As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 14, 2017
Mercedes-Benz USA moved its headquarters to metro Atlanta exactly two years ago (in July, 2015), and the luxury car company has been going non-stop ever since.
“It feels like we’ve been here forever,” said Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA and the regional head of North America, which includes Canada and Mexico.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 14, 2017
German real estate company Newport US RE is moving forward with ambitions to redevelop portions of eight blocks and up to 750,000 square feet of South Downtown’s historic buildings.
Newport has filed plans with the Eastside Tax Allocation District, where it will seek up to $12 million in public funding for the project — one of the largest ever proposed for downtown.
Historic Oakland Cemetery is expanding its efforts to share information about the restoration of the African American Grounds section of the city’s cemetery. Two guided tours are scheduled this week, on Wednesday and Saturday. Admission is free and registration is required.
The Atlanta Public Schools enjoyed a stellar day on Thursday.
It started out with a release at 10 a.m. announcing that 57 APS schools (about two-thirds of the system) achieved academic gains based on the Georgia Milestones End of Grade and End of Course Assessments – 17 more than last year.
The three Atlanta City Council members who sat before an audience in a northwest Atlanta church Wednesday night are all seeking a promotion to a higher office — and said what they’d like to leave as a legacy.
The leaders of the the Atlanta agency in charge of attracting investment on Thursday morning approved millions of dollars in sweeteners or tax abatements for developments at Underground, Colony Square and more.
Newspaper co-owner and president Dink NeSmith and The Press-Sentinel, of Jesup, will receive Greenlaw’s Special Media Recognition for Environmental Championship Award for their efforts to expose plans for a coal ash dump in Wayne County. The dump’s operator withdrew its 2015 application in April.
Now that the Atlanta City Design Project is nearing completion, Atlanta is making arrangements to present the proposal to stakeholders in a 410-page book that’s to be as expansive as the massive proposal to plan for the city’s next 20 years of anticipated growth and development.
A prime Buckhead site has changed ownership.
The property that houses the flagship Atlanta showroom of Restoration Hardware at 3030 Peachtree Road has been sold to 3030 Grey Partners LLC.
The former owners were real estate investor Peter Blum and the late Atlanta business icon J. Mack Robinson, who had jointly owned the property since 1995.
Every year, industries approach Georgia lawmakers asking for new or renewed tax breaks, promising leaps in job growth, industry expansion, or some other worthwhile payoff. But the state is a laggard at checking back on tax breaks and seeing what they do — or don’t — deliver.
It took four years, but Atlanta has allocated significant funding – up to $26 million – for an initiative Mayor Kasim Reed announced in 2013 to reduce homelessness in the city. This money is the city’s payment into a fund that’s expected to reach a total of $115.6 million.
Movie mogul Tyler Perry and the veterans’ medical campus at Fort McPherson are getting a new neighbor: the Wolf Idea Group is setting up headquarters and a showroom at the shuttered U.S. Army post in southwest Atlanta.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 7, 2017
Citizens Trust Bank closed two of its branches on June 30 including the one at its historic Piedmont Avenue building and its branch in Lithonia.
But Cynthia Day, Citizens Trust’s CEO, said the moves represent a transition in the banking industry rather than any financial issues with the bank — which is the largest African-American owned bank in the Southeast as well as the fifth largest in the country.
MARTA and the City of Atlanta are teaming up to provide the elusive “last mile” for people seeking alternative ways to get around.
MARTA and the city’s Relay bike sharing program launched their partnership on July 14 with an actual bike relay from the Colony Square bike station to MARTA’s Arts Center Station. MARTA and city employees “competed” in an effort to “win” the relay.
Atlanta human rights activist Joe Beasley’s latest projects involve helping provide water to the people of drought-stricken Somaliland and advancing the human rights of black folks in some countries in South America.
The development team charged with remaking Underground Atlanta includes the design firm that worked on Ponce City Market and one of the developers behind Krog Street Market.
It could be a recipe to emulate two of Atlanta’s most successful adaptive reuse projects.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 7, 2017
When Delta Air Lines held its annual meeting in New York City at 7:30 a.m. on June 29, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was not there.
Franklin had just spent the better part of two days attending events and meetings for Delta directors including a dinner June 27 to bid her farewell from the board. She, along with fellow director Kenneth Woodrow, had reached the mandatory retirement age of 72.
On the heels of reports that rank Atlanta among cities with the most green buildings, the city of Atlanta and its partners have recognized nearly 80 buildings that are leaders in the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge.
Three members of Atlanta City Council are asking voters to promote them to president of the body. The three have reported raising almost $600,000 in total campaign funds.
The organizers of an Atlanta mayoral candidate forum on green space Thursday night had to move their event to a bigger auditorium — their first venue couldn’t hold everyone who wanted to know more about what candidates propose for the city’s trees, watersheds and parks.
