Photos: Solis hotel part of Hapeville aerotropolis plan

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Solis hotel part of Hapeville aerotropolis plan

Photos: Solis hotel part of Hapeville aerotropolis plan

With the Porsche Experience Center in the background, Hapeville Mayor Alan Hallman (6th from left) and other city officials participate in a ceremonial groundbreaking for Solis Hotel. Southside businesses, political and community leaders have long-held onto the idea that the airport area could become a thriving business district like Buckhead or Perimeter.

This rendering of the Porsche Cars North America headquarters near the Atlanta airport, left, shows where the new Solis hotel would be located. Hapeville Mayor Hallman sees the development of an “aerotropolis” gaining momentum with the hotel ground-breaking.

Hapeville Mayor Alan Hallman (center), mayor of Hapeville, and Horst Schulze (right), Chairman and CEO of Capella Hotels and Resorts, talk during the April 5, 2016, groundbreaking ceremony for Solis. “[The Solis development] elevates the area greatly. It gives Porsche what they’ve been looking for and it’s another piece in the aerotropolis puzzle as well,” Hallman said. The aerotropolis concept – a citylike hub around Hartsfield-Jackson – “is not going to happen overnight. This further sends the message that the Southside is open for business.”

A planned mixed-use development called Aerotropolis Atlanta was first announced in 2008 by Jacoby Development Inc. The project, on the site of the Ford plant, was hailed for its potential as an office, retail and industrial hub. In this 2014 photo, Joe Folz, Chairman, Atlanta Aerotropolis Alliance and General Counsel for Porsche Cars North America makes remarks during the press conference in which business and civic leaders officially launched the Atlanta Aerotropolis Alliance.

The old Ford site near the airport, shown in 2011, where the tower and takeoffs and landings are visible. Now the site is home to Porsche, which built its sleek North American offices and a test track on the old auto plant site. The Hapeville Ford plant closed in 2006.

Mayor Hallman applauded Porsche’s “courage” in choosing the south Fulton County area and south Atlanta for its headquarters.

Hapeville has about 6,600 residents and the area is growing, up a few hundred since 2010.

Georgia artist Shannon Lake painted a mural commissioned by the city of Hapeville. The mural celebrates Hapeville's aviation history. The city wanted three themes painted: Aviation, trains and auto manufacturing.

The original Chick-fil-A Dwarf House on North Central Avenue, a longtime Hapeville fixture, sits across the street from where the Solis will be located.

Dashill Smith of Fairburn plays the trumpet in front of the Buttersweet Bakery and the Thai Heaven restaurant in downtown Hapeville in this 2009 photo. He was the featured musician during the Lunchtime Sidewalk Concert Series on the square. The series, now called the Downtown Live Concert Series, is still ongoing.

Hapeville is only 2.5 square miles, but historic home renovations and new homes built in the area's craftsman style have pushed real estate values in some areas to over $200,000.

A mix of new development and well-established businesses like Chapman Drugs has reinvigorated downtown Hapeville.

The Christ Church Building (at left) is the oldest standing church structure in the City of Hapeville. It has since been renovated and moved from its former location beside the train tracks (shown here in 2007) that bisect the city and is now offered to the public for exhibits, conventions, trade shows and other special events.

Hapeville's Virginia Park neighborhood started seeing gentrification around 2005 and is still among the city's most attractive subdivisions.

The College Street Station lofts, near the planned Solis site, are an example of how Hapeville has reshaped its image. The formerly abandoned 1911 school building is now a condominium complex garnering $120,000 to $275,000 per unit.

Another luxury hotel connected to the main terminal – this one an InterContinental (shown here in a rendering) – is expected to be built over the next couple of years. “It definitely will change the image and the perception that we don’t have quality hotels and quality restaurants,” Clayton County chairman Jeff Turner said.

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The rise of the high-end hotel Solis next to the Porsche North America headquarters marks one of the highest-profile hopes that the dream of an aerotropolis could be possible. This is a rendering of the Solis hotel planned for Hapeville.

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