Newspaper Page Text
2015: YEAR
Perimeter Business
Mercedes-Benz USA goes local
In a corporate headquarters coup for Sandy Springs, luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz
USA announced in January that it would relocate there from New Jersey. The new head
quarters off Abernathy Road is slated to open in 2018, and in the meantime, Mercedes is
working out of a Dunwoody office. Mercedes made an Atlanta splash by buying naming
rights to the new football and soccer stadium downtown. Locally, it became involved in
controversy over a housing development that will accompany its Sandy Springs headquar
ters. And its pending attempt to rename part of Barfield Road as “Mercedes-Benz Drive”
is opposed by a Barfield family descendent. But it also drew thanks for kicking off corpo
rate donations by giving a van to the nonprofit, Community Assistance Center.
Builder picked for interchange
Fixing the 1-285/ Ga. 400 interchange had been projected to cost more than $1 billion,
making it the most expensive road project in Georgia history. But when bids finally were
opened in December, North Perimeter Contractors won the job by offering to do it for a
mere $460 million. When all costs were totaled, state Department of Transportation offi
cials said the price of the project would be just $679 million, meaning it only ranks among
the states more expensive road projects.
The construction will cover 10 miles of highway as the project stretches from east of
Ashford-Dunwoody Road to west of Roswell Road and from the Glenridge Connector
to Spalding Drive. Contractors will add flyover bridges and connector/distributor lanes to
the interchange. Once the work is done, likely to be some time in 2020, the average com
muter will save eight hours a year in commuting time and employers will save $100 mil
lion in lost productivity, Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry said.
High-speed Internet battle comes to town
Google announced in January it would bring a new high-speed Internet service to
Sandy Springs, Atlanta and Brookhaven, along with a half-dozen other communities in
metro Atlanta. Local political leaders jumped at the chance to get high-speed fiber lines.
IN REVIEW
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for our city, our citizens and business community,” said
Brookhaven City Councilman Bates Mattison, who attended Googles announcement
along with then-Mayor J. Max Davis and other city officials. Dunwoody was left out of
the Google program, but AT&T stepped in with its own plans to provide its own high
speed fiber network and to include Dunwoody along with Sandy Springs. AT&T’s In
ternet service found a fan in Dunwoody City Councilman John Heneghan. “[T]he pro
ductivity gained on large uploads should cut my processing time way back,” Heneghan
wrote in his blog.“I hope it comes to your neighborhood soon.” In December, Brookhav-
en’s Google Fiber hit a snag when the Zoning Board of Appeals denied a necessary utility
hut in Parkside Park, leaving Google to hunt alternative locations.
Restaurant Council grows in Sandy Springs
In its second year, the Sandy Springs Restaurant Council began expanding its mission
beyond the typical “restaurant week” promotion to start marketing the city as a foodie
mecca. An August football season kick-off cook-out was a hit, and the first of new quar
terly dining events the council intends to hold. The Restaurant Council formed in 2013
as an initiative of the Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce, and could be
come an influential model for neighboring cities, as there is talk of Dunwoody and San
dy Springs partnering on a restaurant week promotion and the newer city of Brookhav
en starting its own.
“People go down Ga. 400 to get to Buckhead and bypass Sandy Springs ... when we
have over 500 restaurants in Sandy Springs,” said Karen Trylovich, the council’s chair.
Apartment boom reshaping Perimeter cities
A continuing apartment-development boom began reshaping the new Perimeter cities
and Buckhead, sparking debates about density, traffic and quality of life.
Residents packed neighborhood gatherings and city zoning meetings in order to push
back against apartment plans. The Roswell Road corridor in Sandy Springs alone had
more than 2,400 new apartments approved or under construction. Millennials and baby
boomers were driving the trend, real estate experts said. About 11,000 new multifamily
units—including apartments and condos—have been built in the past seven quarters in
metro Atlanta, according to Ron Cameron of Colliers International-Atlanta.
—John Ruch andJoe Earle
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A | DEC. 25, 2015 — JAN. 7,2016 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
