By Maria Saporta
The Georgia Tech Foundation won a major victory this week in its quest to demolish most of the historic Crum & Forster building at 771 Spring St. in Midtown.
A report from a three-person Economic Review Panel for the Atlanta Urban Design Commission submitted June 21 agreed with just about every point made by the attorneys of the Georgia Tech Foundation.
By Maria Saporta
Sixteen years ago, Atlanta was busy getting ready for the biggest event in its history — the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
This year, it’s the City of London’s turn to enjoy its time in the international spotlight. Next month, it will host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
By Maria Saporta
Three U.S. representatives from metro Atlanta — John Lewis, David Scott and Hank Johnson — urged Gov. Nathan Deal and other state officials to ensure that the $104 million awarded to Georgia from the National Mortgage Settlement be invested in foreclosure prevention.
The fact that Georgia had decided to spend those funds on economic development initiatives rather than foreclosure prevention was brought to light in this week’s SaportaReport guest column, written by Kate Little.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the ABC on Friday, June 15, 2012
The quality of child care in Georgia experienced a decline for the fourth year in a row, according to a new report that is to be released June 15. The statewide survey was conducted by the Atlanta-based nonprofit group Quality Care for Children.
The nonprofit conducted its fourth annual survey of child-care centers in February and March, interviewing nearly 900 providers.
By Maria Saporta
Multi-faceted Atlanta entrepreneur Michael R. Hollis passed away Monday evening after suffering from a prolonged illness.
Hollis, 58, was a lawyer by training with a law degree from the University of Virginia. It was while he was at UVA that he was the first African-American to be elected the national president of the 30,000-member student division of the American Bar Association, the largest student organization in the world, according to an Atlanta Weekly profile written about Hollis in 1985.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 15, 2012
More than 300 Atlantans participated in the 2009 design competition for a proposed National Center for Civil and Human Rights. In a public forum, the five teams of finalists presented their vision for what was destined to become one of Atlanta’s marquee attractions.
By Maria Saporta
Backers of the one-percent regional transportation sales tax are still knocking on doors seeking to raise money for their campaign.
The referendum vote, which will take place during the primary election on July 31, is considered too close to call. It’s all a matter of who will show up at the polls (or vote early or by absentee ballot).
By Maria Saporta
NEW YORK — The annual shareholders meeting for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines began at 7:30 a.m. and lasted about 20 minutes in the auditorium of the AXA Equitable Center.
Despite the large auditorium, a sparse crowd of fewer than 50 people — only about 10 of them outside shareholders — attended, and only one question was asked.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 07, 2012
A group of Olympic athletes are doing what they can to keep Atlanta’s Olympic legacy alive.
On June 23, Georgia’s Olympians and Paralympians will hold a “Walk to London” at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. The “Walk to London” is being held in cities across the country to help build awareness for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games that will be held in London beginning next month.
By Maria Saporta
At long last — some good news for metro Atlanta’s housing market.
After several years of significant oversupply, metro Atlanta now only has five months of inventory of homes that are on the market. That means that at the current pace of home sales, it would take five months to deplete the available inventory.
Atlanta-based Smart Numbers released its latest data at its semi-annual housing summit on Wednesday morning.
By Maria Saporta
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights revealed a new scaled-down, economically-sustainable design for what will become a signature attraction for Atlanta.
The new design was unveiled Monday evening at the W Hotel downtown, which is only a couple of blocks away from the site of the Center.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 07, 2012
It’s the beginning of a new era for the Woodruff Arts Center with the June 4 naming of Virginia Hepner as its next president and CEO.
Hepner, who will be the first woman to lead the multidimensional arts and cultural institution since its founding in 1963, comes to the table with a strong business background and with a deep passion for the arts.
By Maria Saporta
Influential Southern banker John Medlin passed away earlier today after suffering from a heart attack while playing tennis. Medlin was 80 years old.
Medlin served as the CEO of Wachovia Corp. from 1977 to Dec. 31, 1993, and he served as board chairman from 1988 to April 1998. Wachovia was one of the financial institutions from North Carolina that acquired Atlanta banks after Georgia had failed to pass a statewide banking bill. Although it was called a merger of equals, Wachovia acquired First National Bank of Atlanta, also known as First Atlanta, in December, 1985.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 01, 2012
The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is celebrating.
After five years of declining dollars coming into its annual campaign, the situation has turned around.
The Jewish Federation’s 2012 campaign has raised $15.4 million — about $720,000 more than the year before.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 01, 2012
Atlanta often claims to be something it’s not — hoping it eventually will become what it claims.
Ironically, Atlanta can accurately claim to be a leading center for global health. But for a host of reasons, Atlanta has yet to fully capitalize on the presence of numerous global health institutions based in the metro area.
By Maria Saporta
The Woodruff Arts Center board of trustees on Monday unanimously named Virginia Hepner as its new president.
Hepner, a banker by training, is no stranger to the arts. She spent 25 years with Wachovia Bank before leaving in February 2005 — serving as executive vice president and senior managing director of U.S. Corporate Finance and as co-head of the U.S. Industries in the Corporate and Investment Banking Division following Wachovia’s merger with First Union.
Always passionate about the arts, Hepner served in several interim director roles. She was interim executive director for Brand Atlanta during the administration of Mayor Shirley Franklin.
By Maria Saporta
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed reasserted his commitment to making the city as green as it can be during the monthly Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable meeting Friday morning.
Reed said his goal for Atlanta is consistent — he wants it to be in the Top 10 sustainable cities in the United States. In the last national ranking, Atlanta was No. 18.
By Maria Saporta
Most institutions try to stay away from two of the most emotionally charged issues in today’s society — sexuality and religion.
But the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Satcher Health Leadership Institute and its Center of Excellence for Sexual Health is embracing both topics with the hopes that open and respectful dialogue of both topics will lead to better public health in underserved communities.
By Maria Saporta
Women will play a pivotal role in whether the regional transportation sales tax passes on July 31.
That was the message that David Hill, director of Hill Research Consultants which is doing polling for the pro-tax entities, told more than 130 women who gathered at Home Depot’s headquarters for a lunch meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, May 25, 2012
Atlanta Life Financial Group, a 107-year-old African-American-owned company, is going back to its roots.
