It’s a new year and the business opportunities in metro Atlanta are, to use billionaire presidential contender Donald Trump’s parlance, “yuuuge.”
But before we close the books on 2015, here’s a final look back at a year that saw big billion-dollar acquisitions, a major auto giant relocation and a chicken chain making its New York debut.
Acquisitions/mergers:
Sandy Springs-based Newell Rubbermaid acquired Mr. Coffee maker Jarden Corp. for $15.4 billion and changed its name to Newell Brands. Atlanta-based Southern Company in August announced it was buying natural gas provider AGL Resources, another Atlanta company, for $8 billion.
Economic development:
The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority and Georgia State University picked the school and a team of private developers as the winning bidders to acquire Turner Field. Their redevelopment plan covers about 70 downtown Atlanta acres, including the Field’s parking lots. Director Tyler Perry also acquired 330 acres of Fort McPherson, the west Atlanta military post closed in 2011. Perry will turn the site into a movie studio.
Relocation:
German automaker Mercedes-Benz brought the new year in with news it was moving its U.S. headquarters to metro Atlanta from New Jersey. The company will build a $93 million campus in Sandy Springs and relocate or create 800 to 1,000 jobs.
Expansion:
Chick-fil-A opened a store on the Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The site is the first of several the Atlanta-based chain will open in the Big Apple as the nation’s biggest fast food chicken brand expands beyond its mostly southern base. Some of the northeastern stores have an urban design that ditches the drivethru for second or third floors.
Naming rights:
In addition to moving to metro Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz is putting its name on the Atlanta Falcons’ new stadium in downtown Atlanta. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, gives the company naming rights for 27 years, and the company’s logo will adorn the field’s retractable roof.
Jobs, jobs, jobs:
Unemployment in metro Atlanta dropped to 5 percent in November, its lowest rate in seven years. The good news: the metro rate matched the national figure, which it had trailed for most of the time since the end of the Great Recession in 2009. The bad news: much of metro Atlanta’s new jobs are lower-paid and some workers are holding down two positions to make ends meet.
Under new management:
Billionaire Tony Ressler bought the Atlanta Hawks mid-year for $730 million, ending the basketball franchise’s turbulent relationship with former owner Atlanta Spirit. Ressler, who shares the team ownership with minority stakeholders such as former NBA player Grant Hill and Spanx founder Sara Blakely, is in talks with the city to renovate Philips Arena — the Hawks home — at a price of $150 million to $250 million.
100 million served:
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport set a world record in December by handling 100 million passengers in a single year. The airport — the world’s busiest — saw a 5 percent increase in passenger traffic in 2015.
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