CNN Center Shutters In Atlanta

After more than 35 years, CNN is leaving its downtown mainstay in stages this year, with the entire operation moving back to renovated space at the 30-acre Turner Techwood campus in Midtown, according to ajc.com citing a CNN spokeswoman.

CNN Center for many years served not only as a corporate headquarters but also an international calling card for Atlanta. It was equal parts home to Ted Turner’s original 24/7 news channel and tourist attraction — the network’s logo a fixture of the Atlanta skyline.

But CNN’s move out of its namesake office building has been years in the making. CNN effectively moved its headquarters to New York years ago, and the hulking CNN Center has been slowly hollowed out.

AT&T, CNN’s former parent company, sold CNN Center in 2021 to Florida-based real estate firms CP Group and Rialto Capital Management for nearly $164 million as a cost-saving move. Neither company responded to requests for comment Thursday on how CNN’s announcement will affect the building’s operations, its other tenants and its food court.

CNN’s new owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, is now prepping smaller space at its Midtown Techwood property, which Ted Turner purchased in 1979 to start CNN. Techwood houses departments for other cable networks including TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network and truTV as well as sports programming.

CNN has already moved its master control operations to the new location, AdWeek reported this week. CNN has significant CNN International and digital operations in Atlanta, but all weekday anchors are now located in New York or Washington, D.C. A few CNN weekend shows remain in Atlanta.

What made CNN Center unusual was how public it was. In the atrium, foreign tourists mingled with conference attendees from the neighboring Georgia World Congress Center and sports fans going to the adjoining arena. It became a tourist attraction long before construction of the adjacent Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola or the College Football Hall of Fame.

“That building and that real estate is part of the postcard of Atlanta,” said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress. “Ted created an entire industry here and helped build the city’s international status.”