Case Study Overview
Aerotropolis Atlanta is a mixed-use development zoned for 6.5 million square feet of Class-A office, hotel, conference center, retail, data center, business park, and the parking facility. The former 2.8 million square foot production facility for the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable will have a global focus to capitalize on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s future international terminal. It promises to be the touchstone for Atlanta’s Southside that Atlantic Station has been for Midtown Atlanta.

The site, purchased from Ford on June 11, 2008, is less than one mile from the new Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Terminal, expected to be completed in 2011. And the development’s proposed, partially covered 4,000-space parking lot will be one of the closest parking locations to the new International Terminal, expected to serve more than 13 million passengers within seven years.

Following acquisition of the property in June 2008, demolition, led by D.H. Griffin, commenced in July, beginning with more than 80 contractor employees onsite. Demolition will be complete in July of this year. In the process, more than 95 percent of the existing structures are being recycled, which will be followed by remediation and grading of the property.

JDI’s Vision
The wheels were put in motion for the mixed-use development in November 2005 when Ford announced the closure of its former Atlanta Assembly Plant, which had operated in Hapeville, Ga., since 1947. As one of its top employers and contributor of 10 percent of the city’s budget, Ford’s departure was unwelcome news. Hapeville is a transportation town, with a railroad line running through its middle, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport next door, I-75 on its east side and, until recently, the automotive assembly plant.

Jacoby Development Inc. (JDI) recognized that just as seaports drove development in the 18th century, railroads drove development in the 19th century, and cars drove development in the 20th century, it is airports (as evidenced globally, particularly in Asia and in U.S. examples such as Dulles and Dallas) that will drive the most important, progressive development of the 21st century. JDI saw that Atlanta must build on the region’s single greatest economic engine, the country’s busiest airport.

Just 15 miles north of the Ford Plant site, JDI embarked more than 10 years ago on the brownfield redevelopment of the 100-year-old Atlantic Steel mill site in the heart of Atlanta—at the intersection of interstates 75 and 85—into the 138-acre mixed-use Atlantic Station. Atlantic Station will ultimately include six million sq. ft. of Class A office space; 5,000 residential units; two million sq. ft. of retail and entertainment space, including restaurants and movie theaters; 1,000 hotel rooms; and 11 acres of public parks. Much of the commercial property at the center of Atlantic Station is built atop a parking structure that was part of the environmental remediation to cap the area where the steel mill operated.

The re-use and recycling in progress during demolition include:

• All concrete (more than 100,000 cubic yards) is being crushed and reused

• All steel (structural and stainless from the plant), tin (siding and roofing), copper and brass (more than 40,000 tons of recycled metals) is being recycled in Georgia and the Southeast via rail directly from the site for greatest fuel efficiency and least environmental and highway impact

• Fire extinguishers, office equipment and other supplies have been donated to the City of Hapeville

• Other materials (fencing, lights, etc.) are being preserved for re-use.

In a city of 6,000 residents, Ford employed 3,000 people. The development of Aerotropolis Atlanta will add more than 10,000 jobs to Hapeville through build-out. Beyond Hapeville, the deal and accompanying vision have already begun to reposition Atlanta’s south side as an area of economic opportunity. And for the region, Aerotropolis Atlanta’s unique location adjacent to the airport’s new international terminal—at the intersection of interstate and rail—is already providing a promising new loca tion for global employers looking to relocate or build new facilities.

Lessons Learned
In the more than a decade that development of Atlantic Station proceeded, skeptics doubted that the project would ever happen or live up to expectations. JDI learned much in the process, including this: relationships with regulators are crucial. And its experience with the national brownfield model redevelopment served as a crucial credential in the Ford relationship.

Ford engaged the cities, counties, airport and FAA and selected JDI in February 2008 to deliver a viable and exciting development that Ford is confident will serve the community well. Above all, JDI understood that Atlanta must build on the region’s single greatest economic engine—the country’s busiest airport.  

Howard J. Lalli (hjlalli@yahoo.com) is an Atlanta-based communications consultant focused on enterprise reputation; environmental and economic sustainability; and compelling content.