Why Atlanta's Downtown Conversion Boom Needs Digital Signage in the Blueprint

Why Atlanta's Downtown Conversion Boom Needs Digital Signage in the Blueprint

2 minute read | Updated May 5, 2026

Atlanta is not waiting. While cities across the country have watched office vacancies quietly compound into a slow-motion real estate crisis, Atlanta's civic leadership has taken a different posture — one of active intervention, strategic acquisition, and neighborhood-scale transformation. The result is one of the most ambitious downtown revitalization programs in the Southeast, anchored by two landmark towers and threaded together by a major transit infrastructure investment. For architects, developers, and project managers working inside this program, the technical decisions being made right now — including decisions about digital signage, lobby technology, and wayfinding systems — will shape the occupant experience of these buildings for decades.

This post is written for the teams working those projects. Here is why digital signage infrastructure needs to be part of your architectural scope from day one — not a finish-line line item.

Atlanta's Conversion Program Is Unlike Anything Else in the Southeast

Most cities responding to the office vacancy crisis are relying on private developers, tax incentive packages, and market forces to slowly repurpose underutilized commercial space. Atlanta's approach is structurally different. The city itself has become an active participant in acquisition and development, pushing transformation at the neighborhood scale rather than the parcel scale. Two projects define the program's ambition.

The Georgia-Pacific Center is a 51-story tower on Peachtree Street — one of the most recognized silhouettes on the Atlanta skyline. Zoning approval has been secured to convert this landmark into a vertical mixed-use environment: sky-high residential apartments, continued office space, and a block-sized retail and entertainment hub at its base. The scale of this adaptive reuse project is without precedent in the region. It is not a building changing its primary use. It is a building becoming a self-contained urban district.

2 Peachtree Street tells a different story, but one equally consequential. The 44-story tower, formerly occupied by the State of Georgia, is now city-owned and positioned at the center of a multi-building development partnership that includes 1 Peachtree, 33 Pryor Street, and 14 Marietta Street. The stated goals of this program are direct: activate street-level commerce, attract new businesses to downtown, drive long-term economic growth, and create mixed-income residential density in the urban core. These are not aspirational taglines. They are the stated objectives of a publicly accountable civic development effort.

What connects these two projects — and what makes the Atlanta story distinct from comparable conversion programs in other cities — is the Five Points MARTA station.

The MARTA Variable Changes Everything

Five Points is not incidental to the 2 Peachtree development program. It is load-bearing. The station sits directly adjacent to the tower, and a $150 million renovation of the Five Points MARTA station is currently underway. That investment means the lobby and street-level experience of these new mixed-use buildings will be physically and functionally stitched into a freshly renovated, heavily trafficked regional transit hub.

This matters enormously for how these buildings need to be planned and operated.

A standard office-to-residential conversion has a relatively predictable user population: residents, delivery personnel, building staff, and the occasional guest or service vendor. The typical lobby technology stack — a directory, an access control panel, perhaps a package management system — maps cleanly onto that population.

A mixed-use tower adjacent to a major transit station has a fundamentally different user profile. On any given day, the ground floor of 2 Peachtree or the retail base of the Georgia-Pacific Center will be navigated by residents heading to the MARTA platform, commuters cutting through from the station to street-level retail, visitors unfamiliar with the building's layout, delivery drivers, prospective tenants, and event attendees. These users are not a homogenous group. They have different informational needs, different wayfinding challenges, and different expectations of the built environment.

Digital signage infrastructure — designed thoughtfully and integrated from the start — is the technology layer that allows a single physical environment to serve all of them simultaneously.

What "Digital Signage in the Blueprint" Actually Means

When we argue that digital signage needs to be in the architectural scope from the beginning, we are not talking about selecting screen sizes or choosing a content management vendor. We are talking about a set of design and infrastructure decisions that, if deferred, become exponentially more expensive and disruptive to implement after the fact.

Structural conduit and power planning. Digital displays — whether lobby directories, wayfinding totems, elevator bank screens, or retail tenant signage panels — require low-voltage conduit, dedicated power circuits, and in many cases, network connectivity that runs back to a central management point. In a ground-up construction project, this infrastructure is inexpensive to rough-in. In a conversion project where walls are already open for MEP work, the window to do this cost-effectively is finite. Once finishes go in, the cost of retrofitting conduit and power for signage systems increases substantially.

Lobby design integration. The most effective digital directory and wayfinding installations are not bolted onto a finished lobby wall. They are designed into the lobby — recessed into millwork, integrated into reception desk architecture, or built as freestanding elements whose dimensions and sightlines were established during the design development phase. A 51-story mixed-use tower on Peachtree Street will have a lobby that makes a significant first impression on residents, retail visitors, and prospective commercial tenants. That impression is shaped, in part, by whether the technology in that lobby looks like it belongs there or like it was added as an afterthought.

Wayfinding continuity between the transit station and the building. The $150 million Five Points renovation will produce a renovated transit environment with its own signage language and wayfinding system. The buildings adjacent to that station have an opportunity — and arguably an obligation — to create wayfinding continuity between the MARTA concourse and their own lobbies. That continuity requires coordination between the building's digital signage architecture and the station's wayfinding standards. It requires decisions about where exterior-facing digital wayfinding elements will be placed, how they will be maintained, and how they will be updated when tenants change or building programs evolve. These are not decisions that can be made effectively in the final weeks of a construction project.

Visitor and resident management systems. In a mixed-income residential building with ground-floor retail and proximity to a transit hub, the lobby is a point of significant pedestrian throughput. Digital visitor management systems — integrated with building directories and access control — allow building staff to manage that throughput without creating friction for residents or legitimate visitors. These systems require backend infrastructure, network architecture, and physical hardware placement decisions that are most efficiently made during the design phase.

The Specific Use Cases for These Projects

For the teams working the Georgia-Pacific Center, 2 Peachtree, and the surrounding multi-building program, the digital signage and lobby technology requirements are specific and addressable.

Residential lobby directories that allow residents to manage visitor access, communicate with building management, and navigate building amenities across a 44- or 51-story building with multiple elevator banks and mixed-use programming on multiple floors.

Retail tenant directories at street level and inside the building's retail base, updated in real time as the tenant mix evolves during the lease-up phase — which, for a project of this scale and ambition, may extend over several years.

Wayfinding between MARTA and the building, including exterior-facing elements that help transit users identify building entrances, and interior elements that orient new arrivals who enter through a transit-connected lobby rather than a traditional street-level entrance.

Building management communication screens in elevator lobbies, amenity areas, and common corridors — surfaces that allow building management to communicate with residents and tenants about building operations, local events, and neighborhood programming without relying solely on email or app-based channels.

Meeting and conference room displays for the office components of these mixed-use programs, integrated with room booking systems and visible from corridor-level without requiring users to pull out a phone or badge into a space to check availability.

The Broader Principle

Atlanta's downtown conversion program is, at its core, a project about activating space — making buildings that were underperforming their civic and economic potential into places that contribute to the vitality of the urban core. Digital signage and lobby technology are not the centerpiece of that transformation. But they are part of the connective tissue that allows these buildings to function as the complex, multi-user, transit-adjacent environments they are being designed to become.

The architects and developers working these projects are making decisions right now that will define that connective tissue for the next generation of occupants. The window to integrate digital signage infrastructure thoughtfully — structurally, aesthetically, and functionally — is open during design and construction. It closes when the finishes go in.

iTouch works with development teams at exactly this phase of a project. If your team is working inside the Atlanta conversion program and you are beginning to think through lobby technology, wayfinding, or tenant-facing digital infrastructure, we would welcome the conversation.

Contact our team to discuss your project.

FAQs

When in the construction or conversion process should we start planning for digital signage?

The earlier, the better — ideally during schematic design or design development. The most critical infrastructure decisions, conduit routing, dedicated power circuits, network backbone placement, and structural blocking for wall-mounted or recessed displays, are all far more cost-effective to address while walls are open for MEP rough-in. For conversion projects specifically, where construction schedules are often compressed and phased, waiting until the final stages of a project to address digital signage infrastructure routinely results in costly retrofits and compromised installations.

What types of digital signage does ITS provide for mixed-use and residential buildings?

We design, manage, and install a full range of digital signage solutions for mixed-use environments, including lobby directory and visitor management displays, wayfinding totems and directional signage, elevator lobby communication screens, retail tenant directory panels, meeting and conference room displays, and building management announcement systems. For transit-adjacent properties like those in Atlanta's Five Points corridor, we also assist with exterior-facing wayfinding elements designed to orient pedestrians arriving from MARTA platforms and street-level entrances.

Does ITS work directly with architects and general contractors during the design and construction phase?

Yes. We engage directly with architectural firms, interior designers, and general contractors during the design phase to ensure that digital signage infrastructure is properly coordinated with MEP drawings, interior finish schedules, and millwork specifications. We provide CAD-compatible mounting details, conduit and power requirements, and hardware specifications that can be incorporated into construction documents. Early engagement at the design phase eliminates the most common and expensive signage installation problems.

How does digital signage integrate with building access control and visitor management systems?

Modern lobby directory and visitor management displays can integrate directly with access control platforms, allowing residents or tenants to pre-register visitors, grant temporary access credentials, and receive arrival notifications — all managed through the directory interface or a connected mobile application. For mixed-use buildings with multiple tenant types, including residential, commercial office, and retail, these integrations can be configured to reflect the access policies of each occupancy type independently. iTouch works with the building's access control provider during the integration phase to ensure compatibility and a seamless end-user experience.

Our building will be directly connected to the Five Points MARTA station. Are there special wayfinding considerations for transit-adjacent properties?

Yes, and this is one of the more nuanced planning challenges for buildings in the Five Points corridor. Transit-adjacent lobbies receive a meaningfully different user population than standard residential or office lobbies — including first-time visitors, commuters, and pedestrians who may enter through a transit-connected entrance rather than a traditional street-level door. Effective wayfinding for these environments requires a layered approach: exterior-facing signage that identifies building entrances from the MARTA concourse, interior directory displays positioned to serve users arriving from multiple entry points, and consistent visual language that reduces disorientation for users unfamiliar with the building's layout. iTouch has experience designing wayfinding systems for transit-adjacent mixed-use properties and can assist your team in coordinating with MARTA's signage standards where applicable.

Can the content on digital signage displays be updated without involving a vendor or IT contractor?

Yes. All installations are managed through a cloud-based content management system (CMS) that allows building management staff to update display content — tenant directories, announcements, wayfinding information, event listings, and more — directly from a web browser or tablet interface without technical training or vendor involvement. For multi-building programs like the 2 Peachtree corridor development, the same CMS platform can be used to manage content across multiple properties from a single administrative dashboard, with permissions configured to allow property-level staff to manage their own content independently.

How long does a typical digital signage installation take for a large mixed-use building?

Project timelines vary depending on the scope of the installation, the number of display locations, and the complexity of system integrations. For a large mixed-use conversion — a 40- to 50-story building with lobby directories, elevator lobby screens, retail directories, and a visitor management system — a full installation typically ranges from six to twelve weeks from hardware delivery to go-live, assuming that infrastructure rough-in has been completed by the general contractor. Projects where signage infrastructure was not roughed in during construction will require an additional phase of low-voltage work prior to installation, which can extend the timeline accordingly. iTouch provides a detailed project schedule at the proposal stage so that signage installation can be sequenced appropriately within the overall construction or fit-out timeline.

What happens after installation — does ITS provide ongoing support and maintenance?

Yes.We offer managed services agreements that cover hardware warranty support, software updates, CMS platform maintenance, and on-site technical response for installations across our service area. For property management teams overseeing large or multi-building portfolios, a managed services agreement ensures that displays remain operational, content remains current, and any hardware or software issues are resolved promptly without requiring the property management team to maintain in-house AV technical expertise. Support tiers are customizable based on the size of the installation and the operational requirements of the property.

Can digital signage be designed to match the aesthetic of a high-end residential or mixed-use lobby?

Absolutely. The most effective installations are those where the technology is integrated into the architectural design of the space rather than applied to it after the fact. ITS works with interior designers and architects to specify display hardware, mounting systems, and enclosures that complement the material palette and design language of the lobby environment. Options range from frameless display configurations recessed into millwork or stone surrounds, to freestanding wayfinding totems designed as architectural elements in their own right. For landmark properties like the Georgia-Pacific Center or 2 Peachtree, where the lobby design will be a significant part of the building's market positioning, aesthetic integration is not a secondary consideration — it is a primary one.

How do we get started with ITS on a project currently in design or pre-construction?

The best first step is a project consultation with our commercial integration team. We will review your current design documents, identify the optimal points of infrastructure coordination, and provide a preliminary scope of work that can be incorporated into your construction budget. For projects currently in design development or construction documents, there is typically sufficient time to integrate signage infrastructure into the GC scope without schedule impact. Contact iTouch through our website at itouchinc.com to schedule a consultation.

Contact us today to learn more about Navigo® for your property.