ATLANTA — Crews are demolishing part of a midtown Atlanta landmark. It is part of a transformation for Colony Square.
Over the next year, construction will be going on at the iconic plaza to put up a new six-story building that will be home to office space, restaurants and retail.
The bottom part of the original square building will be built out with more restaurants, retail and office space.
The people who built Colony Square 50 years ago say the redevelopment is overdue.
The original builders said the square was the first mixed-use development in the Southeast and, at the time, it was a state-of-the-art building.
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But now, midtown is growing at such a rapid speed that Colony Square needs a makeover.
“Today it’s an enclosed mall with its back turned to the street, to Peachtree, and we’re going to bring down the mall and orient the detail to Peachtree and have an open-air plaza in the middle of the property that’ll serve as the living room to midtown,” developer John Kelley told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes.
Other things you can expect at the new Colony Square are yoga in the plaza, live music events and festivals, right in the heart of midtown.
Developers told Fernandes that before the wrecking ball goes crashing into the building, Colony Square officials are having everyone sign the ball.
The first phase of the redevelopment will be done in less than a year, which will officially mark the 50th anniversary of the square.