A.J. Robinson announced Wednesday he's stepping down from Central Atlanta Progress after 23 years running the Downtown improvement organization. If you've seen Downtown change over the past two decades, Robinson had a hand in it.
"When I took this job, the 191 building was 17 percent occupied," Robinson reflected. "The Macy's building was empty. The Ellis Hotel was still the Winecoff. The Gulch was still the Gulch. There was nothing around Centennial Olympic Park but the Embassy Suites Hotel."
A search committee chaired by developer Egbert Perry will look for Robinson's successor. Robinson expects to stay through summer and will likely continue as volunteer chair of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District after that. He's also planning to stick around for World Cup preparations. "I'm really not going anywhere," Robinson joked. "This is really a bump back to the future."