FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Atlanta City Hall
55 Trinity Ave. SW
Atlanta, GA 30303

September 19, 2022 

Atlanta City Council Authorizes $10.5 Million Federal Grant Application for “The Stitch”

ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council unanimously approved 22-R-4262, a bill authorizing the administration to apply for a $10.5 million Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Discretionary Grant in support of engineering for the Stitch.

The bill was introduced by Council member Amir Farokhi, with Council members Jason Winston, Byron Amos, Jason Dozier, Liliana Bakhtiari, Alex Wan, Andrea Boone, Matt Westmoreland, Michael Julian Bond, and Keisha Sean Waites co-sponsoring the paper. The paper also received letters of support from state and federal stakeholders including the Georgia Department of Transportation and Representative Nikema Williams, as well as Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Farokhi lauded the collaborative effort towards a worthy endeavor.

“I am grateful to my peers on Council for their vision, as well as the state administrators and federal officials who are part of this effort,” Farokhi said. “Hopefully, this mass show of support will push this catalytic project to the top of the national application list. This is a generational opportunity to repair wounds of the past, add housing and park space to our center city, and prove that our ambitions can become reality.”

The $10.5 million requested would be a federal 1:1 match on $500,000 put forth by the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID) and $10 million from the City. If awarded, the resulting $21 million would go towards preliminary engineering for the Stitch, which is a proposed three-quarter mile platform spanning the I-75/I-85 Downtown Atlanta Connector between Ted Turner Drive and Piedmont Avenue. The platform will create space for a 14-acre park in the heart of the city and engender a projected 14 million square feet of new development, with a high focus on generating affordable housing and attracting residents to Downtown Atlanta.

The $1 billion in available federal dollars have been set aside in part to support “capital construction that reconnects communities.” Senator Warnock, in his letter of support, says that this project will accomplish that goal and much more.

“It [the Stitch] will reconnect divided communities, [and] promote equitable-development and environmental justice through affordable housing and transportation,” said Warnock. “[It will] catalyze economic development, facilitate people-focused mobility and community connectivity, enhance environmental resilience, and improve the health and wellbeing of Atlantans.”

If Atlanta wins the award, ADID will further support the City and Downtown by overseeing the design and engineering. A.J. Robinson, the organization’s President, is relishing the opportunity.

“Years of hard work have gone into advancing the Stitch project to where it is today,” Robinson said. “This is our moment to capitalize on unprecedented Federal support and funding opportunities for the project and secure critical funding for shovel-ready engineering of the Stitch.”

The bill now goes to the Mayor’s desk for final approval. It will then be up to the administration and ADID to get the formal application submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation by its October 13^th deadline.

For more information, contact Tony Lucadamo at (404) 713-8807.

About Atlanta City Council
The Atlanta City Council is the chief policy-making body for the City of Atlanta. It acts by considering and enacting all laws that govern the City. The Council also approves the operating and capital budgets for the City as recommended by the mayor, and it continually monitors revenues and expenditures for local government operations. The Atlanta City Council reviews and has final say on many land-use and zoning matters. Major economic development projects for the City also fall under the council’s consideration.

The Council is comprised of 12 districts and three at-large posts. Council representatives include: Council President: Doug Shipman; District 1: Jason Winston; District 2: Amir Farokhi; District 3: Byron Amos; District 4: Jason S. Dozier; District 5: Liliana Bakhtiari; District 6: Alex Wan; District 7: Howard Shook; District 8: Mary Norwood; District 9: Dustin Hillis; District 10: Andrea L. Boone; District 11: Marci Collier Overstreet; District 12: Antonio Lewis; Post 1 At-Large: Michael Julian Bond; Post 2 At-Large: Matt Westmoreland; and Post 3 At-Large: Keisha Sean Waites.

To learn more about the Atlanta City Council, please visit http://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/. For the latest updates, follow the Atlanta City Council on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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