With all the negative news since March, it is easy to overlook the positive momentum Atlanta has recently experienced.
The five largest public companies in the world (in terms of market capitalization,) are Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, and Amazon. Four of the
five companies have made significant commitments to metro Atlanta in recent years.
Having these high-growth companies establish a firm foothold in Atlanta bodes well for the city’s future growth prospects. In addition, other large corporations
have made major announcements in the last 12 months.
❖ Microsoft will lease the entire Atlantic Yards development (523,000 square feet) where it will create 1,500 jobs. The new technology unit will focus on cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
❖ Facebook recently signed a lease at T3 West Midtown (35,900 square feet) and opened the first phase of its massive data center (970,000 square feet) in Newton County.
❖ Google has executed a 135,000-square-foot lease at 1105 West Peachtree, but the
company is reportedly looking to expand into 475,000 square feet.
❖ Although Amazon passed over Atlanta for its big HQ2 announcement, the e-commerce
giant now has 19 distribution centers in Georgia, totaling nearly 13 million square feet of
space, either existing or under construction. Amazon has signed over 5 million square feet
of new leases this year in the metro area.
❖ Norfolk Southern announced it would move its corporate headquarters to Atlanta into a
new 750,000-square-foot building in Midtown, which is now under construction. The move will add 850 jobs with an average salary of $105,000.
❖ BlackRock leased 132,000 square feet at 725 Ponce and is opening a technology-focused
iHub, which could eventually employ 1,000 people. This will be one of only three iHub
locations worldwide for BlackRock.
❖ Invesco leased 303,000 square feet at the Midtown Union development where it will bring 500 new jobs to Atlanta.
