Toro: In the late 1800s, Midtown was one of Atlanta's finest neighborhoods with beautiful mansions lining Peachtree Street. After World War II, the area experienced a downturn as people left the city for Atlanta's growing suburbs.

In the 1960s, Midtown was best known for its unsavory streets and underutilized land—a wasteland between Buckhead and Downtown Atlanta. Then in the 1970s, a few urban visionaries reclaimed the neighborhood and began its renaissance. In 1968, Colony Square became Atlanta's first mixed-use project, led by Jim Cushman, who recognized this location would one day be main and main in the heart of Atlanta.

Colony Square was built facing internally, blocking the surrounding streets, which were considered dangerous and seedy. Cushman's mixed-use concept for Colony Square was forward thinking and ahead of its time, despite the rough neighborhood. His vision for Midtown's bright future led him to put a stake in the ground at what would one day be one of the densest intersections in the Southeast.

Cushman was right. Over the last few decades, Midtown Atlanta has become this vibrant and thriving community, and now, Colony Square is the tired, outdated mammoth development in the middle of it all. It is time for Colony Square to not only catch back up to its neighborhood, but catapult Midtown forward as it did over 40 years ago. And, since the NAP team acquired the property late last year, we've been working closely with the community and industry experts to reimagine Colony Square.

Our plan is to rip the roof off the tired mall and transform it into a dynamic, open-air community with energetic retailers and restaurants that resonate with Midtown guests, workers and residents. The reimagined Colony Square is on track to celebrate its grand opening in July 2018, the 50th anniversary of Colony Square's groundbreaking.

GlobeSt.com: How does the redevelopment respond to market demand?

Toro: Today, Midtown is teeming with office workers, students and residents. There's 15.5 million square feet of class A office and 65,000 jobs in Midtown's 1.2 square mile district. It's a young, college educated city, with over 50% of the population being Millennials or Gen Xers, and 68% hold a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Over 25,000 students are enrolled in Midtown's institutions of higher learning, including Georgia Tech, Emory University Hospital Midtown and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Atlanta. Located at the heart of Midtown is Colony Square, and there is unbelievable potential to transform the mixed-use development into a modern, sophisticated destination.

In order to create a place that truly resonates with the market, we followed our philosophy of curating the experience first, identifying the right uses and then, designing around it. For five months we collaborated with our branding team, Imbibe, to conduct nearly 200 interviews around Atlanta. We interviewed neighbors, community influencers, stakeholders, Millennials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and more. What was Midtown missing? Where do they currently shop or dine? Where do they spend time, gather and make memories with loved ones?

Our efforts boiled down to one key word: Urbane. It means to have the polish and suavity characteristic of sophisticated social life in major cities—and it drove our vision forward. “The Art of Modern Life” has become our central theme at Colony Square.

We presented our findings to the design and planning team, which includes lead design firm Beyer Blinder Belle; architect of record Lord Aeck Sargent; urban planner Jeff Speck; and founder and president for Project for Public Spaces, Fred Kent. The group studied our brand with a design lens and the new concept for Colony Square manifested into renderings that reinvent the retail center. The reimagined Colony Square will be known as a foodie haven with restaurant patios spilling into common areas; a shopping mecca filled with experiential retailers; an events destination for the community; a beautiful, amenity-rich and arts-infused place to gather and soak up Midtown's vibe.

Peacthreee Center is also about to undergo a transformation. Read my recent column.

ATLANTA—In Dec. 2015, North American Properties and Lionstone Investments acquired Colony Square, the first mixed-use project developed in Atlanta in 1968. At the corner of Peachtree and 14th Streets—or Main and Main Atlanta—Colony Square is not only the heart of Midtown, it's the heart of Atlanta. Indeed, it's an original icon at the very center of the ever-rising capital of the modern South.

Today, Colony Square is hoping to evolve to become an icon of another kind, bringing the “Art of Modern Life” to Midtown. With two office towers totaling 720,000 square feet, residential condos, a 467-room hotel and a 163,000-square-foot retail center, the North American Properties team, helmed by Mark Toro, is transforming Colony Square into a sophisticated business, residential and cultural hotspot, that like all great city squares, is alive with possibility.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Toro to discuss the metamorphosis in part one of this exclusive interview. Stay tuned for part two, in which he will share how current tenants are reacting and how he anticipates the redevelopment will impact leasing efforts.

GlobeSt.com: Why redevelop Colony Square now?

Toro: In the late 1800s, Midtown was one of Atlanta's finest neighborhoods with beautiful mansions lining Peachtree Street. After World War II, the area experienced a downturn as people left the city for Atlanta's growing suburbs.

In the 1960s, Midtown was best known for its unsavory streets and underutilized land—a wasteland between Buckhead and Downtown Atlanta. Then in the 1970s, a few urban visionaries reclaimed the neighborhood and began its renaissance. In 1968, Colony Square became Atlanta's first mixed-use project, led by Jim Cushman, who recognized this location would one day be main and main in the heart of Atlanta.

Colony Square was built facing internally, blocking the surrounding streets, which were considered dangerous and seedy. Cushman's mixed-use concept for Colony Square was forward thinking and ahead of its time, despite the rough neighborhood. His vision for Midtown's bright future led him to put a stake in the ground at what would one day be one of the densest intersections in the Southeast.

Cushman was right. Over the last few decades, Midtown Atlanta has become this vibrant and thriving community, and now, Colony Square is the tired, outdated mammoth development in the middle of it all. It is time for Colony Square to not only catch back up to its neighborhood, but catapult Midtown forward as it did over 40 years ago. And, since the NAP team acquired the property late last year, we've been working closely with the community and industry experts to reimagine Colony Square.

Our plan is to rip the roof off the tired mall and transform it into a dynamic, open-air community with energetic retailers and restaurants that resonate with Midtown guests, workers and residents. The reimagined Colony Square is on track to celebrate its grand opening in July 2018, the 50th anniversary of Colony Square's groundbreaking.

GlobeSt.com: How does the redevelopment respond to market demand?

Toro: Today, Midtown is teeming with office workers, students and residents. There's 15.5 million square feet of class A office and 65,000 jobs in Midtown's 1.2 square mile district. It's a young, college educated city, with over 50% of the population being Millennials or Gen Xers, and 68% hold a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Over 25,000 students are enrolled in Midtown's institutions of higher learning, including Georgia Tech, Emory University Hospital Midtown and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Atlanta. Located at the heart of Midtown is Colony Square, and there is unbelievable potential to transform the mixed-use development into a modern, sophisticated destination.

In order to create a place that truly resonates with the market, we followed our philosophy of curating the experience first, identifying the right uses and then, designing around it. For five months we collaborated with our branding team, Imbibe, to conduct nearly 200 interviews around Atlanta. We interviewed neighbors, community influencers, stakeholders, Millennials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and more. What was Midtown missing? Where do they currently shop or dine? Where do they spend time, gather and make memories with loved ones?

Our efforts boiled down to one key word: Urbane. It means to have the polish and suavity characteristic of sophisticated social life in major cities—and it drove our vision forward. “The Art of Modern Life” has become our central theme at Colony Square.

We presented our findings to the design and planning team, which includes lead design firm Beyer Blinder Belle; architect of record Lord Aeck Sargent; urban planner Jeff Speck; and founder and president for Project for Public Spaces, Fred Kent. The group studied our brand with a design lens and the new concept for Colony Square manifested into renderings that reinvent the retail center. The reimagined Colony Square will be known as a foodie haven with restaurant patios spilling into common areas; a shopping mecca filled with experiential retailers; an events destination for the community; a beautiful, amenity-rich and arts-infused place to gather and soak up Midtown's vibe.

Peacthreee Center is also about to undergo a transformation. Read my recent column.