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Poll: Will Atlanta’s Second-Tallest Tower Actually Happen?

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Proposal calls for a 74-story Midtown structure just 100 feet shorter than Bank of America Plaza

Hold on to your hats, skyline-o-philes of Atlanta: Developers have reportedly modified earlier plans and hope to break ground this fall on a 74-story tower in the heart of Midtown that would be the city’s second tallest, behind only Bank of America Plaza.

What Now Atlanta reports that Olympia Heights Management, with architecture firm Perkins + Will in tow, presented radically revised plans at a Midtown Development Committee meeting this week that scrap the initial three-tower concept for the 98 Fourteenth Street site. Earlier versions of the project first appeared more than two years ago.

Now, 98 Fourteenth Street aims to move forward with two towers, including an initial phase that could rise 920 feet and consist of 180 extended-stay corporate suites with 382 luxury condos above — potentially the largest dose of for-sale units Atlanta has seen in years.

This reimagined tower would rise about 50 feet higher than SunTrust Plaza, Atlanta’s second tallest high-rise and a dominant piece of downtown’s skyline since the early 1990s. Renderings suggest it has the potential to be a svelte, glassy contrast to the neighboring One Atlantic Center, a postmodern and slightly gothic structure that’s currently Midtown’s height king.

The project's second phase is planned to house a more traditional hotel component; plans for overall retail offerings have been beefed up from 90,000 square feet to 135,000, WNA reports.

According to the meeting agenda, the first tower would offer about 60,000 square feet of retail and 825 parking spaces within the structure.

If the long-discussed project manages to launch and climb 74 stories, it should help validate what Midtown boosters have been saying for ages: Job growth and abundant amenities will propel the submarket’s boom for years to come.

But developers in Atlanta have been known to talk big talk and present flashy renderings before, only to have plans peter out. (For proof, see our list of Atlanta’s Top 10 Towers That Never Happened, some of which were proposed within a few blocks of the site in question).

Have a gander at Perkins + Will’s renderings below, and cast a vote for how confident you are right now that Atlanta’s second-tallest skyscraper will come to fruition soon, all things considered: