A full-page ad that ran last week in The Wall Street Journal promotes the Dallas-Fort Worth region as a “well-oiled machine” that’s becoming known as “the DFW.”
This type of ad is about more than regional bragging rights. It speaks to the very real economic competition between two mega regions anchored by Dallas-Fort Worth and metro Atlanta, the later being a place where many are careful not to refer to the region as the ATL.
DFW has been trying to brand itself ...more
Georgia’s embrace of public private partnerships now extends to college dormitories.
The Board of Regents has approved a deal to put nearly 10,000 students into beds that by 2016 will be managed by one private company. Georgia already has partnered with privately owned entities to manage matters including prisons, distance learning, and roadway construction.
The board approved in November a 65-year deal valued at $517 million with Corvias Group, based in East Greenwich, R.I. Terms are to be finalized next year. The ...more
Atlanta could clear about $10 million from the sale of Underground Atlanta if the deal goes through as expected.
Atlanta owes about $15.5 million on the loan it took out to develop Underground Atlanta, according to EMMA, an official repository of information on city securities. The sale price has been estimated at $25.75 million.
In addition to eliminating the annual debt payment, the sale of Underground would cut out about $3 million of additional expenses the city pays annually, according to the ...more
The No. 1 attribute that business leaders say will they want in their employees is the ability to collaborate, according to a report to Gov. Nathan Deal on high demand careers.
The report also states the top five careers of the future in Georgia are mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, welder, machinist, and computer numerical control operator, according to the report.
For these technical skills to provide their full value, employees must have “soft skills.” The report defines soft skills in terms that ...more
Atlanta city officials are to meet Tuesday with vendors to begin the process of monetizing the public space in order to generate up to $5 million a year.
The idea is for Atlanta to collect fees for allowing private companies to install “amenities” in commercial areas. Boston is cited as one example of the concept, for its $21 million, 20-year contract for advertising on street furniture.
Atlanta has issued a request for information and has scheduled a pre-conference Tuesday to answer questions ...more
Gov. Nathan Deal has established a water czar to focus the state’s efforts on water supply and litigation.
Although water supply wasn’t much of an issue during the recent gubernatorial campaign, Deal established the position just a month after the election and on the eve of the 2015 legislative session – during which Deal may ask lawmakers to provide additional money for dams and other water projects.
Reservoirs are just one of several state water policies that continue to draw fire from ...more
Just minutes after he was named GRTA’s executive director, Chris Tomlinson was busy Wednesday talking about potential synergy between GRTA and the state agency that oversees managed lanes.
“We’ll roll out incentives to get more people to take advantage of transit,” Tomlinson said. “We hope to shift people out of vehicles, especially at the peaks, and take advantage of what transit providers already are doing.”
This outlook, of merging two state agencies that oversee alternate modes of transit, evidently is what Gov. ...more
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has appointed Dan Halpern, a politically influential Atlanta businessman whom Reed previously placed on the board of the Atlanta Housing Authority, to represent Atlanta on the Airport West Community Improvement District.
This CID was formed earlier this year to promote a region west of the airport. The CID’s board approved in June an annual budget of $1.6 million to fund various planned improvements.
Halpern’s appointment is on track to be confirmed by the Atlanta City Council in January. ...more
The corporate headquarters that Cousins Properties is developing for Genuine Parts Co. in Cobb County exemplifies the optimism within the commercial industry that’s cited in the Atlanta Fed’s latest “beige book.”
The 150,000 square foot building is a boon to the region’s construction-related industries. Cousins has developed the concept and site solutions. HKS Architects and Hendrick Interior Design handled the design.
HKS was the architect of record on the LEED Gold Certified Terminus 200 mixed use building that Cousins and JP Morgan ...more
Memorial Drive has the potential to become a visually interesting and vibrant corridor along its section from Oakland Cemetery to the DeKalb County line.
At least, that’s the opinion of a group of Georgia Tech students who have spent their fall semester analyzing Memorial Drive. On Wednesday, they unveiled a report they and their professor think is so well developed that parts of it are ready to be implemented.
Students crafted their report with the details typical of reports created with funding ...more
