Perimeter Business - Reporter Newspapers

Fundraising for Buckhead’s highway-capping HUB404 park will resume

by John Ruch | Oct 19, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Perimeter Business, Top Stories | 0

A fundraising campaign for “HUB404 Atlanta GA,” a proposed park capping Ga. 400 in central Buckhead, will resume after the recent pandemic-related pause, according to the treasurer of the group planning it. “COVID put everything on the back burner,” said Jim Durrett, treasurer of the HUB404 Conservancy, at an Oct. 19 meeting of the Rotary Club of Buckhead. But, he said, the Conservancy board met last week “and decided now is the time for us to come out of hibernation and yawn and stretch.” He did not give a new timeline for the fundraising. Durrett said the pandemic shutdowns...

Solidarity Sandy Springs Food Pantry founder to speak at ‘Woman of Distinction’ luncheon

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 19, 2020 | Making a Difference, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The founder of a pandemic-relief food pantry will speak at an Oct. 28 Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce luncheon where the annual “Woman of Distinction” award-winner will be announced. Jennifer Barnes of Keller Williams Realty’s Barnes Young Team created the Solidarity Sandy Springs Food Pantry earlier this year. Initially it was housed in the restaurant Under the Cork Tree at 5600 Roswell Road, which is where the luncheon will be held. The food pantry is currently housed in a former Publix grocery store in the same shopping center, the Prado, at 5630 Roswell Road. The luncheon, run by...

Buckhead skyscraper’s garage could be topped with park, tie into other green space

by John Ruch | Oct 8, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Perimeter Business, Slideshow, Top Stories | 0

A plan to expand the parking garage at Buckhead’s Capital City Plaza skyscraper includes topping it with a park open to the public, with connections to the proposed HUB404 green space and another yet-to-be-built tower in the rear. Cousins Properties showed the plan for the 3350 Peachtree Road skyscraper Oct. 7 to the Development Review Committee of Special Public Interest District 12, a local zoning district. DRC member Sally Silver called it a “vast improvement… Keep buying up those old places and make them new again. We love it.” However, she raised one point that DRC members said will...

Sandy Springs to serve as ‘living laboratory’ for Kennesaw State researchers

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 8, 2020 | Education, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The city of Sandy Springs will serve as a “living laboratory” for Kennesaw State University researchers in a partnership announced by Mayor Rusty Paul on Sept. 15. Mayor Rusty Paul said the city and KSU had been working on the collaboration for months, with the pandemic causing some delays. Paul said that the city is in Georgia State University territory for collaboration, but that university didn’t offer businesses classes in the community. KSU was approached and began teaching master of business administration courses and offered an MBA certificate program on the City Springs campus. “I had a brilliant idea…...

Fulton County Development Authority CEO to retire

by John Ruch | Sep 29, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Perimeter Business, Politics, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The CEO of the Development Authority of Fulton County is retiring after six years in the often controversial job of helping to grant tax abatements to real estate projects. Al Nash has served as CEO since 2014 and will remain in the position during a hiring process expected to begin within the next month. He may also continue to advise the DAFC. In a press release, Nash cited the DAFC’s work on deals with such major corporate tenants as Microsoft, Google and Amazon. “While not always recognized for its accomplishments, DAFC is a catalyst for much needed infrastructure improvements,...

Perimeter hotel market rebound could take more than a year, Sandy Springs board is told

by Bob Pepalis | Sep 27, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Coronavirus, Dunwoody Reporter, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The hotel industry won’t get back to its 2019 occupancy and revenue numbers until the late 2022 or even 2023, a Sandy Springs hotel director told the city’s Hospitality and Tourism Board during its Sept. 24 meeting. As hotel revenues go down, so too does the revenue for Visit Sandy Springs, which gets its funding from hotel and motel taxes. Executive Director Jennifer Cruce told her governing board, the Hospitality and Tourism Board of Directors, that her staff continues to revise its revenue estimates. All marketing and social media has been brought in-house. She earmarked $200,000 that could be...

Cobb-Buckhead express bus service is added to Atlanta regional transit plan

by John Ruch | Sep 26, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, News, Perimeter Business, Top Stories | 0

A proposed express bus route between Buckhead and Cobb County, an idea pitched as a solution to the neighborhood’s commuter cut-through traffic, is now in the official metro Atlanta regional transit plan. Assuming the project remains in the Regional Transit Plan for its formal adoption by the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, whose board vote is expected in December, it would become eligible for state and federal funding. An opportunity for some state funding could come next year, but many planning details about the bus route have yet to be worked out, the CID board was told at its Sept....

Gun range reopens in Sandy Springs with new owner, complete remodel

by Bob Pepalis | Sep 23, 2020 | News, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Four years after a fire led to its closing, a gun range in Sandy Springs reopened on Aug. 31 with a new owner and a full remodel of the interior. The Sandy Springs Gun Range opened at 8040 Roswell Road under the ownership of Eric Adcock, a part-time employee of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and owner of several other gun ranges and gun stores. He had kept his eye on the property while it was under contract for a storage facility. When that deal fell through after Sandy Springs rejected rezoning to allow it, Adcock said the timing...

Papa John’s pizza company to open new metro Atlanta headquarters; site to be determined

by John Ruch | Sep 17, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The pizza restaurant company Papa John’s International will open a 200-employee global headquarters in metro Atlanta next year at a site to be determined. The deal, announced Sept. 17 by the company and Gov. Brian Kemp, involves “government incentives” that the state would not disclose. The company’s executive headquarters is currently in the metro area of its original hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and it will maintain a headquarters there for certain departments after the metro Atlanta move, according to a spokesperson. Atlanta, Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs are frequently in contention for such headquarters. Papa John’s CEO and President...

Sandy Springs company ordered to pay back wages over coronavirus sick leave

by Bob Pepalis | Sep 15, 2020 | Coronavirus, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

A Sandy Springs company had to pay back wages to an employee who was denied paid sick leave despite receiving a healthcare professional’s instructions to self-quarantine because of COVID-19 concerns. The U.S. Department of Labor said in a press release on Sept. 15 that Risk & Insurance Consultants Inc. of Glenridge Drive paid the employee $1,599 in back wages. The U.S. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division determined the company’s actions violated the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Act. When told of its obligations under the law, Risk & Insurance Consultants paid the back...

Local hospitals’ COVID-19 teamwork a highlight of upcoming conference

by Reporter Newspapers | Sep 13, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Coronavirus, Dunwoody Reporter, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of local health care systems have been holding conference calls daily to share information about the challenges they face. Operations officers of heavyweight hospital systems Piedmont, Emory, Wellstar, Grady, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Northeast Georgia have used these sessions to talk over issues like surges in cases and shortages of supplies. CEOs also have been heavily involved, and have worked together to write opinion pieces about the pandemic. These leaders have shared best medical practices and worked to create common messaging to an uncertain public. Communication on when to stop...

Kemp announces Deluxe picks Sandy Springs site for fintech innovation center

by Bob Pepalis | Sep 3, 2020 | Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

UPDATE 9/4/2020: Gov. Brian Kemp announced that Minnesota-based Deluxe Corp. would locate a new office complex along with a FinTech and Customer Innovation that will employ up to 709 people in a Glenridge Connector office building in Sandy Springs. “Georgia is a global leader in FinTech and payments, and the Deluxe expansion is a welcome addition to the state’s first-class ecosystem of industry leaders,” Kemp said in a news release. The company will invest more than $10 million in the financial technology and customer innovation center, Kemp said. “The Deluxe Payments and FinTech businesses are growing rapidly, even during...