Last month, Senator Reverend Warnock announced the historic funding to begin construction on The Stitch, a transformational infrastructure project in Downtown Atlanta helping reconnect communities separated by highway construction

The Senator joined Vice President Harris for the first stop on her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour to celebrate key investments in Georgia’s local economies, particularly those supporting Black-owned small businesses and creating thousands of jobs

Blockbuster grant for Downtown Atlanta infrastructure project made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program and the Inflation Reduction Act’s Neighborhood Access and Equity Program, based on legislation led by Senator Reverend Warnock

Senator Reverend Warnock also joined Vice President Harris for a stop at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs to speak with Black entrepreneurs, small business leaders, workers

ICYMI from the Atlanta Voice: Warnock on The Stitch: ‘This is a transformative project’

Senator Warnock to the Atlanta Voice: “This is a project that centers historically marginalized communities. It is happening in the neighborhoods that were divided. This will create jobs in those communities and beyond. This kind of infrastructure is central to building economic prosperity”

Above: Senator Warnock delivers remarks at the Vice President’s Economic Opportunity Tour stop in Atlanta 

Left: Senator Warnock stops by the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE Center) to meet local Black small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs 

Right: Senator Warnock greets Georgia entrepreneurs at the RICE Center

Atlanta, GA — On Monday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) joined Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta to celebrate a $157 million federal investment in the Stitch, a transformational infrastructure project in Downtown Atlanta helping reconnect communities displaced by highway construction. The Senator joined Vice President Harris for the first stop on her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour to celebrate key investments in Georgia’s local economies, particularly those supporting Black-owned small businesses and creating thousands of jobs—including in the Stitch. 

The blockbuster grant for the Stitch was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program and the Inflation Reduction Act’s Neighborhood Access and Equity Program. The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program is based on legislation led by Senator Reverend Warnock; the Senator successfully secured provisions of this legislation in both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Above: Senator Warnock joins Vice President Harris at the RICE Center in Atlanta

The $157,645,161 award for The Stitch will fund phase 1 construction of a planned multi-use 14-acre greenspace over Interstates 75 and 85 that will reconnect north Downtown Atlanta neighborhoods that were divided by the current highway system. Beyond reconnecting these communities, The Stitch will also support new affordable housing and transit-oriented development, improve the overall transportation network in Downtown Atlanta by transforming existing car-oriented streets into complete streets, and enhance a local MARTA rail and regional bus station to improve operations and user experience.

Above: Senator Warnock at the RICE Center in Atlanta

Before his remarks, Senator Warnock joined Vice President Harris for a stop at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs to meet and speak with Black small business owners and entrepreneurs about Senator Warnock’s work and efforts from the Biden Administration to invest in an economy that works for all Americans, particularly Black entrepreneurs and small business owners who have been historically left out of creating generational wealth and accessing the tools and resources needed to make a business thrive. 

See coverage of Senator Reverend Warnock’s economic opportunity event with Vice President Harris below:

Atlanta Voice: Warnock on The Stitch: ‘This is a transformative project’

April 30, 2024

• Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) believes The Stitch is more than just another real estate development taking place in downtown Atlanta. Much more in fact. 

• “I am very excited about The Stitch. This is about correcting a historic wrong, but also literally paving the way of economic prosperity well into the future for these communities,” he said. 

• The Stitch will attempt to erase history in a way, reconnecting downtown and Midtown Atlanta in a way that hasn’t happened since before the national highway expansions of the 1950’s and 1960’s. A lot of those neighborhoods that I-75, I-85, and I-20 destroyed were thriving Black communities. The list is long and includes the Sweet Auburn District and Summerhill, two neighborhoods that no longer demographically lean Black, but have seen urban renewal in the past few years. 

• “This is a project that centers historically marginalized communities,” Warnock said of The Stitch project. “It literally is happening in the neighborhoods that were divided. This will create jobs in those communities and beyond. This kind of infrastructure is central to building economic prosperity.” 

• “This is about correcting the ways people were historically pushed out,” he said. “This is about bringing those communities back together.” 

• Warnock pointed out that provisions were written into legislation that will prevent the kind of blackballing and exclusivity that often kept Black businesses from helping create projects in Atlanta and elsewhere like The Stitch. “We want to make sure that everyone gets to participate in this,” he said. “I’m proud of the fact that I secured $158 million to get us closer to getting this done. This is a transformative project.”

• Warnock added that infrastructure is about more than just building brick-and-mortar projects that beautify a cityscape. “It’s about the spirit of a city, the spirit of the people,” Warnock said. The physical infrastructure is connected to economic vitality and prosperity. I’m very excited that we are leading this project.”

• “This is a win-win,” he said. “We talk often about Sweet Auburn, but how much sweeter Auburn could have been had it not been a part of these kinds of disruptive projects that happened in the name of urban renewal? This is literally a transformation of those communities and all of us win as a result.” 

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