While political pundits review Georgia’s elections outcomes, Wall Street analysts have focused on the passage of an amendment to the Georgia Constitution that’s the first of its kind in the nation.
Moody’s Investors Services issued a report Friday that raises a cautionary flag over the amendment that caps Georgia’s individual income tax rate at 6 percent. The cap limits the state’s ability to raise revenues, if necessary, the report observes.
Georgia was one of 11 states included in a report intended to ...more
Social media is enabling the Georgia Tech analysis of Memorial Drive to proceed at a startling rate of speed.
As various findings are presented on a Facebook page and other social media, interested parties are providing feedback to the Tech students in almost real time. Portions of a report presented Oct. 27 are already substantially out of date, Tech professor of practice Mike Dobbins said Tuesday.
The result is that the final report is likely to be much more comprehensive than originally ...more
The Atlanta BeltLine has a hand in two projects that could add 22-story structures next to the Historic Fourth Ward Park, and eight-story apartment buildings a half-mile north of Piedmont Park.
At Historic Fourth Ward Park, the BeltLine is seeking to rezone land to a classification that allows buildings up to 225 feet high. The site includes the Masquerade nightclub, located in a stone structure built in 1900.
The planned development is a five-story structure.
Near Piedmont Park, a developer is seeking permission ...more
As it executes a business strategy that includes reducing its footprint in Atlanta, Cousins Properties Inc. posted a key measure of profitability Wednesday that exceeded Walls Street expectations.
The strategy consists of reducing the company’s footprint in Atlanta and could include bringing in a joint venture partner for the company’s trophy tower in downtown Atlanta, 191 Peachtree Street.
According to the 10-Q report filed Wednesday with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, Counsis is “exploring bringing in a joint venture partner” for ...more
Reducing the speed limit on Memorial Drive from 35 mph to 25 mph could improve safety, cut tailpipe emissions, boost the roadway’s capacity, and even reduce trip times.
Another startling discovery associated with the analysis of Memorial Drive, being conducted this autumn by Georgia Tech graduate students, is the high degree of buy-in from Atlanta city councilmembers who represent the area.
Councilmember Natalyn Archibong initiated the project and encouraged Tech to conduct the framework design studio.
Archibong provided about $13,000 from her council ...more
The musician lockout at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was foreshadowed almost a year ago in a rating action by Moody’s Investors Service.
Moody’s message was clear: Either ASO’s fiscal drain on Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc. would be reduced, or Moody’s may lower the credit rating on $188.26 million in debt Woodruff sold in 2009. Moody’s expected action this autumn.
Moody’s did not comment on Woodruff’s other debt, such as the $14.5 million Woodruff borrowed in 2008 to build an amphitheater ...more
A border dispute appears to be breaking out in DeKalb County, involving Brookhaven and two cities that haven’t even been incorporated.
The issue is the tax base represented by two entities that have requested to be annexed into Brookhaven – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Executive Park.
Two proposed cities, Lakeside and Briarcliff, have included property taxes from this area in their budget considerations. The future competitors are now aligned against a common foe.
In addition, the situation presents the latest twist in ...more
The basin of the Chattahoochee River is threatened by stormwater runoff that carries hazardous materials from industrial sites into the water system, a new report shows.
This situation prompted the Georgia Water Coalition to again include the Chattahoochee River on its 2014 edition of Georgia’s Dirty Dozen, a list of water pollution problems across the state that was released Wednesday.
The release of Georgia’s Dirty Dozen also served as a changing of the guard for the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Sally Bethea, founding executive ...more
Less than 10 percent of those who applied for a job-training program initiated by Falcons team owner Arthur Blank passed the drug/alcohol test required for acceptance to the program, according to Atlanta City Councilmember Ivory L. Young, Jr.
Young cited the figure to illustrate the challenge of job training for individuals who have troubles past or present. Of 160 applicants, 18 were accepted, he said.
The issue of jobs-training is again becoming relevant in Atlanta, as the new Falcons stadium creates jobs ...more
Signs of the discriminatory lending practice called redlining have reemerged in metro Atlanta, according to a new analysis of home sale prices.
Georgia Tech Professor Dan Immergluck reached this conclusion in his study that determines the extent of the uneven recovery of home prices in metro Atlanta.
Immergluck said the report shows the need for regulators to refocus on fair lending. Risk-averse lenders have gone so far in restricting loans that entire sections of metro Atlanta are essentially off limits to groups ...more
