Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 3, 2014

At first it may seem odd that the Metro Atlanta Chamber would display photos portraying poverty in our community on its walls.

Usually, chambers of commerce are much more eager to tout their economic development successes of shiny new buildings, airports and attractive skylines.

By Maria Saporta and Amy Wenk
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 3, 2014

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is in the midst of negotiating a deal with a potential buyer who would transform Underground Atlanta into a high-density development above ground.

“I think we will make an announcement about Underground before Dec. 1,” Reed said after the Sept. 26 meeting of the Atlanta Committee for Progress. “And I think we will be talking about an investment in the $100 million to $250 million range.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 26, 2014

Although it still needs to raise another $3.2 million by the end of the year, the Ronald McDonald House Charities will break ground on Sept. 30 on its new – bigger and better – Peachtree Dunwoody Road House.

The charity already has raised $15.3 million of its $18.5 million campaign for the new house that will better serve families with children being treated at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. The new house will replace an 11-bedroom home with one that is nearly triple its size with 31 bedrooms.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 26, 2014

For the first time in its 24-year history, the Georgia Research Alliance has expanded the number of universities that are part of its member institutions.

The Morehouse School of Medicine and Mercer University now have joined the ranks of Emory University, Georgia Tech, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia Regents University (formerly the Medical College of Georgia).

By Maria Saporta and Amy Wenk
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 26, 2014

The future of the Atlanta Hawks, in large part, still rests with Bruce Levenson, the managing owner who is on his way out because of a racially charged email he wrote two years ago.

It is up to Levenson, who owns about 24 percent of the team, to hire an investment banker to market the sale of the team. But it is still unclear how much of the team is for sale and how that would play out in terms of its value and future control.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 19, 2014

The Rotary Club of Atlanta’s 16th annual Atlanta Interfaith Business Prayer Breakfast on Oct. 22 at the Hyatt Regency downtown could be one for the history books.

The keynote speaker will be Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors Co., the first woman to run a major U.S. automobile manufacturer. It is quite a coup for the Atlanta Rotary to get Barra to deliver the keynote address amid all the issues that she has faced at the helm of the top U.S. automobile company.

By Maria Saporta and Dou Sams
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 19, 2014

Egbert Perry and his development group plan to begin demolishing the former Doraville General Motors plant within the next month — eventually turning 162 acres just north of Atlanta into 20 blocks of office buildings, housing, stores and restaurants.

Over time, Perry believes the GM redevelopment has the potential to knit Atlanta’s politically and geographically tattered region together.