Large office leases hit highest level in Atlanta since before pandemic

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Large office leases in metro Atlanta are returning to the highest levels since before the pandemic, according to new data from Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

In the first half of 2024, five leases of at least 100,000 square feet have been signed, compared with just one that size at this time last year. The five leases average almost 150,500 square feet, equal to about six floors in a typical office tower.

The highest-profile lease in that group was Piedmont Healthcare Inc. relocating its Atlanta headquarters to Midtown. It took 164,000 square feet at Atlantic Station’s 271-17th Street building. Midtown was the location of another big office leasing transaction. Atlanta Gas Light signed a deal for 264,300 square feet at Midtown Center II.

The flurry of big leases coincides with rumblings from some brokers that more companies are once again shopping for larger blocks of office space. This follows a slowdown in deals of at least 100,000 square feet during the rise of hybrid work. Analysts, though, say it’s too early to draw solid conclusions.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

PrizePicks expanding Atlanta HQ despite Georgia’s sports betting purgatory

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Daily fantasy sports is all about finding overlooked value.

Whether it’s banking on a player’s hot streak or believing a scrappy team is this year’s Cinderella, sports fans bet they can capitalize on their knowledge and intuition.

One of the largest and fastest-growing mobile sports platforms sees Atlanta as a worthwhile wager — one worth doubling down.

PrizePicks announced in April it will expand its Atlanta headquarters by moving to the top floor of the glitzy Star Metals building in West Midtown and adding 1,000 new employees over the next seven years. It’s a massive move for a homegrown company that also represents the growing influence of the wider mobile fantasy sports industry, despite Georgia ranking among the largest states without legal sports betting.

The wave of corporate investment into daily fantasy sports is also synergistic with the surging popularity of the WNBA, along with large annual events like the NBA and NHL finals, which are both currently underway.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

First Quality in Macon, Ga. to Create 600 New Jobs

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that First Quality Baby Products, LLC will invest $418 million to expand its footprint in Macon-Bibb County, creating 600 new jobs.

“We’re always thankful when job creators like First Quality choose to expand in Georgia, and we’ll keep working to strengthen these long-term partnerships that enrich communities in every corner of the state,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “More than 70 percent of last year’s economic development projects were expansions of businesses already operating here in our state, and thanks to companies like First Quality, that positive trend will continue.”

First Quality Baby Products, LLC and its affiliates manufacture baby diapers; youth and training pants; a full line of adult incontinence, feminine hygiene and wipes products; paper towels; and bath tissue while also packaging products for healthcare, retail, and commercial channels.

Georgia.org

Toyota to expand production with 350 new jobs in Huntsville

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Toyota is expanding the production capabilities at its Huntsville engine factory with a $282 million investment while also adding more than 350 new, high-quality jobs with long-term stability, according to an announcement today by Governor Kay Ivey.

The growth project pushes the total investment in Toyota Alabama to more than $1.7 billion and affirms the automaker’s commitment to reinvesting profits in its U.S. operations.

“Toyota has been a critical partner within Alabama’s growing auto industry for over two decades, launching multiple expansions that have increased the Huntsville facility’s production capabilities and its superb workforce,” Governor Ivey said.

“This new investment project will build on the great legacy of Toyota’s Alabama engine plant and create even more new opportunities for the area’s citizens,” she added.

MadeInAlabama.com

New venture focuses on pristine spring water in rural Alabama

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

MINERAL SPRINGS, Alabama — Governor Kay Ivey joined the leaders of Alabama Mineral Springs LLC to celebrate the company’s ambitious five-year project to sustainably distribute mineral-rich water from a free-flowing spring in Chilton County.

Alabama Mineral Springs LLC is officially starting production today at a $6 million bottling plant at the location where natural spring water was first discovered around 165 years ago.

The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and staged tours of the new facility this morning in the Mineral Springs community. Bottles of its “Simply Artesian” water will go on public sale in early July.

“It’s thrilling to see this historic site be revived by a business that wants to bring a healthy product that’s genuinely ‘Made in Alabama’ to the world,” Governor Ivey said.

MadeInAlabama.com

San Francisco tech startup to relocate to Birmingham, create 80 jobs

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair announced that CModel Data Inc., whose proprietary software helps businesses operate more efficiently, is relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Birmingham, where it plans to create 80 jobs as it grows its operations.

The technology startup developed its AI-powered CORA program to provide insights and recommendations to business decision-makers, allowing them to develop and implement successful growth strategies.

CModel says CORA functions as a decision-support engine that aggregates a company’s most critical business data and uses machine learning to analyze metrics, assumptions, and industry benchmarks to deliver curated recommendations with subject matter expertise.

“The innovators behind CModel Data have developed a software platform that enables business leaders to cut through the static to obtain the insights they need to grow their enterprises,” Commerce Secretary McNair said.

MadeInAlabama.com

Allied Mineral breaks ground on Alabama expansion

Posted on June 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

PELL CITY, Alabama — Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair announced that Allied Mineral Products LLC (Allied) is investing $23.5 million to launch an expansion of its Pell City plant that produces a variety of heat containment refractory products used in industrial applications.

Allied executives and employees joined state and local officials today in groundbreaking ceremonies at the site.

The growth project will add a 200,000-square-feet production facility on the company’s site at 308 Truss Ferry Road in Pell City and create 13 new jobs, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce. The company’s workforce there now totals 81 full-time employees.

“Since its founding over 60 years ago, Allied Mineral Products has grown into a global company, serving multiple industries and registering sales to more than 100 countries,” Secretary McNair said.

MadeInAlabama.com

Hotel near Toyota campus will be unlike anything else in North Texas

Posted on June 13, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

How Japanese design, Texas culture influence upcoming Miyako Hotel near Toyota HQ

An upcoming grand and unique hotel in Plano has generated significant buzz around how exactly the project will fuse Japanese sophistication with big Texas, Southern-style charm.

The Miyako Hotel, located on the south side of Campus at Legacy near Toyota’s North America headquarters, aims to not only cater to Japanese employees visiting the company, but also to a broader public looking for a special and authentic experience. It is expected to deliver in mid-2027.

Garfield Public-Private LLC was recently announced as the developer for the hotel — five years after the project was first announced. The Dallas-based firm will be responsible for finalizing designs and permits to bring the hotel closer to the construction phase.

Dallas Business Journal

Troubled Southwest Virginia draws promise of help from Youngkin, lawmakers

Posted on June 13, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced plans for an economic development initiative in Southwest Virginia, a region still struggling with the loss of the coal industry and where Democratic House Speaker Don L. Scott Jr. (Portsmouth) has also mounted a new push to address lingering problems.

Youngkin unveiled his “Accelerate Southwest Virginia” initiativelast week at an economic forum at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Though he was short on specific policy offerings, Youngkin touted a list of state-funded improvement projects related to transportation, education and health care, then announced a new $10 million small-business loan fund targeting the area through the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission.

The commission was formed in 1999 to award economic development grants and loans in parts of the state that once benefited from the tobacco industry, using money from the national settlement with tobacco manufacturers over smoking-related health-care costs.

“I believe that we need to go faster and we need to accomplish more” in Southwest Virginia, Youngkin told the audience atthe forum. His initiative is “all about locking arms. This is all about focus, and this is about results.”

Scott, meanwhile, created a temporary, bipartisan legislative committee during this year’s General Assembly session and tasked it with recommending solutions to the lack of health care in rural communities, such as Southwest Virginia. The committee held its first meetings at the end of April and early May in Tazewell County, near Wise, and plans to tour health-care facilities in other rural parts of the state before recommending legislative solutions next year.

The Washington Post

Va. went all in on solar. Then its powerful utility changed the rules.

Posted on June 13, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Four years ago, Fairfax County announced a landmark clean energy plan to install solar panels on more than 100 buildings including schools, community centers and government facilities. But progress on that goal — which the county estimated would save $60 million in utility costs over 25 years — has stalled after the state’s biggest utility imposed expensive grid connection requirements that solar proponents say make those midsize projects not viable.

Fairfax had completed six projects before Dominion Energy changed the requirements for midsize solar in December 2022. Since then, the county has downsized two projects to fall below the requirements’ parameters, while five others — including a police station, stormwater complex and library — are on hold. Fairfax is moving ahead with a five-megawatt installation at its landfill complex in Lorton despite an increase of $1.7 million to connect to the grid.

Across the state, the company began requiring upgrades for a “direct transfer trip,” which automatically disconnects a system, on some projects. That includes laying a dark fiber optic transmission line to a substation at a cost of $150,000 to $250,000 per mile and in some cases adding a relay panel that runs $250,000 for projects exceeding 250 kilowatts, raising costs by 20 to 40 percent.

The Washington Post