In 1994 metro Atlanta led the nation for the third consecutive year in job creation, with more than 90,000 new jobs across the region. Our Olympic-era euphoria peaked with the Centennial Olympic Games, 19 years ago this summer. But as any business or enterprise atop its field can attest, staying in first place is in and of itself a challenge.
Our Central Perimeter sub-market, and the Northern Arc of the I-285 corridor, is notching some impressive gains, from the re-development of the former Doraville General Motors Plant, to the Cox campus expansion, to the headquarters relocation of Mercedes-Benz, USA. State Farm Insurance selected the Perimeter Center for the location of one of three national operation hubs, and it’s building three 20-plus story towers on a corporate campus which will straddle and surround our Dunwoody MARTA station.
Any business executive, retailer or entrepreneur will tell you they prefer the site of construction cranes and ringing cash registers to the much slower and lower sounds of the recession from which we are emerging. But employment and community growth require advance planning and execution to prevent choking on that expansion.
For the past 15 years, our Perimeter Community Improvement Districts (PCIDs), and more recently the Perimeter Business Alliance, have been doing just that — planning ahead, working across jurisdictional boundaries, gathering the required resources and partners, and then executing. Our results in many ways speak for themselves: 35 miles of additional sidewalks; nearly 11 miles of new bike lanes, foot paths and trails through office campus and retail centers; improved signage and access to all three MARTA stations within the PCIDs; and our flyover bridge, half-diamond and full-diverging diamond interchanges for Hammond Drive and Ashford Dunwoody at 285.
Our largest initiative to date is still ahead: the $1-billion reconstruction of the I-285 at Georgia 400 interchange and the Georgia 400 collector-distributor lane system project. The Georgia Department of Transportation has received official National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) approval. The right-of-way plans are approved and the PCIDs remain firm on our commitment of $10 million to the project when construction begins. Gov. Nathan Deal’s consistent leadership on this huge undertaking has delivered.
Our new State Farm Insurance campus is planned to house 8,000 employees. The three hospitals in Perimeter Center are home to another 15,000 workers. Perimeter Mall is one of the the state’s largest retail centers and Perimeter Center has more office space than downtown, Midtown or Buckhead. All of these workers require access, mobility and a commute which offers options.
At a recent meeting of the Perimeter Business Alliance, Juaquin Jordan, Director of Administrative Services for State Farm, said his company chose the Perimeter for one of its three national operation centers primarily due to the ease of access to mass transit, as well as the nearby communities and area housing for their employees.
Acknowledging the role transit is increasingly playing in making the Perimeter Center Georgia’s preferred Fortune 500 address, we recently launched Perimeter Connects, a new affiliate of the PCIDs and PBA. Perimeter Connects is a one-stop transportation-and-transit planning shop for small and large employers located within the central perimeter.
Made possible by a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), Perimeter Connects (www.perimeterconnects.com) staff has already begun work for Cox, UPS, Newell-Rubbermaid, State Farm, Emory/St. Joseph’s, Northside Hospital and others. It offers subsidized and bulk-discounted MARTA Breeze passes; car, van pools, and shuttle organization; alternative pedestrian commute options as well as flex-work day and telecommuting programs. www.perimeterconnects.com.
Atlantans are not alone in being wed to our single-occupancy vehicles. Our cars are often viewed as an extension of ourselves, but Perimeter Connects and the PCIDs are working to level that commuting field, making taking a train, bus or biking to work almost as easily accessible for workers, residents and consumers alike.
Stephen Cannon, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, recently told the Atlanta Press Club that it was the combination of a desirable and vibrant community and the strong and welcoming business climate which were the primary catalysts in causing him to envision the productive future of Mercedes in the Perimeter/Sandy Springs/Dunwoody market.
Cannon spent several years in Atlanta at an earlier point in his career, during the region’s Olympic era. He saw our promise, even then. Now, united with our local government partners, it is our turn to deliver.
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