Hard Rock Hotel breaks ground in Castleberry Hill!

A more than $70 million project that includes the Hard Rock Hotel Atlanta will rise next to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, one of the largest investments so far to come around the new stadium.

“I don’t think anybody understands what this means for the Castleberry Hill community,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said at a Feb. 28 groundbreaking for the 200-room Hard Rock Hotel, which will be part of a development called Castleberry Park.

The hope is for the Hard Rock Hotel to open in time for the 2019 Super Bowl, which Atlanta will host, said Frank Chen, general manager of Bolton Atlanta LP, the ownership group developing the project.

Castleberry Park will also include nearly 130 apartments, retail space, a park and 430 parking spaces. Reed said the project should “enhance the street life, character and walkability” of the neighborhood.

Carrie Sagel Burns, president of the Castleberry Hill Neighborhood Association, said the development should provide a new gateway into the community.

“We are a neighborhood separated from downtown by bridges,” Burns said. “So this is going to help bridge that gap.”

She added, “Being branded a Hard Rock is probably the best one we could have imagined for the neighborhood being that we are Atlanta’s historic arts and loft district. The film, entertainment and music tie in with Hard Rock couldn’t be better.”

View the full article and slide show at bizjournals.com.