Upcoming retail stores or new entertainment venues typically don't bear the weight of massive public expectations when it comes to the creation of a signature gathering place in a city's center.
For Cosm, it is the case that business and civic leaders expect the venue to help reposition the Atlanta region's focus on a vibrant downtown district.
Cosm last year agreed to lease space in the $5 billion Centennial Yards mixed-use project under development in downtown Atlanta. The company combines advanced lighting and other technologies inside a dome to present virtual reality and other shared-reality experiences. The deal earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year for Atlanta, as judged by an independent panel of local industry professionals.
Atlanta leaders will be closely watching to see if CIM Group, the developer of Centennial Yards, and Cosm can open the venue in time for the 2026 World Cup in July next year. Atlanta is one of the host cities.
Cosm is expected to serve as a central attraction for Centennial Yards, a project that's trying to remake a long-forlorn part of downtown Atlanta known most recently for its railroad tracks and surface parking lots. In addition to an 8-acre entertainment district anchored by Cosm, Centennial Yards will also include apartments, retail and a hotel.
About the project: The Cosm venue will sit atop an elevated podium at the center of the Centennial Yards entertainment district.
What the judges said: Cosm will move "the center of the [downtown Atlanta market] to a more vibrant and mixed-use destination," said Scott Amoson, associate field research director at CBRE.
The Cosm lease "can be argued to be one of the cornerstone attractions supporting foot traffic, retail and hotel activity with Centennial Yards," said Andrew Harry, research analyst at Colliers.
They made it happen: Jeb Terry Jr., CEO and president of Cosm, is leading the project for his company.