Count This Chicken, It Just Hatched

[hazer]

Well if this doesn't spell "new Hawks arena" right around the corner, not sure how much more Reed can telegraph it. He's put his (not so) secret plan in motion. Go ahead and learn your Civic Center Station rail schedule. Kicking the homeless shelter out and installing a police station right around the corner from the new arena site:

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/08/11/reed-wants-closure-of-peachtree-and-pine-homeless.html

[Guest]

Oh wow, a shocker. Maria Saporta with the "scoop."

I don't know about this meaning a new arena for the Hawks at this location. Might there be other things Kasim Reed would like to do with the area that do not involve the Hawks moving out of Philips?

[hazer]

Oh wow, a shocker. Maria Saporta with the "scoop."

I don't know about this meaning a new arena for the Hawks at this location. Might there be other things Kasim Reed would like to do with the area that do not involve the Hawks moving out of Philips?

 

The Civic Center site has been sitting vacant for years and Reed's been trying to unload it. He just toured the site a few weeks ago with new Hawks owner Tony Ressler. The article/thread is somewhere here on HS, and in that article one of the points mentioned was this homeless shelter. Replace it with a police station, then you do the math. My guess is the Phillips/Gulch/CNN complex on the doorstep of Falcons/United Stadium, GWCC, and Centennial Park becomes the new MGM casino

Edited August 11, 2015 by hazer

[hazer]

Talk about downtown revitalization: an MGM complex right out the front door of the Falcons and GWCC, Centennial Park/Aquarium/College HoF/World of Coke in the middle, and a new Hawks arena just across the Connector on the north/south MARTA line, all tied together with the Streetcar. Which will tie in with the Beltline. This is coming... 

[Guest]

Thanks for the update, I'm always on the skeptical side of things but that's an interesting thought. Seeing as I haven't lived in Atlanta in a while, I'm a little disconnected to things happening within the city. I guess one thought I have is, why wouldn't the MGM casino go in either the Gulch or the vacant GA Dome spot? Still leaving Philips?

I imagine the Civic Center area could still be for something else. If I recall the area correctly, there isn't a nice MARTA option to get there and seemed a bit out of the way. Yeah, I guess Reed may consider it as an area which is prime for extreme revitalization and an arena might jump start that similar to how the MCI/Verizon Center sparked DC's Galleryplace/Chinatown area ... but DC had infrastructure in place and Atlanta is still lacking ...

[hazer]

The GA Dome site will either be parking for the new Falcs statium next door, or a hotel being considered for the GWCC. MGM is looking very closely at The Gulch site. And the Civic Center MARTA station is a 3 block walk to the Civic Center site, so they probably consider that "on the MARTA line." Reed has tried to sell that site to no avail over the past few years. So touring it with Ressler, and officially announcing it as a top potential site for a new Hawks arena, is writing on the wall. There's a chance they'll just refurbish Phillips though.

Edited August 11, 2015 by hazer

[hazer]

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/capitol_vision/2015/07/hawks-eyeing-civil-center-site-for-new-arena.html

 

http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2015/07/24/atlanta-hawks-civic-center-boisfeuillet-jones.php

 

I believe I read that Reed is only offering public funds if they choose the Civic Center site...

[Guest]

Reading up on the Civic Center a little bit....what the *bleep* is SoNo?? I see it is technically "South of North Avenue" but does anyone actually call it that? Or have we completely gone the way of creativity in naming things that everyone attempts to copy other iconic names? SoHo will go the way of the A-Rod, K-Rod, J-Rod, whatever nicknames. I say this because someone went on a rant about this kind of crap in Washington DC where they have come up with the NoMa moniker that no one uses. Real original, guys.

[hazer]

Yeah, seems a little copycatty to me. But North Avenue is the dividing line between Downtown and Midtown. I just say Midtown, or Downtown. Or Old 4th Ward just to the east of that. The Civic Center site sits right on the junction of all 3 of those neighborhoods. It's really a great site, with MARTA access and still in the city, if there HAS to be a new venue. I'm fine with it, as long as Phillips isn't demolished and ends up being utilized for something else that contributes to the improvement of the area.

Edited August 12, 2015 by hazer

[Dejay]

You dream, Hazer. If there is a new arena built at the Civic Center, you can wave Philips goodbye. MGM wants that area for their casino if/when gambling gets passed after Deal and his gang are gone.

[lethalweapon3]

Reading up on the Civic Center a little bit....what the *bleep* is SoNo?? I see it is technically "South of North Avenue" but does anyone actually call it that? Or have we completely gone the way of creativity in naming things that everyone attempts to copy other iconic names? SoHo will go the way of the A-Rod, K-Rod, J-Rod, whatever nicknames. I say this because someone went on a rant about this kind of crap in Washington DC where they have come up with the NoMa moniker that no one uses. Real original, guys.

 

I almost mentioned SoNo in one of the related threads, the moniker was brought up almost comically and kinda stuck in locals' minds. The two civic association "improvement districts" (Downtown and Midtown) have struggled with wanting anything to do with this area of town, even though it's vital to the growth of each area. "So No!" was a great catch-all for the sentiment people have toward spending time there, along with the sense of civic responsibility to do anything about the area.

 

As side trivia, here's an actual neighborhood name worth checking out: the residential area cleared away by the city for the Civic Center complex (and neighboring private ventures, like the glossy Georgia Power HQ and the infamously short-lived Rio Mall) was known as "Buttermilk Bottom". Activist signs around the Civic Center area were put up in the mid-1990s to remind visitors and new residents: "Welcome to Buttermilk Bottom."

 

~lw3

[Guest]

Just recalled that Seattle also went with a SoDo name for an area that used to be South of the kingDome. But the Dome has been gone for several years now.

We should appoint lw3 to handle all nicknames. No more abbreviation nicknames like J-chill, J-Smoove, or Z-Pac. Get creative or gtfo.

[hazer]

You dream, Hazer. If there is a new arena built at the Civic Center, you can wave Philips goodbye. MGM wants that area for their casino if/when gambling gets passed after Deal and his gang are gone.

I know MGM wants that area for their casino. Was just "dreaming" that they'd incorporate the current Phillips into the plan. With renovations, of course. Casinos do have arenas, might save them some dough/time.