Jon Birdsong - CEO of South Downtown

I sat down with Jon Birdsong, CEO of Atlanta Ventures, to talk about the vision behind South Downtown — one of the city’s biggest redevelopment projects. We cover the history of the area, what’s happening now with tech companies and new developments, and how ventures like the World Cup, improved transportation, and AI could impact downtown Atlanta’s future. We also talk about why preserving historic buildings and creating a safe, walkable community is so important. Big thanks to our sponsors for supporting this series: ✨ Songy Highroads – songyhighroads.com ✨ USA Cabling – usacablingtech.com ✨ Corporate Environments – corporateenvironments.com As always, if you’re looking for office space in Atlanta, give me a call — I’d love to help. linktr.ee/timwright.cre #Atlanta #SouthDowntown #UrbanDevelopment #RealEstate #DowntownAtlanta #CityRevival #JohnBirdsong ⏱️ Timestamps 0:00 – Intro / CNN Center 0:39 – Discussion about CNN’s history and Ted Turner 3:12 – Sponsor Break (USA Cabling Technologies and Solutions) 3:30 – John’s background: growing up in Atlanta 5:16 – Sponsor Break (Songy Highroads) 6:18 – Early career: working on political campaigns 8:30 – Joining the tech scene at Tech Square 12:38 – Working at SalesLoft 13:50 – Sponsor Break (Corporate Environments) 14:53 – SalesLoft backstory and near failure 20:37 – David Cummings buys Newport properties (South Downtown) 22:39 – Career shift to real estate / South Downtown project 23:40 – How the South Downtown deal came together 25:44 – South Downtown vs. other development projects 28:54 – The Center / International Plaza 31:01 – Defining Downtown Atlanta 34:05 – Peachtree Center 35:06 – Sylvan – ADPipe 37:07 – Tech world, remote work, and office culture 39:36 – South Downtown 45:48 – Venture Capital and the current state of the tech scene 51:29 – Politics 53:34 – Updates on 222 Mitchell 58:53 – Liens and Lawsuits Bar 59:54 – History of 82 Peachtree 1:03:59 – South Downtown history 1:12:27 – Candler Hotel / Atlanta history 1:17:34 – BeltLine to Downtown 1:19:36 – Closing Remarks More info: https://linktr.ee/timwright.cre