to do with downtown or midtown and more to do with people simply driving through.

sabino86 · #18 Posted: **Mar 16, 2007, 5:29 AM**

Love how the south-facing units have a great view of what I call the "Big Four" (SunTrust, 191, Georgia-Pacific, and of course, the Westin Peachtree Plaza)

The other views are cool too...

dante2308 · #19 Posted: **Mar 16, 2007, 7:44 AM**

This argument has been done and done again. Andrea truly believes that the connector should be ripped out of the ground and replaced by a field of daisies. Most people see that connectivity is an impetus for growth, but Andrea feels that ripping out connectivity will make a place thrive. Now thats (her?) right, but at least the GTOD isn't about to rip out a main artery like it was a sixth toe on a foot or an appendix.

Secondly, surface streets leading to the connector are jammed during the evening rush at nearly every entrance point all the way up and down the length. That picture of the North Avenue/Spring Street entrance shows cars basically trying to get on the connector. I know how traffic is. I literally live in that picture. The connector itself seems pretty clear actually. Not a jam, and I know you can't see motion in that picture, but it seems to be moving steadily.

Thridly, believe it or not, commuters do exist as well as people trying to get from point to point inside the city. Without the highways system, no one in their right mind would try to go downtown from the cozy suburbs for any reason other than critical need. Businesses would catch on and relocate even more to the cozy suburbs. Few people would come down for entertainment and thus that too would start to leave. Welcome to Atlanta's shell. No connector and no one but die hards putting up with the thirty mile drive only to get lost on surface streets no one understands.

Andrea · #20 Posted: **Mar 16, 2007, 10:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dante2308

This argument has been done and done again. Andrea truly believes that the connector should be ripped out of the ground and replaced by a field of daisies.

Sorry, dante, but you don't get to fabricate my views. I've never said any such thing.

You may want to fact-check your own arguments, by the way.