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What's The Deal with Those Big Letters in Midtown?

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Developers: Vibrant installment establishes "sense of place"

Curious about those giant, colorful "MIDTOWN" letters in the heart of, well, Midtown? Here’s your answer. According to the re-imaginers/developers of Colony Square, the 8-foot-tall, 40-foot-wide word on the corner of Peachtree and 15th streets "anchors" the mixed-use development and alerts visitors to exactly where they are.

"The vibrant, interactive MIDTOWN installment creates an iconic anchor for our city within a city for the local community and visitors to enjoy," North American Properties Vice President of Marketing Liz Gillespie said in a release. "These letters establish a sense of place and further enhance the Midtown brand as the cultural, connected, innovative core of Atlanta."

North American Properties – the developer behind Atlantic Station’s turnaround and Alpharetta’s Avalon – announced plans last year to revolutionize Midtown’s iconic but tired Colony Square, the first large-scale mixed-use development in the Southeast. North American Properties, in partnership with Houston-based Lionstone Investments, closed on the acquisition of Colony Square in December, with plans to debut the reimagined property by July 2018 — the 50th anniversary of Colony Square's original groundbreaking. Most notably, plans call for taking the roof off the retail core of Colony Square to better connect it with the street and lend the sense of a walkable, open-air urban experience.

Built in the late 1960s at 14th and Peachtree streets, Colony Square comprises two office towers totaling 719,402 square feet, plus 162,953 square feet of retail space, as well as condos and the W Hotel. NAP and Lionstone acquired the office towers and retail space that connects them. Developers say this intersection — i.e., the "Main and Main" of Atlanta — has the highest density in the Southeast.

The new vision calls for "restaurants and shops that are relevant and exciting to the Midtown consumer," officials said.

Colony Square

1197 Peachtree Street Northeast, , GA 30361 (404) 965-9091 Visit Website