CNN’s former headquarters is to be rebranded and renovated as a shopping and dining destination
Last December, the developer CP Group began transforming the 1.2-million-sf former CNN Center in downtown Atlanta into a mixed-use destination that, when completed, will focus on retail, entertainment, and office.
CNN, which was headquartered in this building since 1986, moved out the last vestiges of its operations last July as the final stage of its relocation to Turner Broadcasting’s Techwood campus in Midtown Atlanta. CP Group, in partnership with Rialto Capital Management, had acquired the CNN Center from AT&T (CNN’s parent company at the time) in 2021, and began leasing space to new tenants in April 2024. (Its first tenant is a high-end restaurant that is renting nearly 10,000 sf of space.)
The transformed building is called The Center. CP Group has been working with the architecture and interior designer TVS and general contractor Holder Construction on this project. Core Twelve is responsible for the rebranding of the redevelopment, CBRE is the office leasing agent, and Healey Weatherholtz Properties is the retail leasing agent.
See fly-through video of what The Center will become
CP Group has also partnered with Savannah College of Art and Design, and local culture advocates Neda Abghair and Bem Joiner, to curate artwork that will establish The Center’s identity. These are likely to include custom murals and installations within the building’s atrium.
According to the website What Now Atlanta, the redevelopment plan will turn The Center into a hub for dining, shopping, and entertainment, at a time when Downtown Atlanta is being revitalized with billions in capital investment.
The Center is directly connected to State Farm Arena, home of NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, and adjacent to the fourth largest convention center in the United States, the Georgia World Congress Center, and Centennial Olympic Park, serving as Georgia’s legacy of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and a year-round destination for locals and visitors. Those facilities and the nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium attract over 12 million visitors annually.
The developer has not revealed publicly when The Center’s transformation would be completed, or how much it will cost. The amount of square footage to be renovated is subject to lease demand, according to a spokesperson for CP Group, which is focused on activating the building's cavernous ground floor.
