Colony Square to debut The Grove, ‘Midtown’s newest gathering place,’ this week

The pedestrian-friendly activation of Midtown’s 14th and Peachtree streets intersection should take a noticeable step forward this week.

North American Properties, redevelopers of iconic but dated Colony Square, will debut a 10,000-square-foot urban park along 14th Street on Friday called The Grove, officials announced today.

That’s across the street from a street-level retail expansion recently launched at another key property, Dewberry Group’s Campanile tower.

At The Grove, expect an open-container public hangout beneath 40-foot trees, with tables, chairs, and Spanish steps. It’ll serve as the gateway to attractions at Colony Square’s remade core, including the Main & Main food hall, luxury move theater IPIC, and The Plaza retail zone.

At the park’s edge, restaurant and bar Establishment is also set to reopen this month, with a larger patio and new outdoor bar.

Expect the communal space to be activated with year-round events, including a Friday music series called “Groovin’ in The Grove” this summer. Ginny Kennedy, Midtown Alliance’s director of urban design, described The Grove as “Midtown’s newest gathering place” in a prepared statement.

NAP also announced that vertical construction of the food hall and Atlanta’s first IPIC has begun, while more than 200,000 square feet of Colony Square’s former structures have been demolished.

Other happenings of note:

In the remade lobby of Building 100, Starbucks expects to open a new cafe next month.

Chick-fil-A will mark its return to the property on Thursday, debuting a location above The Grove.

Like The Grove, Building 400’s lobby will open to the public Friday.

A secured bike valet called C-Cycle is expected to open for Colony Square office tenants next month.

And NAP has selected an all-female team of artists (Lauren Pallotta Stumberg, Molly Rose Freeman, Lela Brunet, and Laura Vela) to paint the Peachtree Street-facing wall of 5Church restaurant with a nearly 3,000-square-foot mural, beginning Friday morning. (The artists and developer recently collaborated on a 90-by-90-foot mural at NAP’s Edge project, along the Beltline’s Eastside Trail.)

NAP expects to host a grand opening for the reborn Colony Square in May 2020.