Developer plans to literally raze the roof of Colony Square

Ah, Colony Square. The office, shopping, dining, and condo complex that bills itself as Atlanta's first mixed-use development is a fine place. It's just lacking a pulse. 
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?North American Properties, the development that turned around Atlantic Station's retail center and built Avalon, and Lionstone, a Houston-based real estate investment firm, have purchased the Midtown complex's office towers and shops and dining area. The condos and hotel are not part of the deal. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the price was nearly $170 million. 
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?NAP and Lionstone want to breathe some new life into Colony Square. The big idea: rip the roof off the retail and dining concourse connecting the office towers, turning the area into an open-air development and connecting it with the street. The team plans to also introduce new shops and restaurants.
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?“Over the decades, the Midtown neighborhood around Colony Square flourished while the iconic building became sleepy and tired,” Mark Toro, NAP's managing partner, said in a statement. “After a two year renovation, we anticipate a July 2018 grand opening of the reimagined Colony Square. We will engage with the city, with the street and with pedestrians, and it will fundamentally change the experience of living and working in Midtown Atlanta.”
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?In the meantime, the group says workers, residents, and guests can expect to see "touches inspired by Georgia’s growing film industry, including the showing of holiday movies on an outdoor screen." NAP will also “adopt” the nearby Arts District Plaza to stage events catered to Colony Square and Midtown residents.
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?NAP and Lionstone are asking for input on ways to improve their most recent purchase. One way is to tweet them at #ReimagineCS. An indoor skating rink is probably not in the cards considering the whole let's-get-rid-of-the-roof idea. 
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