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Where Castleberry Hill meets downtown Atlanta, old Norfolk Southern building next to get love?

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The property’s rumored sale could be next mega-deal for South Downtown neighborhood, with potential for a Ponce City Market-like redo

A pair of eight-story white classical buildings, conneced by a five-story bridge over the street.
The 1912 structure, bridging Nelson Street, once connected Casteberry Hill and South Downtown over The Gulch.
Georgia Trust

Plans for the redevelopment (and adaptive-reuse) of much of South Downtown have been unveiled in the past few months, so logic says it was only a matter of time before a developer latched ahold of the old Norfolk Southern Building.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the rambling white building standing along The Gulch between South Downtown and Castleberry Hill could soon be purchased by West Coast developer (and brother of Atlanta Hawks owner) Richard Ressler.

Constructed in 1912, adjacent to the rail corridors leading into the grandiose Terminal Station, the building served as the Atlanta headquarters for Norfolk Southern for decades.

While the structures have been used as the backdrop for film productions, they’ve long been abandoned, looming over the neighborhood and the vast wasteland where tracks used to carry trains through the city—and active rail beyond.

Now, with a possible sale pending, a new chapter could begin; the building’s adaptive-reuse potential has been likened to that of Ponce City Market. Word that Ressler’s firm CIM is in talks to acquire the property isn’t that shocking, as earlier this summer speculation swirled over a Ressler-led redevelopment of The Gulch area.

The building in question, in the middle distance, and a Gulch parking lot.
Curbed Atlanta

A full redevelopment, observers have said, could cost well over a billion dollars. Meanwhile, the news comes as talks of a new multi-modal passenger terminal in the area are being revived.

Per the AJC, there’s no word on when a deal could be finalized.