Midtown’s tech boom is about to get bigger.
Fortune 500 financial technology giant NCR on Tuesday confirmed plans for a second-phase expansion of the headquarters campus under construction near Technology Square. NCR said it will move forward with a 14-story tower next to the 20-story skyscraper the company and developer Cousins Properties are building along the Downtown Connector.
NCR said it expects to add 1,800 new jobs on the campus over the next five years, in addition to the 3,600 employees the company will move to Midtown as part of the relocation of its headquarters from Gwinnett County.
NCR spokesman Scott Sykes also confirmed Tuesday that prior plans for a second campus in the northern suburbs have been scuttled.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported in August that NCR was considering a larger Midtown campus. Tuesday's confirmation comes a day after industrial giant Honeywell said it will establish the headquarters for its largest division and a global software development center in Midtown, bringing more than 800 jobs.
Earlier this summer, General Electric unveiled plans to open a technology hub and headquarters for its GE Digital division in the city. The NCR campus also will include an innovation lab, the company has said.
NCR, perhaps best known for cash registers and ATMs, has aggressively pushed into software and services. Under CEO Bill Nuti — who leads the company from New York — the company has worked to transform itself into an “omni-channel leader,” helping merchants reach customers seamlessly in store, online and through mobile devices.
“We are building a work environment that mirrors the innovative, connected experiences we create for our customers every day,” he said. “Our campus will provide a world-class work environment for all of our metro Atlanta employees and become a technology landmark in one of the city’s fastest growing neighborhoods.”
Nuti told the AJC last year he envisioned a campus as a calling card to help recruit top talent, where students at Georgia Tech could watch NCR technologists at work.
NCR, GE, Sage Software and Honeywell are among companies that have announced tech expansions within the city limits, citing access to student and faculty talent from Atlanta’s research universities.
“Atlanta continues to grow as a global technology center that offers companies access to top talent, renowned research institutions and advanced technology infrastructure,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in the release.
NCR said it will spend $145 million to outfit and build the second tower. The first skyscraper is expected to open in early 2018, followed a year later by the second phase.
NCR said it has agreed to incentives to help induce the move. The full incentive package is not immediately known, but 1,800 new jobs could qualify as a “mega” project, super-sizing potential state jobs tax credits to more than $47 million if the 1,800-job threshold is met.
The AJC previously reported the first phase of NCR's headquarters already is in line for about $16 million in incentives from the city.
Founded in 1884 as National Cash Register in Dayton, Ohio, NCR moved to Gwinnett County in 2009, lured by about $109 million in state and local incentives. NCR is a piece of Georgia’s financial technology sector, which employs more than 40,000 people in the Peach State, according to the American Transaction Processors Coalition.
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