On April 21, 2025, the Atlanta City Council adopted three key ordinances to activate local revenue sources supporting “The Stitch,” an ambitious project to create an estimated 14-acre park with walking trails, outdoor performance spaces, public art, playgrounds, and more. This elevated park will span the I-75/85 Downtown Connector between Ted Turner Drive and Piedmont Avenue, physically linking downtown with midtown, Old Fourth Ward, English Avenue, and Vine City neighborhoods.
District 2 Atlanta Council member Amir Farokhi explained the significance of the legislation:
“This SSD is similar to the Beltline SSD, which was passed three to four years ago, to help generate money to complete the Beltline Trail. This is downtown and midtown to help generate more revenue to complete the Stitch faster…A lot of it is in the planning phase right now. But when it comes time for shovels in the ground this local funding will be critical to seeing infrastructure changes in the footprint of the Stitch.”
The three ordinances passed include:
- Ordinance 25-O-1168: Establishes an ad valorem tax levy on properties within the proposed Stitch Special Services District. This tax will help the City, Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Inc., and Invest Atlanta generate additional funding necessary to complete the project.
- Ordinance 25-O-1169: Authorizes the City of Atlanta and partner entities—including Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Urban Redevelopment Agency, and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Inc.—to implement, finance, and execute intergovernmental agreements for The Stitch.
- Ordinance 25-O-1170: Formally creates the Stitch Special Services District and establishes its geographic boundaries where the tax levy will apply.
Plans for The Stitch date back to the early 2000s, initially as an expansion and connection of Mayor’s Park, commemorating former mayors Ivan Allen Jr. and Maynard H. Jackson. The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Inc. expanded the project area in 2015 and gave it its current name, reflecting the goal to “stitch” together neighborhoods divided by the construction of the Downtown Connector and I-20 in the 1960s. These highway projects, funded by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, disrupted historically Black neighborhoods as part of federally sanctioned urban planning.
Since 2015, the City and its partners have secured funding and advanced the design process. Phase 1 funding includes $200 million from sources such as the Atlanta Regional Commission, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
For more details on The Stitch project and timeline, visit thestitchatl.com.
Additional Resources:
Watch Council member Farokhi’s interview on The Stitch legislation: YouTube link
