Articles by Maria Saporta
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.
Gaines Hall – one of the most significant historic buildings in Atlanta – must be saved.
That is the “rallying cry” from two leading preservationists about the 1869 vacant dormitory on the Morris Brown campus that went up in flames Thursday night.
Mark McDonald, president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation; and Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of the Atlanta History Center; went together to see Gaines Hall on Friday to see for themselves the extent of the damage.
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.
The Coca-Cola Co. Thursday named James Quincey, president of its Europe Group who has spent 19 years with the soft-drink company, as its new president and chief operating officer.
“We haven’t had a president since 2007,” Coca-Cola’s Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent said in a media conference call Thursday morning. “It’s great to have someone of James’ caliber to take over.”
But Kent stopped short of naming Quincey the heir apparent of the company.
By Maria Saporta A sale of the Civic Center will not happen unless Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed gets an offer he can live with. The city has acknowledged that there are two finalists still in the running to buy and redevelop the 20-acre site that includes the Atlanta Civic Center. But after a luncheon speech […]
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called for the closing of the Peachtree and Pine homeless facility on Tuesday during a luncheon talk to members of the Commerce Club.
“We are really going to have to take on this issue around Peachtree and Pine,” Mayor Reed said. “Peachtree & Pine and the behavior that goes on around it has been going on for too long.”
Interest rates may start going up – gradually – sooner rather than later.
That was the impression that Dennis Lockhart, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, shared with members of the Atlanta Press Club during a luncheon talk on Monday.
The Atlanta Press Club on Friday is announcing four inductees into the 2015 Hall of Fame – all outstanding journalists who have played an important role in Georgia.
The four journalists – Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Hank Klibanoff, Denis O’Hayer and Dick Pettys – will be recognized for their work at a dinner on Nov. 5 at the InterContinental Buckhead.
Maybe it was destiny.
On June 22, 1979, the first Home Depot opened – Store 101 – on Memorial Drive right inside I-285 in DeKalb County.
On Tuesday, the Atlanta United Football Club announced it would locate its soccer training facility on property owned by DeKalb County – along Memorial Drive inside I-285.
In a vote that split along racial and geographic lines, DeKalb County Commissioner voted Tuesday morning 4-to-3 in favor of a deal to lure the Atlanta United soccer team’s $30 million training facility to a site along Memorial Drive inside I-285.
Despite protests from three commissioners and people in the audience, no time was made available for public comment about the $30 million soccer complex and the county’s commitment to invest up to $12 million in the project.
The DeKalb County Commission will vote Tuesday morning whether to enter into a development partnership with the Atlanta United Football Club soccer franchise.
Specifically the vote will be for DeKalb County to enter into a long-term lease with Atlanta United for the development of a $30 million training facility.
William “Bill” Taggart, the former president and CEO of Atlanta Life Financial Group, is joining the executive leadership team at Morehouse College.
In his new role, Taggart will serve as executive-in-residence and chief operating officer with primary responsibility for the Office of Institutional Advancement.
The High Museum of Art is naming Randall Suffolk, currently director and president of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Okla., as its new director.
The announcement came just two days before the departure of Michael E. Shapiro, who has been the Nancy and Holcombe T. Greene Jr. director of the High since March of 2000 after joining the High in 1995.
Suffolk will assume his role at the High on Nov. 2.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 24, 2015
In the ongoing push by Rotary International to eradicate polio around the world, Atlanta Rotarian Wilton Looney is challenging the local club to intensify its support.
Looney, whose wife Martha suffers from polio, has donated $918,000 to the cause–previously challenging the Rotary Club of Atlanta to match his gifts. Now he’s getting some help.
When it comes to winning a $30 million federal Choice grant, Atlanta leaders are hoping the second time will be the charm.
Once again, Atlanta is a finalist for a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant awarded from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Atlanta has been selected as one of nine finalists from a total of 33 applicants. It is not clear how many finalists will win a Choice grant during this cycle.
The Atlanta United soccer team has narrowed its search for a major training facility to sites in Cobb and DeKalb counties.
A decision is expected shortly because it’s one of the key pieces that needs to be put in place before the season opens in spring 2017.
“We are currently in discussions with DeKalb County officials on a potential property for the training ground, but no definitive agreement is in place at this time,” the team said in a statement released today.
How can the 755,400 people in metro Atlanta and north Georgia who are “food insecure” best be served with access to fresh, healthy affordable and clean foods?
That was the “Food Access” challenge issued by the Center for Civic Innovation and the Atlanta Community Food Bank launched earlier this year.
