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Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

In pollen season, Kirkwood’s old-school carwash hums

by Michelle Hiskey

Monday marked nine straight days in Atlanta of extremely high (over 1500) pollen counts. You can’t avoid the blanket of yellow green dust covering the city.

For Stuart Brady, the plague of pollen on our cars is almost a biblical call to atone through what his business serves: lots of water and your own elbow grease. At his Kirkwood Car Wash, three words preach from the shingled roof: “Honor Thy Auto.”

These days, the ka-ching of tokens in the self-serve machines is the reason Brady calls pollen “gold dust.” It also gives him hope that his slice of Americana might survive the relentless redevelopment that Atlanta is known for.

Posted inDavid Pendered

MARTA, developers may start projects at three stations by early fall

by David Pendered

Proposed developments at three MARTA stations are so hot that they could start in a matter of months, according to MARTA records.

The proposals involve the stations of Avondale, Chamblee and King Memorial. Each proposal has “advanced to the point of the board’s decision/action and could be put into action this summer or early fall,” records show.

MARTA can’t wait for a consultant to be hired in May to handle the proposals. Instead, MARTA seeks to hire a consultant to work on these projects over the next 60 to 90 days. Bids for the consulting position close March 25.

Posted inDavid Pendered

West End and southwest Atlanta: Tweaking Northside Drive could spur growth in areas skipped by last boom

by David Pendered

The Georgia Tech study of Northside Drive offers some interesting prospects for the next chapter of Atlanta’s West End and other neighborhoods south of I-20.

The study offers a solution that it contends is a relatively easy way to reconnect West End with downtown Atlanta via Northside Drive. The solution resolves the impasse created by I-20.

The proposal is significant because, if implemented, it could prime southwest Atlanta for the next wave of intown redevelopment. Fort McPherson’s planned conversion to civilian uses could benefit from the improved access, as well.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Police raids, building price lift veil on business district south of Five Points

by David Pendered

A string of narcotics arrests near Five Points last week, plus arrests for several outstanding warrants and the recovery of a stolen handgun, are among the latest examples of the challenges of sprucing up the city’s southern business district.

This section of downtown Atlanta remains a place of competing objectives. The planned billion-dollar redevelopment of the gulch and neighboring area may spark a restoration of Atlanta’s historic urban core, even as an underground economy seems to thrive in the current environment.

The pedigree of one building where drug arrests were made highlights part of the economic tension. The building was purchased in 2009 for a sum higher than may be expected in the recession: 175 percent of the value assigned by Fulton County’s tax assessors.

Posted inTom Baxter

Chattanooga: Eating our lunch in liveability

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

When Atlantans look around for other cities to compare theirs with, they think major league all the way. They measure their growth against Houston and Dallas. They travel to Denver and Seattle to find civic inspiration and worry that Charlotte and Nashville are gaining on them.

But as we contemplate the hotter, wetter future we discussed last week, we might be better off taking a look at Chattanooga.

Yes, Chattanooga. Seldom do we think of our neighbor across the Tennessee line as much of a competitor. When they built an aquarium, we just built a bigger one. But for nearly three decades, since a group of civic leaders got together in 1984 and committed themselves to doing something about Chattanooga’s image as the dirtiest city in America, and in the view of some the dullest, they have been eating our lunch on the playing field of liveability.

Posted inMaria's Metro

Poverty in metro Atlanta’s suburbs growing faster than in the city

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

Metro Atlanta’s profile is changing with a dramatic growth of poverty in the suburbs.

Several recent studies point to reality challenging the perception that the poor are concentrated in the central city while the middle-income and higher-income populations are living in the suburbs.

“In Atlanta, since 2000, the number of poor people living in suburbs grew by 53 percent,” said Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, who was in Atlanta presenting her findings. By comparison, the number of poor people living in the City of Atlanta grew by 24 percent.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta’s role in stadium bond deal may involve Downtown Development Authority, a wing of Invest Atlanta

by David Pendered

The city of Atlanta has at least four entities that could sell bonds to help finance construction of a new Atlanta Falcon’s stadium. The Atlanta Downtown Development Authority stands out as a likely candidate.

The DDA is beholden only to Atlanta City Hall – Mayor Kasim Reed chairs the DDA’s board, and he supports the new stadium; City Hall appoints or confirms the board members. State law sets no limit on the amount of bonds any DDA can issue.

The next Atlanta DDA board meeting is set for Feb. 21, if the board keeps to its routine schedule. Should the DDA be the chosen vehicle, this date would allow Atlanta to keep its proposed end of the project moving apace – which is in keeping with Gov. Nathan Deal’s approach to this year’s legislative session.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Buckhead a study in contrasts: Mobility to improve as office market sags, construction slumps

by David Pendered

Buckhead provides an interesting glimpse into the mixed bag that is metro Atlanta’s commercial real estate industry, a vital piece of the region’s economy.

The good news is two major transportation projects should improve access measurably in a region where prestigious buildings are surrounded by traffic congestion. One project involves MARTA’s Buckhead Station, while the other addresses the interchange of Ga. 400 and I-85.

The not-so-good news is the office market continues to drag. Buckhead was one of the region’s five submarkets that lost tenancy in fourth quarter 2012, though Buckhead showed an overall gain in the year, according to the latest vacancy report from Cassidy Turley, a commercial real estate services provider.

Posted inGuest Column

Hartsfield-Jackson provides runway for metro Atlanta’s growth

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist DARAKA E. SATCHER, partner and chief oprating officer at the Pendleton Group consulting firm

A few times a week, I have the privilege of working from a location where I have a great view of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on a clear day. I can see the whole expanse of it and – if I give myself enough time to pay attention for a moment – observe a few planes land or take off.

In other words, it is the ebb and flow of airport functions that can be seen at a number of places throughout the world. I’ve seen enough of that to not be too fascinated by it, but I often have a different reaction watching these run-of-the-mill activities occur at Hartsfield-Jackson. Because every now and then, I recognize that I’m actually watching the primary engine behind the phenomenon of world-shrinking.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Xpress bus service funded in Gov. Deal’s proposed FY 2014 budget

by David Pendered

The Xpress bus service operated by GRTA will continue to operate through at least June 2014 if the Legislature leaves intact the operating funds recommended by Gov. Nathan Deal in his budget proposal for FY 2014.

Deal also made history by including Xpress funding in the state’s annual budget, rather than its supplemental budget. That’s significant because eliminating money from programs that are included in the annual budget has, historically, been much more difficult than eliminating funding that was provided in the amended budget, or supplemental budget, the Legislature adopts in the middle of a fiscal year.

Deal provided $8.1 million for Xpress operations in the budget he unveiled Thursday. The money would offset the loss of local and federal funds, according to the line item in the governor’s budget.

Posted inLatest News

City of Atlanta develops plan for spending its 15 percent of region’s transportation tax

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

When metro Atlanta voters go to the polls on July 31 to vote on a one-penny regional sales tax for transportation for the next 10 years, they will be voting for two pots of money.

One pot — $6.14 billion (or 85 percent of what would be collected) — would go to a list a projects approved by the Atlanta Regional Roundtable, of which 52 percent will go towards transit projects.

The other pot is for the remaining 15 percent, which would total about $1.1 billion, would be distributed to the region’s local governments to spend on their own transportation projects.

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