Atlanta, Georgia
Client: Green Street Properties
Size: 28 acres
Status: Completed 2003
Awards:
2005 Development of Excellence Award,
Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC)
2003 Charter Award, Congress for the New Urbanism
Collaborators: Dover, Koal & Partners
Designing one of Atlanta's earliest and most influential New Urbanist mixed-use neighborhoods
HGOR provided comprehensive landscape architecture services for Glenwood Park, one of Atlanta’s earliest and most influential New Urbanist communities. Working alongside Dover, Kohl & Partners, HGOR translated the master plan into a connected network of parks, streetscapes, and civic spaces that transformed a former industrial brownfield into a vibrant, walkable neighborhood. At the center of the design is an innovative approach to public space, where green infrastructure serves not only as critical environmental infrastructure, but also as the social and economic foundation of the community. The project demonstrates how thoughtful landscape architecture can shape neighborhood identity, support long-term growth, and create lasting value.
Designing a Neighborhood Around Its Public Realm
Rather than treating parks and open space as amenities added after development, HGOR designed the public realm as the organizing framework for the entire 28-acre community. Streetscapes, plazas, and pedestrian spaces were carefully integrated to reinforce walkability, strengthen neighborhood connections, and support the future Atlanta Beltline corridor. The result is a cohesive public environment where landscape architecture defines both movement and identity.
Stormwater Management as a Community Amenity
The neighborhood’s signature 2-acre oval park is both its most recognizable civic space and its primary stormwater management system. The central community park manages runoff generated across the entire 28-acre development while supporting recreation, neighborhood events, and everyday. Thoughtfully integrating this infrastructure as an amenity rather than a constraint eliminated the need for conventional stormwater detention solutions.
From Brownfield to Benchmark
Once home to a concrete recycling operation and industrial uses, the site now accommodates more than 350 residences, 50,000 square feet of retail, and 20,000 square feet of office space, generating an estimated $150 million in development value at build-out. Beyond the project boundaries, Glenwood Park became a catalyst for reinvestment in surrounding neighborhoods and helped demonstrate the viability of compact, walkable mixed-use development in Atlanta.
