The Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), the largest combined convention, sports and entertainment campus in North America, along with global hospitality company Hilton and Skanska, the multinational project development and construction company, recently gathered to celebrate a major construction milestone with the ceremonial topping off of the 976-room Signia by Hilton Atlanta.

The downtown skyscraper overlooking Mercedes-Benz Stadium is set to open in 2024.

Frank Poe, GWCCA's executive director, was joined at the event by Scott Cannon, Skanska Georgia and South Carolina operations executive vice president and general manager, along with officials from Hilton, GWCCA team members, construction workers, community members, elected officials and media to celebrate the key construction achievement.

Owned by GWCCA and managed by Hilton Management Services, Signia by Hilton Atlanta is the city's largest downtown ground-up hotel development project in 40 years. The 453-ft.-tall hotel, built on the repurposed foundation of the former Georgia Dome, will connect to the World Congress Center when it opens next January.

Construction Efforts Moving at Rapid Pace

The publicly owned property has so far created almost a thousand new employment opportunities during its construction and will support nearly that many new jobs delivering millions in direct economic benefits and added tax revenues to the state and the city during its operation.

Boston-based Drew Company is the real estate developer of the 1.25 million sq. ft. property with Atlanta's Gensler serving as the architect. The construction itself is a joint venture between Skanska and SG Contracting in Atlanta as the general contractors.

So far, more than one million hours have been worked on a site that routinely sees 600-plus workers in the work zone at peak. The 42-story hotel is made up of more than 5,000 truckloads of concrete and features 302,728 sq. ft. of glass.

"The men and women on this project have invested more than a million hours with no lost time incidents to achieve this pinnacle of construction on the world's first Signia by Hilton property," Cannon noted. "It's been more than two decades since Atlanta has seen this type of build and we're proud to collaborate with the many partners helping to redefine [the city's] skyline.

"We are thrilled to officially top off Signia by Hilton Atlanta and celebrate the accomplishments of all who have worked together for the past decade to reach this important milestone," Poe added. "The topping off brings GWCCA one step closer to realizing our vision of an interconnected Championship Campus establishing a package of facilities unrivaled in North America."

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