Plant Vogtle, EVs, South Downtown: Here are Georgia's top business stories of 2023

Georgia’s economy piled up plenty of wins and a few losses in 2023.

The state’s biggest-ever jobs deal — the Hyundai electric vehicle factory near Savannah — got bigger and investments from electric vehicle- and battery-makers continued to pour into the state. Other green energy projects also got off the ground, as Georgia cemented itself as a major hub of clean tech jobs and investment.

Major manufacturing projects helped the state power through 2023 as Georgia added 95,000 jobs through November. The first of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle entered service, years late and billions of dollars over budget.

Delta Air Lines saw a big year as travel surged, though construction projects at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport made flying less than fun for many.

Two of Atlanta’s best-known Black-owned companies went through an acrimonious split.

Hollywood settled a pair of contentious strikes that held up production in Georgia.

A car dealer magnate pitched a hockey arena and mini city in Forsyth County, while Microsoft shelved plans for a new office campus on the west side of Atlanta. Commercial real estate, meanwhile, faces a post-pandemic reckoning.

Here are some of the biggest business headlines of 2023:

Inflation

The Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting campaign appears to be taming high prices. The Fed has signaled that it could start cutting rates next year but remains ready to hike them if prices remain stubbornly high.

Curbing inflation has proven painful, however, with higher interest rates on mortgages, car loans and commercial debt. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently heard from Atlanta minority business leaders about the impact of higher interest rates on their companies.

Electric vehicles

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

The Hyundai Metaplant grew in size to $7.6 billion, and now promises to employ 8,500 workers. Hyundai suppliers snatched up land wherever they could, announcing several new parts factories.

Kia announced plans to build its EV9 electric SUV at its existing West Point factory.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Rivian, meanwhile, picked a general contractor and confirmed an early 2024 groundbreaking for its future $5 billion EV factory.

But the EV road wasn’t all smooth. SK Battery America in Jackson County announced some furloughs and though sales of plug-in vehicles are growing, they have not been as strong as some predicted.

Green jobs

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com

Also on the jobs front, Qcells launched its expansion in northwest Georgia, with an addition to its Dalton plant and a new factory in Bartow County. The announcement and a huge solar production contract earned a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris.

In June, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm came to Atlanta to tout green jobs and federal legislation championed by the Biden administration that is leading billions in private investments in clean energy and green manufacturing projects.

Bye, bye CNN Center

Credit: TNS

Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to for CNN to depart its namesake CNN Center downtown with workers relocating to the company’s Techwood campus.

Microsoft shelves campus

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Microsoft pressed pause on its plans to build a sprawling Atlanta office campus on the site in Grove Park. The 90-acre project was expected to bring thousands of jobs and spillover investment to the area.

Fearless Fund fight

Credit: Ben Gray

In August, a conservative group sued the Atlanta-based and Black women-founded venture capital firm Fearless Fund, alleging racial discrimination in a grant program it runs that supports Black women founders. The suit is part of a broader effort to chip away at corporate diversity efforts nationwide.

Plant Vogtle

Credit: TNS

The Plant Vogtle expansion took major steps forward, but had some significant steps back, too, in 2023. The first new nuclear unit at the site near Augusta entered service in July, an historic achievement as the reactor is the first built from scratch in the U.S. in more than three decades.

The second new reactor appeared to be nearing completion by the end of the year, too.

With the project years late and billions over budget, ratepayers also learned how much of the soaring costs will show up in their monthly bills.

South Downtown saga

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Newport, the German firm behind plans to redevelop 10 blocks of south of the Five Points MARTA station, shocked Atlanta’s real estate community when it announced it was facing financial pressure and planned to sell all its holding to Atlanta developer Braden Fellman Group.

But the deal with Braden Fellman fell apart and many of the properties were advertised for foreclosure.

Credit: Steve Schaefer

Then, in a late December surprise, tech investors led by David Cummings and Jon Birdsong announced plans to buy Newport’s holdings of land and dozens of historic downtown buildings.

Commercial real estate fallout

The office market has remained in a tumultuous state since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted droves of employees to work from home. Despite many companies walking back their work-from-home policies, metro Atlanta set records for available office space during 2023.

Credit: TNS

High interest rates coupled with lagging tenant demand led multiple office buildings and development sites to go through foreclosure. Multiple hotels also faced loan distress as the hospitality sector unevenly recovered from the pandemic.

With a wall of office debt set to mature in the next few years, many real estate experts worry more building owners will be forced to hand back their keys, especially for aging properties in central business districts like downtown Atlanta. Those worries have sparked renewed interest in converting older office buildings into residential apartments, affordable housing or hotels.

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Home sales and prices

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@

Higher mortgage rates made for trouble in 2023. Many owners sat tight rather than trade their current low mortgage rate for a more costly one in a new home. Meanwhile, construction of new homes has never returned to the pace of the early 2000s, even as population kept growing.

The result was a shortage of homes on the market, which meant slower sales but wannabe buyers were still competing with each other, so prices didn’t fall.

American Dream for Rent

Credit: Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com

A groundbreaking Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation chronicled the extent of the investor-owned rental surge in the region.

Since the Great Recession, large investors have snapped up more than 65,000 homes in metro Atlanta and converted them to rentals. The Wall Street investors are contributing to home affordability challenges in the region.

ExploreAmerican Dream for Rent: Read the AJC investigation

Investors buy in all but the wealthiest neighborhoods, but their homes are disproportionately found in African American communities.

Families who wind up renting from these firms at times face deplorable conditions, exorbitant fees and frequent eviction filings by out-of-state landlords driven to maximize shareholder profits.

Delta

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Atlanta-based Delta saw its fortunes soar in 2023 with the rebound in travel, lifted by pent-up demand from leisure travelers and a rebound in business demand.

But an overhaul to its SkyMiles program and the criteria to earn medallion status went over like a lead balloon with customers, resulting in the company retreating on some of the planned changes.

Hartsfield-Jackson

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Construction of new security lanes at Hartsfield-Jackson resulted in frequent and prolonged waits to clear the domestic terminal checkpoints. That project finally wrapped up days before the start of the holiday rush.

But other huge projects are ongoing. The airport is well underway with a complex new program to shore up and eventually replace aging parking decks that has resulted in a host of changes to airport parking. The airport also is ramping up its ambitious $1.3 billion project to widen Concourse D, largely with pre-fabricated components.

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

A private luxury terminal for the rich and famous at Hartsfield-Jackson opened in September.

Norfolk Southern derailment

A Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February, resulting in a significant environmental disaster. Railroad and government officials, fearing a catastrophic explosion, decided to release and burn chemicals carried on the wrecked train.

The disaster led to displacement of many East Palestine residents and anger over the Atlanta-based company’s initial response. Norfolk Southern also faced fines and state and federal investigations. The railroad’s CEO, Alan Shaw, appeared before Congress, which is examining new safety regulations in the wake of the derailment.

Shaw has repeatedly promised to help the community recover and make things right.

As of the third quarter, the company has tallied $966 million in expenses for the East Palestine derailment, including cleanup costs and community assistance payments.

The Gathering Spot/Greenwood

Two landmark Atlanta-based and Black-owned companies parted ways.

The Gathering Spot, the networking hub and co-working space, announced in December a split from its parent company, digital banking platform Greenwood, and its two co-founders have reacquired majority ownership.

The split involves two notable companies that famously merged in 2022 and then suffered a very public spat that wound up in the courts.

UPS-Teamsters deal

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Under threat of a strike, UPS and the Teamsters this summer reached a landmark contract, the largest private sector collective bargaining agreement in North America.

Hollywood strikes

Credit: TNS

Writers and actors went on strike this year, halting production of new scripted programming and movies in the U.S., shutting down production in Georgia as a result. After months on the picket line, the writers reached a deal with the Hollywood producers, followed by a separate deal reached among the actors’ union that allowed production to restart.

The Roman

Credit: Courtesy Roman United, Yamasaki and Bad Consult

An AJC investigation found Clayton County officials missed serious red flags in its vetting of a developer who planned an $800 million high-rise project called The Roman in tiny Lake City.

The futuristic project was laid to rest weeks later when county officials severed ties with the developer, citing multiple missed deadlines and concerns over the project’s financing.

U.S. Soccer HQ

Credit: Miguel Martinez

The United States Soccer Federation announced plans to buy a site in Fayette County to be the location for its new National Training Center and headquarters. Groundbreaking is expected in the spring of 2024, with an estimated completion date before the 2026 World Cup. The USSF announced in September that it was relocating its headquarters from Chicago to the Atlanta area.

NCR split

Credit: Katelyn Myrick

Atlanta-based financial technology company NCR split itself into two companies, reducing metro Atlanta’s count of Fortune 500 companies by one. NCR Atleos is the new name of the company that took over the automated teller side of the business. NCR Voyix is the digital commerce business.

Incentive audits

Credit: Bob Mahoney

The incentives Georgia provides for creating jobs and to bring film and TV production to the state came under scrutiny in a pair of audits that questioned the economic value of the tax breaks.

An audit of the state’s jobs tax credit showed it costs more to operate than the amount it generates in extra tax revenue.

A separate examination of the state’s film and TV production tax credit, Georgia’s largest corporate incentive, said the growing film industry creates far fewer jobs than boosters say, and the credit costs taxpayers $59,455 per job.

The Gathering at South Forsyth

Credit: The Gathering at South Forsyth

Pro hockey in Forsyth County? Auto group CEO Vernon Krause is behind The Gathering at South Forsyth, a build-it-and-they-will-come vision for a pro hockey arena 30 miles north of downtown Atlanta, coupled with an Atlanta Braves-style live-work-play district.

The proposed $2 billion arena and entertainment district would include an 18,000-plus seat suburban arena surrounded by hotels, offices, restaurants, shops and apartments. The project is aimed at an NHL expansion franchise, though the league isn’t yet in expansion mode. The development team has been mum about what it might ask taxpayers to pony up to help build the vision.

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