Author Archives: Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta Last Thursday afternoon, two preservationists took Craig Richard, the CEO of Invest Atlanta, on a tour of 10 historically significant, but endangered, African-American buildings in the city. Mark McDonald, president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation; and Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of the Atlanta History Center; wanted to […]

The campaign to save the Bell Building in the heart of downtown is gaining steam.

The Atlanta Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Atlanta) and the Georgia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Georgia) sent a compelling letter to save the building to Brad Ferrer, an executive at CNN who holds influential positions at Georgia State University.

The Food Well Alliance, which was formed about a year ago, held its first major event Saturday – Healthy Soil, Healthy Community Festival – at the Truly Living Well urban farm.

Hundreds of people showed up during the festival to learn more about how to encourage and provide greater access to healthy foods – especially in communities that have been described as food deserts.

And one way is to grow food in metro Atlanta through community gardens and urban farms.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed pledged to do all he could to preserve the historic Gaines Hall on the Morris Brown campus.

Gaines Hall, which was built in 1869 and was one of the original buildings in the Atlanta University campus, caught on fire last Thursday evening. Gaines Hall currently is owned by Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency which acquired the building earlier this year as part of the Morris Brown College property sale.

Mercedes Benz and the AMB Sports & Entertainment (owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United) announced a 27-year naming rights agreement Monday morning.

But neither side disclosed the dollar value of the deal – which will extend through 2042 – two years between now and when the stadium opens in 2017 plus 25 years.

Atlanta’s two largest utilities – the Southern Co. and AGL Resources – are becoming one.

Southern Co. announced Monday morning that it is acquiring AGL Resources in a $12 billion transaction – one that will create a leading electric and gas utility in the nation.

A calm and composed President Jimmy Carter faced the media Thursday morning to update the world about his cancer and answer as many questions as he could.

The briefing attracted an onslaught of national and local media attention – probably more than the Carter Center has seen in decades – despite all the significant initiatives that the former president has launched from his base in Atlanta.

Thanks to several new partners, the City of Atlanta’s Better Buildings Challenge has passed a milestone – 100 million square feet.

That means owners of buildings totaling 100 million square feet have agreed to reduce energy and water consumption by 20 percent by 2020 – using 2010 as a baseline.