Slowly, the city of Atlanta is piecing together lots in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood to create a new public park to complement the planned BeltLine. 
In one of the city’s latest real estate transactions, the Trust for Public Land acquired a 3-acre parcel along Freedom Parkway from Cox Enterprises Inc. The Trust for Public Land then deeded the parcel over to the city.
Dow Lohnes partner David Lester advised Cox Enterprises on the $3.85 million land sale. The Trust for Public Land was represented by staff attorneys Richard Tucker and Sireesha C. Ghanta.
The parcel is bounded by Willoughby Way on the south, Freedom Parkway to the east and south and the BeltLine corridor to the east. But the most distinctive aspect of the parcel is its location next to a WSB television antenna and the concrete structure that spans Freedom Parkway, protecting motorists from ice that might fall from the antenna’s guy wires. The parcel that Cox sold is an empty lot, Lester said. The antenna and accompanying brick WSB-TV building sit on the adjacent lot; Cox isn’t selling that property, he said.
From the city's perspective, the biggest lure of the Cox parcel is its location directly on the BeltLine. The BeltLine is the city’s ambitious plan for a streetcar line, walking paths and greenspace that will encircle the city's core. Along with its designs for the BeltLine, the city also is planning the addition of several new park s
The city will plant trees and grass on its new parcel, said Paul Taylor, director of Atlanta’s office of park de
sign. Also planned are a new facility for skateboarders and a multiuse athletic field.
The Cox lot will be part of a larger aggregation of greenspace, featuring a large stormwater-retention pond, that the city plans to call Historic Fourth Ward Park. The largest element of the planned 16-acre park is property that's bounded by the former Sears Building [photo, right] on North Avenue (now City Hall East and scheduled for conversion to residential and retail space) and Ralph McGill Boulevard. The Cox parcel will be detached from the largest segment, connected by a tree-lined sidewalk or walkway along Ensley Street and crossing Ralph McGill Boulevard.