Oh, Atlanta

After leveling off in the mid-1990s, then dipping over the past two years, Atlanta's population trend is on the upward swing again, with the 20-county MSA and its northern fringe of six more counties expected to grow by at least 140,000 in both 2004 and 2005, according to senior economist Mark Vitner with Wachovia Corp. The metro area's business and professional services sector is leading the city out of the recent slump, with employment climbing at a 2.7-percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2003.
        The plethora of available space advertised along the I-85 corridor has not kept brand new projects from appearing in the Atlanta metro. Witness the hunt for space or a site for Newell-Rubbermaid's new world headquarters, and the re-zoning of 254 acres (103 hectares) for a heavy industrial park in Braselton.
        Other northern rim counties of the Atlanta metro aren't sitting around idle. Cherokee County commissioners, led by Chairman Mike Byrd, are waiving impact fees as one small gesture toward attracting more business to the area along I-75 highlighted by Lake Allatoona. Other measures include the county airport's expansion to a 5,000-ft. (1,524-m.) runway and the formation of a 26-member economic alliance to foster business attraction and retention. All with an aim to better divvy up the county tax base, currently at 85-percent residential.
        According to the Georgia Dept. of Industry, Trade and Tourism, visitors to Newell Rubbermaid alone are expected to fill 18,000 hotel rooms a year, and contribute some $3.5 million in tourism revenue to the state. But it's the prestige that counts the most.
        "The number of jobs is not overwhelming, but what it says is that this is still a wonderful place to locate," says attorney Labovitz.
        Primary among the company's considerations for its move from Illinois was proximity to some of its major customers with operations already in Atlanta and the Southeast: Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Lowe's.
        New York Life mutual insurance company has chosen Atlanta over Dallas and Charlotte for its 135,000-sq.-ft. (12,542-sq.-m.) corporate data center. The project, expected to be complete in early 2004, will amount to a $100-million investment initially, with employment of 140 people.

Internap Network Services, a technology company providing Internet-based solutions to companies, relocated its headquarters to Atlanta from Seattle in the fall of 2002. Photo courtesy of Internap.

        Allegedly taking a good hard look around Atlanta is Ford Motor Co., which has operated its plant in Hapeville, near Hartsfield International Airport, since 1947. The company isn't saying anything, but published reports quote state sources as saying that Ford is looking to build a new plant surrounded by enough space for a stamping plant and supplier park — a model currently being pursued by Ford in Chicago. Two counties on the city's periphery — Meriwether to the southwest and Morgan to the east — are unofficially under scrutiny.
        In the meantime, First Industrial Realty Trust is building a new 231,000-sq.-ft. (21,460-sq.-m.) parts distribution facility for Ford, part of its high-velocity network that is unfolding with appropriate speed across the country. Scheduled to be ready in the spring of 2004, the Henry County facility, southeast of the city, will replace the company's facility in nearby McDonough, and will be leased for 10 years.
        A concept that is just making its debut in Georgia is tax increment financing. The flagship project is Atlantic Station, a 138-acre (56-hectare) mixed-use development being built on a former steel plant site in downtown Atlanta. The project's first office building, offering 400,000 sq. ft. (37,160 sq. m.), commenced construction in April 2003.
        "You have to use them," says Labovitz of TIF districts (called Tax Allocation Districts in Georgia), which have been so successfully employed in San Diego, Chicago, Denver and other cities. "There is no money that cities or counties or the state have to fund this kind of infrastructure. Here you get a developer to say 'Hey, we're letting you put it back into the project.' Once the bonds are paid off, it will be great for the city, county , school board, everybody."