Mercedes-Benz is expected to announce next week where it plans to build its new U.S. headquarters in Sandy Springs, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Company officials plan a news conference Tuesday with Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon and Gov. Nathan Deal to discuss details of the German automaker’s campus project. The company is said to favor a site at Abernathy and Barfield roads near Ga. 400 on a portion of a site known as Glenridge Hall.
The company has been in discussions to control of about 10 acres of the 70-plus-acre tract through a lease-purchase deal with the Development Authority of Fulton County, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul previously told the AJC. Homebuilder Ashton Woods has been negotiating to purchase the entire property with plans for a residential community.
Mercedes-Benz USA, which is moving its headquarters from New Jersey, is one of the most notable brands Georgia has recruited in years. The company announced the move earlier this month, saying it plans a $93 million campus and will relocate or create 800 to 1,000 jobs.
The German automaker is expected to open a first building — of about 250,000 square feet — in 2017. Cannon has said Mercedes will move in phases, with sales, distribution and other key divisions initially relocating to temporary offices. Two people with knowledge of the company’s search have said that temporary space will be in the Sterling Pointe office park in Dunwoody, near Perimeter Mall. That move is expected to start this summer.
Mercedes also scouted other sites across the north metro area, including Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Brookhaven. Real estate services firm JLL has been leading the company’s search.
The state offered an incentives package valued at $23.3 million under an assumption of 950 jobs, and the Development Authority of Fulton County estimated that property tax savings for the company’s headquarters campus could total $4 million over 10 years. That comes to about $28,750 in incentives per job.
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