Bulldozers are finally chewing through the old buildings along Piedmont Avenue, helped along by a $5 million gift from The UPS Foundation that is unlocking demolition this spring and clearing the way for the Atlanta Botanical Garden to push north to the Atlanta BeltLine for the first time. Crews have started tearing down structures as the Garden assembles nearly eight acres for new terraces, water features and a BeltLine-facing entrance, advancing a long-running plan to create a lush botanical greenway where the Garden, Piedmont Park and the BeltLine all meet.
Demolition Underway, Opening Penciled In
Demolition of properties the Garden acquired along Piedmont Avenue is already in motion, and Garden officials say they expect to break ground by late summer. They have now circled late 2028 or early 2029 as the target for opening the expanded attraction, according to Urbanize Atlanta.
Deep-Pocketed Backers For Garden Gateway
The expansion is part of a $160 million "Garden Gateway" campaign that features a $25 million lead gift from the James M. Cox Foundation, $10 million from Garden trustee Carol Tomé and her husband Ramon Tomé, a $40 million grant from the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation and a $5 million commitment from The UPS Foundation, according to Atlanta Botanical Garden. Project materials describe layered terraces and garden "rooms" tied together by a central grand axis, along with a new visitor center and a programmable BeltLine plaza intended for free public events.
UPS Sees Sustainability Payoff
The UPS Foundation announced its $5 million gift in 2023 and cast the contribution as part of its local community engagement and sustainability goals, pointing to UPS's Atlanta roots, according to The UPS Foundation. The foundation said the money would help with land acquisition and support the Garden's efforts to shape a more walkable, bikeable and biodiverse city.
Storage Swap Sparks Neighborhood Friction
The project hinges on a controversial land swap that will move an existing Public Storage facility off the BeltLine so the Garden can take over the site. The Garden has bought property in Virginia-Highland to host the replacement storage facility. That deal, and the decision to help finance a new storage building, drew criticism from BeltLine design reviewers and some neighborhood advocates, who argued the site could instead have been used for retail or housing, as reported by SaportaReport.
What Future Visitors Can Expect
Plans call for a BeltLine-facing plaza with bicycle parking and a bike shop at the new visitor entrance, an indoor-outdoor café, immersive water terraces, a walled garden and a jewel-box orangerie perched on the site's high point, according to project materials on the Atlanta Botanical Garden website. Chicago-based Hoerr Schaudt is leading the landscape architecture work alongside Atlanta firm Smith Dalia, and officials say the build will increase the Garden's footprint by roughly 25 percent.
Garden leaders say they will continue fundraising to close the campaign and will release construction timelines and programming details as permits are approved. Neighbors should plan for demolition activity along Piedmont through the summer as work transitions toward construction, Urbanize Atlanta reported.
