Draft:Midtown Alliance
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|  |
| Formation | 1978 (as Midtown Business Association) |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose | Economic development, urban planning, and public space management |
| Headquarters | 999 Peachtree Street Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
Region served | Midtown Atlanta |
President and CEO | Kevin Green |
Key people | Susan Mendheim (president, 1982–2011; died 2024) |
| Website | www |
Midtown Alliance is a nonprofit organization based in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, that coordinates economic development, urban planning, and public space improvements in the district. Founded in 1978 as the Midtown Business Association, the organization led a community planning process in 1997 known as Blueprint Midtown and has been credited by local and regional media with guiding the redevelopment of the Peachtree Street corridor in the decades since.[1][2] It administers the Midtown Improvement District, a self-taxing commercial property district covering a portion of the neighborhood. Independent reporting on a 2025 retrospective marking the district's 25th anniversary found that its residential population, once described as scant, had grown to nearly 30,000, alongside an estimated $22 billion in new development since 2000.[3]
History
[edit]Founding and early years
[edit]The organization was founded in 1978 as the Midtown Business Association, formed by business and civic leaders to promote redevelopment of the Peachtree Street corridor following decades of disinvestment in the neighborhood.[4]
Susan Mendheim led the organization as president and chief executive from 1982 until her retirement in 2011, and the group was renamed Midtown Alliance during her tenure to reflect a broadened membership that came to include residents and nonprofit organizations in addition to businesses.[5][6] At her retirement celebration, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution honoring Mendheim and authorized a plaque in her honor at 15th Street Plaza.[7] Mendheim died in September 2024; in an obituary, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described her as the driving force behind the modern Midtown Alliance and credited the Blueprint Midtown plan she championed with leading to the largest rezoning in Atlanta's history.[8]
In 1997, Midtown Alliance led a community planning process called Blueprint Midtown, a master plan for the district financially supported in part by the Woodruff Foundation. The plan has been cited by regional historians and planners as a turning point that helped guide subsequent investment in the district.[1][4]
Midtown Improvement District
[edit]In 2000, with support from commercial property owners and the City of Atlanta, Midtown Alliance established the Midtown Improvement District (MID), a self-taxing district funded through a special assessment on commercial property within the district.[3] The MID has no staff of its own; Midtown Alliance employees manage its day-to-day programs and projects, which have included streetscape construction, traffic and transportation improvements, and a private security and maintenance program that supplements city police patrols in the district.[2][3] According to figures Midtown Alliance reported and Urbanize Atlanta independently covered, violent crime in the district's core fell by 78 percent and property crime by 68 percent between 1998 and 2024.[3]
Kevin Green, previously executive director of the Clean Air Campaign and a former vice president of environmental affairs at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, succeeded Mendheim as president and CEO in 2011.[5]
Atlanta Police Foundation
[edit]In early 2003, Midtown Alliance was one of three Atlanta business associations, alongside Central Atlanta Progress and the Buckhead Coalition, that provided start-up financial and logistical support for the newly created Atlanta Police Foundation, including helping to establish its governing board.[9]
Recognition
[edit]In 2016, Midtown Atlanta was named to the American Planning Association's "Great Places in America" list, with the City of Atlanta and Midtown Alliance jointly recognized for community-led planning in a district then estimated to include about 65,000 daytime workers and 15,000 residents.[10][11]
Recent projects
[edit]In March 2025, the Midtown Improvement District agreed to purchase a long-vacant parcel at 98 14th Street, marking the first time the district had taken on debt and one of the first instances of a Georgia community improvement district purchasing property directly.[12] At its April 2026 annual meeting, Midtown Alliance unveiled conceptual designs by the firm Field Operations for a four-acre park on the site, referred to as "Midtown Green."[13]
Midtown Alliance has also been cited in coverage of other organizations relocating to the district; when The Atlanta Journal-Constitution moved its headquarters to Midtown in 2024, the newspaper quoted Green on the significance of the move for the area.[14][15] In its year-end 2025 progress report, Midtown Alliance estimated that more than 100,000 residents, workers, and visitors spend time in the district on a typical day.[16]
Governance
[edit]Midtown Alliance is governed by a board of directors drawn from private-sector, nonprofit, and civic organizations in the district.[17] The Midtown Improvement District is governed separately by a board of commercial property owners, with additional members appointed by the Mayor of Atlanta and the Atlanta City Council.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 "Midtown Atlanta". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- 1 2 "How Midtown became a commercial district, and kept its soul". WABE. March 18, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Green, Josh (March 11, 2025). "Report: Past 25 years have fundamentally transformed Midtown". Urbanize Atlanta. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- 1 2 Keys, Jessica (January 25, 2018). "Power and Place-Naming: The Struggle for a New Urban Order in Midtown, 1870–1970". Atlanta Studies. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- 1 2 Saporta, Maria (June 7, 2011). "Clean Air Campaign's Kevin Green to become new Midtown Alliance CEO". SaportaReport. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "Ross applauds Mendheim legacy". Georgia Tech College of Design. December 15, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ Pendered, David (2011). "Midtown Alliance says farewell to its president and CEO of 30 years: Susan McNeill Mendheim". SaportaReport. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ Hansen, Zachary; Trubey, J. Scott (September 18, 2024). "Midtown visionary Susan Mendheim has died. She was 81". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "'The sky is the limit here': Atlanta Police Foundation's early history". Atlanta Community Press Collective. December 12, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "City of Atlanta's Midtown Neighborhood Receives the 2016 Great Places Award from the American Planning Association" (Press release). City of Atlanta. 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "Midtown Atlanta". Great Places in America. American Planning Association. 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ Tarr, Delaney (March 20, 2025). "Midtown Improvement District to purchase Opus eyesore site for 'signature public space'". SaportaReport. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ Tarr, Delaney (April 15, 2026). "Midtown Alliance unveils plans for 'Midtown Green,' a 'layered civic landscape'". SaportaReport. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "AJC moves to new Atlanta office 'in the heart of the city'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 23, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "AJC returns to Atlanta with move to Midtown". Axios. November 19, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "2025 Midtown Alliance Progress Report". Midtown Alliance. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- ↑ "Board of Directors". Midtown Alliance. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
External links
[edit]Category:1978 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Organizations based in Atlanta Category:Business improvement districts in the United States Category:Urban planning organizations
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