South Downtown is an urban sub-district of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, north of I-20, east of Castleberry Hill, south of Five Points, and west of I-85. According to CAP/ADID, South Downtown is one of the oldest sections of Downtown Atlanta. [1] This part of Downtown is primarily home to the city, county, state, and federal governmental offices, which prompted the city to adopt signage declaring the area "Government Walk." Underground Atlanta is the primary shopping and entertainment center near South Downtown but it, along with the railroad gulch, separates the district from Five Points and the Hotel District. Although much of South Downtown is dominated by surface parking lots, the district was passed over during the redevelopment boom of the 1960s and 70s that resulted in the demolition of much of Downtown's architecturally significant buildings. The result are myriad buildings from the 1950s and earlier that remain ripe for renovation. [2][3]
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Hotel Row is a single block of commercial buildings, originally hotels, located on Mitchell Street west of Forsyth Street, built to serve the needs of passengers from Terminal Station. The buildings are the most intact row of early 20th century commercial structures in the city, and once formed Atlanta's original business district. They include Concordia Hall (1892), the Gordon Hotel, the Scoville (1908), the Sylvan (1908), and two commercial structures. The decline of Hotel Row began in the 1920s due to the increased availability of automobile transportation and the construction of the Spring Street viaduct, which made getting to hotels in the northern part of the city easier. In the 1950s and 60s, the increase in air travel led ultimately to the demolition of Terminal Station in 1971. [4]
The district is architecturally significant because the structures that make up the block retain most of their original historic architectural character. Several structures were developed by Samuel Inman and Walker Inman, two of Atlanta's most prominent businessmen, and the majority of the structures were designed by the leading architects of the period. They typify the early 20th century commercial structures once common in Atlanta but now rare because of extensive redevelopment. The district consists of one block of early 20th century commercial buildings, 3-4 stories high, brick load-bearing construction, timber interior framework, with stores at ground level. With Atlanta's massive gentrification, plans were underway to convert some of the buildings into lofts, however these plans ultimately stalled as a result of the Great Recession.[5]
Hotel Row is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2007, the Downtown Atlanta Improvement District designated the area as the 'Railroad District. The name is applied to 20 blocks of the downtown area south of Five Points between the Castleberry Hill neighborhood to its west and Peachtree Street to the east.[6]
South Downtown is home to the governmental facilities of the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, and the State of Georgia. South Downtown is also home to federal government offices. This concentration of governmental facilities influenced the city's decision to market the area as "Government Walk." A list of the most well known government buildings in this district are:
To the east of Central Avenue, aside from the Georgia State Capitol, many State of Georgia offices are located in this district, such as the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Georgia Department of Agriculture, and the Georgia Supreme Court.
MARTA provides public transportation to the district through the Garnett Transit Station, located on Peachtree Street.
Many commuters from the southern suburbs who work in Downtown travel on South Downtown's streets when heading to work. Many streets in this district are one-way, similar to the other districts that make up Downtown.
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