"We've kind of named it colloquially 'the Pringle.'"
That's how Gray Media CEO Hilton Howell described the curved timber roof his company hoisted onto a bandshell in Doraville this past May, a structure builders now call North America's longest-bending active timber gridshell. It sits on land that used to build Chevrolets. By late June it was hosting World Cup watch parties. By fall it's supposed to be hosting concerts and movie nights for anyone who wants to walk over.
Here's the part that doesn't show up in the press releases: less than a mile away, on the other side of the same MARTA station, the city of Doraville is building its own version of a gathering place, and the two projects have almost nothing to do with each other. One is a media company's amenity. The other is a $35 million municipal building. They broke ground within months of each other, they're both aimed at giving Doraville a place to stand around in the evening, and they answer to completely different people.
If you live here, that distinction matters more than either ribbon-cutting will.
The Private Bet: A Bandshell Built for Soccer, Now Booking Itself a Second Act
The bandshell rising inside Assembly Studios cost roughly $10 million to build, covering site work, civil engineering, landscaping, and mechanical systems, according to reporting from Engineering News-Record. Designed by Smith Dalia Architects and fabricated by StructureCraft, the 4,000-square-foot saddle-shaped shell spans 82 feet and is clad in stainless steel shingles that catch the light differently depending on where you're standing. Structural completion was targeted for June 8, timed deliberately so Gray Media and its Spanish-language affiliate Telemundo could host a two-day World Cup watch event on June 26 and 27, covering Uruguay-Spain, Panama-England, and Colombia-Portugal, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
That was always meant to be the opening act, not the whole show. Once the tournament ended, the plan called for the space to convert into a permanent outdoor venue for movies in the park and full-scale concerts, part of Assembly Atlanta's broader push to turn the old GM plant site into something the public actually visits instead of just drives past.
Worth remembering: Assembly Atlanta is a private development. Gray Media and its partners decide what plays on that stage, when, and whether it's ticketed. The bandshell sits inside a larger campus that already includes a pond with an LED fountain show and building facades that have doubled as New Orleans, New York, and assorted European capitals for film productions, including Apple TV's upcoming Cape Fear remake. The park is public-facing. The decisions behind it are not made by anyone Doraville residents vote for.
The Public Bet: A City Hall Designed to Double as a Living Room
Across the tracks, the city's own project moves at a different pace and answers to a different logic. In August 2025, Doraville's City Council approved the design for The People's Building, a $35 million municipal complex that will eventually house a new City Hall, the Doraville Library, creator studios for local artists, private event space, and a café or restaurant fronting a new public green. Park Avenue closed on August 25, 2025, so crews could demolish the old municipal buildings, and officials gave estimates ranging from 14 months to two years for that phase, which stretches the realistic completion window from late 2026 out to sometime in 2027.
City Manager Chris Eldridge described the intent plainly when construction began: "We will have a stage that hosts community events."
Mayor Joseph Geierman called it "the culmination of more than 20 years of community visioning, planning, and dialogue," according to the city's own downtown redevelopment page. The People's Building sits on 13 city-owned acres between New Peachtree Road and Buford Highway, developed in partnership with Kaufman Capital Partners and designed by McMillan Pazdan Smith, with Choate Construction handling the build. Doraville was founded in 1871 and has never had a true downtown. This is the city's attempt to build one from scratch.
Two Structures, Same Station, Different Owners
| The Pringle (Assembly Bandshell) | The People's Building | |
|---|---|---|
| Funded by | Gray Media / Assembly Atlanta | City of Doraville |
| Cost | ~$10 million | ~$35 million |
| Status this fall | Open, booking concerts and screenings | Under construction |
| Who decides what happens there | Private studio operators | City government |
| Public role | Bonus amenity to a media campus | Intended civic center |
Neither project is copying the other. They just happen to be landing on opposite sides of the Doraville MARTA station in the same calendar year, which makes it easy to mistake for one coordinated plan. It isn't. It's two organizations with different incentives racing separate timelines that happen to intersect at the same rail stop. For a resident, that means the evening you picture, walk to the station, cross to a park, catch a show, grab coffee on the way home, is currently being assembled by two different sets of decision-makers who are not required to coordinate with each other at all.
What's Actually Open Right Now
If you're trying to plan your week around any of this, here's where things stand as of early September:
- Park Avenue remains closed for construction near the old municipal site, a closure that started August 25, 2025, and officials have said could last as long as two years depending on how the build progresses.
- The bandshell is live. Its World Cup run is finished, and it's transitioning into its intended role as a year-round performance space.
- The People's Building is still a construction site. Its library, City Hall, and café components remain months, not weeks, from opening.
The Food Scene Isn't Waiting on Either One
While both civic bets are mid-build, the actual texture of a Doraville evening this season is being carried by smaller, independent operators who never needed a bandshell or a city council vote to open their doors. August was Buford Highway Restaurant Month, hosted by the nonprofit We Love Buford Highway, which ran a bingo-style challenge where diners picked up cards at City Hall or at participating spots like Postern Coffee, Kamayan ATL, La Mei Zi, and Mozart Bakery, earning stamps and prizes for eating their way through the corridor.
That same organization closed out the month with FEAST, its signature annual fundraiser, held August 28 at Spring Hall from 6 to 10 p.m. This year's edition spotlighted South Asian cuisine, featuring local restaurateurs representing India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, with tickets starting at $135 and proceeds funding the nonprofit's ongoing outreach programs along the corridor.
If you missed both, Postern Coffee, tucked inside Minhwa Spirits, celebrates its second birthday on September 20 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. with a free night market featuring vendors including Leftie Lee's and Manalo's Bakery, plus a raffle. And a few blocks over, Common Coffee & Cocktails has quietly become the spot for Ticket to Tokyo's tuna sando, a pillowy milk bread sandwich that has been selling out fast enough that regulars now follow the brand on Instagram just to catch restocks.
None of this required a $10 million roof or a $35 million municipal budget. It's happening in strip malls and coffee shops along Buford Highway and New Peachtree Road, on its own timeline, regardless of what either big project does next.
Two Timelines Worth Tracking
The honest read for anyone living here is that Doraville is in a transition year, not a finished one. The bandshell's calendar is live now and worth checking before you assume there's nothing to do on a Friday night. The People's Building points toward an opening sometime between late 2026 and 2027, with Park Avenue detours as the visible cost in the meantime. And the restaurant scene that's actually defining daily life right now doesn't belong to either institution. It belongs to the people who've been running kitchens and coffee counters along the corridor long before anyone hoisted a curved roof or approved a design for a new City Hall.
Two different organizations decided, independently and around the same time, that this city deserved somewhere to gather. Neither waited for the other to finish first.
If you're curious how any of this is shaping property values or timing along the Buford Highway corridor, Matthew Evans has been tracking North Atlanta's neighborhood-level shifts for years. Let's Connect if you want a read on what these two builds mean for your specific block.
