The Hole on 14th Street Is Finally a Lawn. Here's What Midtown Green Is Hosting Through December.
For years, the block of 14th Street between Peachtree and West Peachtree was a construction fence around an excavated pit. Behind it sat a leftover sales center for a tower that never went up. This fall, the fence is gone. In its place is a 4-acre lawn of Bermuda sod and a grass-and-wildflower mix, with picnic tables, lawn games, food-truck parking and a new set of MIDTOWN letters facing the street.
Midtown Alliance calls it Midtown Green, and Urbanize Atlanta reported that even the name is a working title that could change. Most of the site is still being decided. The lawn is a placeholder, the permanent park has no published cost or timeline, and the free events on the grass this fall are the most reliable use of the site for now. That calendar gets shorter after October.
The 98 14th Street parcel has been promised to several projects. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that it was first proposed for a symphony hall and later for high-rise residential towers, including Opus Place, which never materialized. When those plans ended, the property stayed an open excavation with the former Opus Place sales center on its western edge.
The Midtown Improvement District closed on the purchase on May 19, 2025, for $46 million. According to Midtown Alliance's key facts page, that works out to $263 per square foot. The same page puts the average Midtown land sale since 2020 at $415 per square foot, so the district paid about 63 percent of that average. The purchase was funded with district cash reserves and tax-exempt general obligation bonds, which SouthState financed over 20 years at 4.08 percent annual interest.
Before anyone could picnic on the site, it had to be filled. Midtown Alliance says crews brought in 785 dump-truck loads of dirt last spring to level it. After that came sod, seed and an irrigation system.
The interim build is basic, and Midtown Alliance describes it that way. Its interim improvements page, dated September 4, 2026, lists:
The same page notes that the grass-and-wildflower mix will need more time to fill in fully. The green that people walk on this fall will keep changing for a while. Midtown Alliance says the temporary improvements opened to the public in September 2026. No exact opening day has been published, but the first Moves on the Green class was scheduled for September 3.
When the season opened, there were weekly fitness classes, lunch gatherings twice a month and a monthly market. As of mid-October, here is what is left on Midtown Alliance's official event pages:
| Date | Event | Time | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct. 15 | Moves on the Green | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Cardio Dance with Dawn Peck |
| Thursday, Oct. 22 | Lunch on the Green | 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Last listed date in the series |
| Thursday, Oct. 22 | Moves on the Green | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Cardio Dance with Dawn Peck |
| Sunday, Oct. 25 | Midtown Artisan Market | Noon–6 p.m. | 20–30 local vendors |
| Thursday, Oct. 29 | Moves on the Green | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Final listed fall class |
| Sunday, Nov. 22 | Midtown Artisan Market | Noon–6 p.m. | 20–30 local vendors |
| Sunday, Dec. 13 | Midtown Artisan Market | Noon–6 p.m. | 20–30 local vendors |
The table shows how quickly the programming drops off. October 22 is the busiest day of the season, with a lunchtime food-truck gathering and an evening class on the same lawn. After the October 29 class, the only listed event is one Sunday market a month through mid-December.
A few details matter before you go. Moves on the Green is free, but registration is required, according to Urbanize Atlanta. Midtown Alliance's announcement suggests bringing a mat and water bottle and says no experience is needed. JETSET taught Pilates in September, and Dawn Peck's Cardio Dance runs through the end of October. Lunch on the Green brings rotating food trucks, local vendors, live music and lawn games. The official event pages also note that outdoor dates may be postponed for bad weather, so check them on the morning of any event.
In May 2026, The Southerner reported a July 1 target for the park, including a pavilion and amphitheater. What opened in September was the temporary lawn. Midtown Alliance's current project information says the permanent buildout's costs and timeline are still undetermined. According to its key facts page, final design, engineering and cost planning come before a charitable capital campaign, and no goal for that campaign has been set.
The design work, however, is well along. In November 2025, Midtown Alliance named Field Operations to lead the concept, with Sarah Astheimer heading the design team. The team also includes:
The concept Midtown Alliance unveiled in April 2026 includes immersive art, a pavilion and outdoor performance venue with an amphitheater for up to 800 people, a restaurant or café, and a community building with public restrooms, along with flexible gathering space. Urbanize Atlanta summed up the plan as a "cultural and civic destination … without walls," pending final designs and fundraising.
Until those plans are funded, the lawn is the park. Midtown Alliance's interim page describes the temporary phase as a space people can use "while fundraising and planning continue for the park's full buildout."
The events serve a second purpose. Midtown Alliance's fall announcement says visitors can meet the project team, see the long-term vision and share ideas for the space. Its community engagement page says earlier pop-ups and surveys showed demand for active, flexible use, art, nature, programming and a focal point. Midtown Alliance has not published how this fall's comments will be weighed. Still, a Sunday market or a Thursday lunch is the easiest way to see the renderings in person and talk with the people working on them.
Getting there is simple. The lawn is one block south of the Arts Center MARTA station and has bike racks on site. For drivers, Midtown Alliance points to the Promenade parking deck, which has entrances on both 14th and 15th Streets. If you can only make one date before the schedule thins, October 22 has the most going on, with food trucks at midday and Cardio Dance at 5:30 p.m. The Sunday market on October 25 comes before the last Cardio Dance class on October 29. After that, the only listed dates are the markets on November 22 and December 13.
A new public space can change how a block feels long before its final design is funded, and the LaMon Team pays close attention to those changes across intown Atlanta. If you'd like to know how projects like the 98 14th Street plan factor into a future decision about where to live, Cathy LaMon and the team would be glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
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