ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 29, 2025--
One year out from the FIFA World Cup 2026, CP Group, a vertically-integrated commercial real estate investment and management firm, has announced upcoming construction milestones at The Center in Downtown Atlanta. Since unveiling its rebrand and redevelopment plans in April 2024, CP Group has been executing its multi-phase repositioning of the iconic 1.2 million-square-foot, mixed-use landmark. The transformation aims to establish The Center as a year-round destination and hub for retail, dining, content creation, entertainment, business, and community-centered programming.
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Construction is currently underway on a new exterior arrival experience, activated entryways, and permanent art installations, all expected to be completed by the end of this year. A revitalized ground-floor atrium will follow in early 2026, just in time to welcome the spectators traveling across the globe to Atlanta for the city’s first World Cup Game on June 15, 2026.
The Center also recently debuted the first of three digital LED signs, each spanning 12 stories on the building’s exterior, providing advertising opportunities to businesses and individuals seeking exposure to the high volume of foot traffic that the area around The Center, State Farm Arena, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium experiences.
"The next iteration of this historic building will be multifaceted — encompassing global entertainment, best-in-class retail, and elevated dining options, but most importantly, providing an experiential hub of cultural and community-centered activity," said Chris Eachus, Founding Partner at CP Group. "Hosting Club World Cup watch parties, providing a platform for local artists, and supporting brand activation and film production opportunities are all ways we hope to engage Atlanta residents and catalyze the downtown experience."
CP Group, in partnership with ASHA Advisory, a community-focused arts and culture advisory led by Neda Abghari, has also launched CTR Culture, a transformative platform dedicated to arts, culture, and creative community storytelling at The Center. As part of the platform's inaugural campaign, CP Group and ASHA will be offering a limited number of Media Placement Grants to local artists, cultural presenters, and nonprofits. These grants provide selected creators with unprecedented access to high-profile ad space within the digital signage outside The Center’s main entryways and exposure to thousands of daily passersby. This opportunity also offers potential exposure to national broadcast media during major events at neighboring venues, including the Club World Cup games. ASHA is accepting artist applications now through August 31.
The arts-driven initiative is part of a greater collaboration between CP Group and The Center with Abghari, Bem Joiner, and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to curate exceptional statement artworks which will help establish The Center's identity and soon-to-be iconic sense of place in Atlanta's vibrant downtown landscape.
Located at the heart of Atlanta’s Central Business District, 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 project currently includes the Omni Atlanta Hotel within its site and boasts an array of prominent cultural sites and institutions within walking distance, including the World of Coca-Cola, the Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium, the College Football Hall of Fame Museum, and the Center for Civil & Human Rights.
CP Group has tapped global real estate investment manager Hines to lead both the short- and long-term retail leasing opportunities now available at The Center. To inquire about a tour, leasing availability, production studio space, event activations and more, please reach out to Nick Garzia ( nick.garzia@hines.com ) or Starr Cumming ( starr.cumming@hines.com ). For office leasing, contact CBRE’s Nicole Goldsmith ( Nicole.goldsmith@cbre.com ) or Jeff Keppen ( jeff.keppen@cbre.com ).
About CP Group
Founded in 1986, CP Group is a vertically integrated commercial real estate firm and value-add investor with deep market knowledge across the Sunbelt. The firm has acquired, repositioned, and operated over 170 office and mixed-use properties, totaling more than 64 million square feet and valued at over $8 billion. The firm applies its market expertise and integrated operations to deliver experience-driven environments that support tenant retention and maximize asset value. CP Group maintains offices in Atlanta, Boca Raton, Dallas, Denver, Jacksonville, Miami, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit CPGcre.com.
Project update includes the release of new rendering of the ground-floor atrium
A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.
But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.
“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”
Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson, called the ruling “a vindication of the rule of law.”
In a statement, she said the department will “work to enforce his lawful removal order” and encouraged Khalil to “self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.”
It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.
In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil called the appeals ruling “deeply disappointing."
“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability," he said. "I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”
Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts."
“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he said.
The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.
Khalil’s lawyers can request that the panel's decision be set aside and the matter reconsidered by a larger group of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested last March. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child.
Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They also accused Khalil, 31, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.
The government justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.
In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.
President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.
Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said on social media Thursday that Khalil should remain free.
“Last year’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,” Mamdani wrote on X. “Now, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free.”
Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level, even though his immigration case isn't complete.
Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.
The two-judge majority rejected Freeman's worry that their decision would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.
“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments," the judges wrote.
The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.
His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.
Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.
FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
