For roughly 60 years, the drone of airplanes near the world’s busiest airport was countered by the sounds of automobiles coming off assembly lines.
But in 2006, the factory lines at Ford Motor Co.’s plant near Hapeville went quiet. Alan Hallman, the city’s mayor since 2003, called the factory’s shuttering “an economically devastating event,” leaving jet engines as the predominate sound of Atlanta’s Southside.
Today, plane noises again have competition — this time, it’s squealing tires.
German luxury automaker Porsche this summer is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Atlanta experience center, a unique investment that combines test tracks with its North American headquarters. It’s one of the largest investments made in Atlanta’s Southside since the turn of the century and revitalized the site of the shuttered Ford plant.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“It transformed that area,” Hallman said. “It woke that area up again after Ford’s departure.”
Since opening in 2015, Porsche says it has invested more than $128 million into the campus, which is on a 60-acre plot between I-75 and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In addition to the headquarters, the campus features two test tracks, a fine dining restaurant, a restoration facility and a gallery with classic Porsche cars. The project also attracted what’s now known as the Kimpton Overland Atlanta boutique hotel.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Employing nearly 800 workers and hosting more than 540,000 visitors and test track participants, the center serves as one of the Southside’s largest employment centers and tourist attractions.
“Being on the Southside and south of I-20, we know that we make a difference in the lives of others,” said Michelle Rainey, director of Porsche Experience Centers. “I think we had really great visionaries of what could become here, and so we’re really happy to be able to call south Atlanta home.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Same site, new automaker
Porsche’s experience center sits atop decades of automobile history.
Ford opened its Atlanta Assembly plant in 1947 but closed it after nearly six decades of production as part of a companywide restructuring initiative. Finding a successor to take over the land after the factory was demolished proved to be a challenge.
The site was proposed for what was once known as Aerotropolis Atlanta, a mixed-use development by Jacoby Development, lead developer of Atlantic Station. The concept of an aerotropolis, or “airport city,” remains as part of the land development strategy for the broader airport area.
Eventually, Porsche emerged as a suitor for the former Ford site.
Porsche since 1998 operated its North American headquarters in Sandy Springs, but its other operations were spread across the U.S. Rainey said company brass in the early 2010s began evaluating sites to combine its back-end offices into one location. They were also inspired by Formula One’s Silverstone experience center in England, which allowed everyday drivers to helm aerodynamic racing cars.
“It’s not only about putting your name on something,” Rainey said. “It’s something that everyone can touch and be a part of.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Porsche tasked Ken Ashley, executive director for commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, with finding a site that checked all the boxes. He said they looked at 71 properties, but the former Ford factory site south of Atlanta lapped the competition.
“You’re bringing together three elements: a headquarters, a training facility and a customer experience facility,” Ashley said. “And those three combinations had never been done in Atlanta and certainly not on anything of this size and scale.”
The site was effectively a blank canvas as Ford left it. Proximity to the airport helped connect the North American headquarters with its global counterpart in Stuttgart, Germany. And its interstate visibility acts as free advertising.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“We loved the idea of being up against an interstate because there are hundreds of thousands of eyeballs everyday that drive by,” Ashley said. “After all, Porsche is a retailer, and they want brand awareness. They certainly got it with this site.”
‘A third crown jewel’
Porsche doesn’t make its luxury vehicles in Georgia, but the brand has played a role in the state’s fast-growing automobile industry.
Fellow German automaker Mercedes-Benz moved its U.S. headquarters to Sandy Springs in 2015. Korean automakers Kia and Hyundai both opened factories in Georgia, and electric vehicle startup Rivian plans its own plant an hour east of Atlanta.
Rainey said Porsche was not only a trendsetter by planting its flag in Georgia, but the location of that flag matters. For Atlanta’s Southside, Porsche became one of the area’s largest corporate presences.
Ashley said, “We had Delta, we had Chick-fil-A and now we have a third crown jewel in Porsche.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Hallman, despite being a booster for his city of fewer than 7,000 residents, concedes that before Porsche, there was “no reason for you to come to Hapeville unless you’re on your way to the airport.” But the experience center, he said, has made the area a destination and supported local businesses and restaurants.
A year after opening Atlanta’s experience center, Porsche opened a sister campus near Los Angeles for West Coast enthusiasts. A third North American experience center will open in Toronto later in June.
Rainey said the centers have paid dividends for Porsche, allowing customers and thrill-seekers the chance to get behind the wheel of the automaker’s pricey fleet.
“Being able to allow people to experience the car, what’s it capable of and understand the technology was something that is really important to us,” she said.
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