North Fulton County Market Report

INDUSTRY FOCUS
JULY 8-14, 2016
SECTION B
NORTH FULTON COUNTY
MARKET REPORT
Courtney Bernardi,
CEO of Johns Creek
Advantage, seen
here at Johns Creekbased Ebix Inc.,
is one of several
North Fulton leaders
expected to meet
in September at the
second annual North
Fulton Opportunity
Outlook to discuss next
generation issues for
the area.
Next generation
North Fulton officials look at what the future holds for community
JOANN VITELLI
BY TONYA LAYMAN
Contributing Writer
W
hat does the next generation look like in
North Fulton? Will
the area continue to
thrive? Will millennials be happy calling North Fulton home?
Are the amenities in place to accommodate a changing demographic? Those are
the questions area leaders will address
at the annual meeting of North Fulton
Opportunity Outlook.
This second annual session, being
co-hosted by the Greater North Fulton
Chamber of Commerce and the Council for Quality Growth, will include panel
discussions about hot topics impacting
North Fulton. Business leaders, elected
officials, area economic development
directors and transportation and planning experts will discuss the future as
it relates to transportation, connectivity of multi-modal greenways and inner/
secondary street projects that will help
with traffic relief. They will also discuss
technology, health care and education
and workforce development, specifically
addressing the changing workforce as
more millennials take positions vacated
by retiring baby boomers.
“We want to make sure North Fulton is poised to continue the phenomenal growth we have had,” said Greater
North Fulton Chamber of Commerce
President and CEO and District 21 State
Sen. Brandon L. Beach. “To give you an
idea how far we have come, in 1978,
they filmed ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ on
Georgia 400 and
didn’t even have to
close the road. People say, back then,
you wouldn’t see a
car on that road for
three hours. They
called it the road to
nowhere.”
Brandon L.
Today, Georgia
Beach
400 leads to one
of the most active
economic areas in the region and there’s
no chance you would wait three hours
before seeing a car.
“Lucky for us, somebody had the
vision to build that road and put fiber in
the ground that has enabled us to get all
our great tech companies to gather here
today,” Beach said, adding there are 900
tech companies along the 400 corridor
north of Interstate 285.
More than 80 percent of all credit
card transactions processed worldwide
come through Georgia, and most of those
are processed along the 400 corridor
which has led to the nickname “transaction alley.”
Beach believes transit options can help
alleviate area traffic, and companies are
seeking transit.
“It used to be that the CEO would make
the decision on where to locate the company based on where he or she wanted to
live. Today, that CEO is basing that decision on where the talent is and the talent
wants transit opportunities and walkable
communities,” he said.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8B
2B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
JULY 8-14, 2016
MARKET REPORT
Keel: Merger a patient,
community benefit
BY WILL ROBINSON
wrobinson@bizjournals.com
WellStar Health System acquired North
Fulton Hospital along with four other
hospitals from Tenet Healthcare in a $575
million purchase in April.
The acquisition made WellStar Georgia’s largest health system with 11 hospitals and 2,821 beds. With 20,000 employees, WellStar also has become one of the
largest employers in metro Atlanta.
As part of Wellstar, WellStar North
Fulton Hospital is now a not-for-profit
entity. WellStar assumed $86 million of
the hospital’s debt.
Deborah Keel, CEO of WellStar North
Fulton Hospital, discusses what these
changes mean for the hospital and the
community:
Q: How will this year’s purchase by
WellStar Health System
of North Fulton Hospital
affect the facility? Very
positively in all regards.
It is a tremendous asset
to our employees and
our ability to recruit talent. It is a help
to our patients because WellStar is such
a high quality organization. They can
bring us more capital resources. It is
really what we need. In terms of the
Q
&
A
bigger community,
WellStar is a very
civic organization.
I think it’s really
a win-win for
everybody.
Q: Does the
purchase mean
Deborah
the hospital
Keel
will expand?
If you mean as
a building, no. Any hospital that is
looking to expand brick and mortar
would have to go to the state. I’m not
sure that anybody in the Atlanta area
will expand in the short term or really
the long term.
“We sit in the middle of
a community continuing
to age, and the more it
ages the more demand for
health care you will see.
Frankly, those people don’t
want to drive out of the
area.”
Q: Do you plan to add any new
programs or disciplines? No question
we will expand programs and services.
You’ll see oncology expanded to include
more surgical oncology. We’ve had
breast surgery, but I think you’ll see
more general cancer surgery. I think
you’ll see thoracic surgery. You’ll see
more of the things we’ve had in bits and
pieces, but never in full. Now thankfully
we have a full-service cardiology
program. If you were here for a heart
service and now you need open heart
surgery, now we have a partner hospital
we can send you to. You’ll see more
services for oncology and cardiology
for sure. Our spine center will probably
expand really soon, and inpatient
rehabilitation programs will expand.
You will see programs and outreach
expand in terms of services and volume
exponentially in the next few years.
Q: Why was North Fulton Hospital
an important asset in the purchase?
We sit in the middle of a community
continuing to age, and the more it ages
the more demand for health care you
will see. Frankly, those people don’t
want to drive out of the area. They want
to get their infusions close to home,
their chest pain to happen close to
home and they certainly want their
emergency room close to home. You see
health-care providers struggle to service
this market, and we are right in the
middle of it. It is a high-income, highdemand market.
JULY 8-14, 2016
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
3B
MARKET REPORT
VIEWPOINT
Road to education key to T-SPLOST success
T
alk about a long road. For more
than a year, the 14 mayors of
Fulton County met monthly and
tried to figure out the best way to solve
our transportation headaches.
To say the discussions were lively
is an understatement. But here we are
today — from Chattahoochee Hills to
Atlanta to Milton — driving forward
together to convince voters to okay a
Transportation Special Local Option
Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) in November.
The bill had somewhat of a rough
journey, but leaders throughout
Fulton County recognized that traffic
is a quality of life issue facing our
residents in every corner of this county.
Ultimately, the legislation making this
initiative possible passed the General
Assembly with the leadership of House
Speaker Pro Temp Jan Jones, a key
member who represents Milton, and
State Sen. Brandon Beach of Alpharetta.
It wasn’t easy but we all ended up
finding common ground.
In the area of Fulton County outside
of Atlanta, we’re asking voters to spend
three-quarters of a penny on the dollar
to improve transportation. If you stop
and think, it’s a small investment
John Eaves is
chairman of the
Fulton County
Commission.
that will generate a huge payoff. It’s
estimated the tax will potentially bring
in some $600 million dollars for muchneeded transportation improvements
over the next five years.
Within the city of Atlanta, they have
yet to determine how much tax to
pursue. That decision should be made
some time in July.
From South to North Fulton, we want
you to know that leaders have listened
to the people. They held town hall
meetings, answered e-mails and fielded
numerous phone calls. South Fulton
needs major resurfacing? Alpharetta
wants to improve an intersection?
Union City plans to fix pot holes?
Leaders have heard your calls for relief
and have carefully drawn up their wish
lists.
Stop and think of all the projects
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we can tackle with T-SPLOST money.
Unincorporated South Fulton County
could get $108 million dollars if voters
say yes.
And North Fulton cities would be big
winners as well. Combined, the cities
of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton,
Roswell, Sandy Springs and Mountain
Park could receive more than $436
million.
So-called Tier 1 projects are the
top priorities. In North Fulton, they
would offer congestion relief along
key corridors many of us travel daily
including Johnson Ferry Road, Old
Milton Parkway, Haynes Bridge Road
and Hammond Drive, just to name a
few.
I know it’s hard to imagine moving
through these areas with minimal
delays, but we know with your support
we can make it a reality.
Beyond the major projects, North
Fulton cities plan to do so much
more with T-SPLOST money. Paving
in Sandy Springs, sidewalk and trail
enhancements in Johns Creek, a
commuter bike corridor in Alpharetta,
storm water improvements in
Mountain Park. These are among the
improvements the county plans to
make. Thanks to your input, we realize
how important these projects are to the
future of metro Atlanta.
Be assured this vote and the project
lists are just the beginning. Fulton
County is shaping its blueprint for the
future. We’ll start right now with roads,
bridges and infrastructure that are in
desperate need of repair and cannot
be ignored. However, I want to make it
clear that while the county’s immediate
focus is on infrastructure, we are still
embracing MARTA and the role transit
can play in the years ahead.
We can move forward in the
short-term with an eye to the future.
Collaboration will put us all in the
driver’s seat and spur necessary growth
and development to take metro Atlanta
to the next level.
The next few months are crucial. We
will reach out to voters — to educate,
inform and answer their questions. We
want you to know the money you’re
being asked to invest will be well-spent.
Our journey down the long road is
far from over but T-SPLOST can benefit
us all in the areas where we live, work
and play every day.
4B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
JULY 8-14, 2016
MARKET REPORT
Infrastructure key to growing health IT sector
BY RANDY SOUTHERLAND
Contributing Writer
Georgia has been crowned the health-care
IT capital of the nation and North Fulton
is the place to go to see this industry at
work. It offers both the infrastructure that
high tech companies need, as well as the
quality of life features that employs crave.
“The combination is right in North
Fulton,” said Elizabeth Warland, a business consultant who serves as chairperson health & wellness committee of
the Greater North Fulton Chamber of
Commerce.
There’s more than a 1,000 tech companies in the area and many of them are in
the fast growing health IT section. These
range from older corporate giants such
as McKesson to new startups angling to
launch innovative products. Alpharetta
alone is home to more than a quarter of metro Atlanta’s top 25 technology
employers.
The attractions for companies include
a rich stock of class A office and amenities that executives find attractive such as
upper end housing, quality schools and
high-end retail such as Avalon, a mixeduse development. It’s also diverse, providing more affordable housing for up and
coming techies and a variety of walkable
downtowns for the millennials crowd.
North Fulton offers the type of infrastructure that companies need to operate.
Sandrine SauvageMack, CEO of LV Health
Solutions Inc., finds
the level and quality of
service for startups or
small businesses higher
in North Fulton.
JOANN VITELLI
These include an extensive fiber network and
a large number of data
centers throughout the
region to provide the
computing power and
storage they need.
“On top of that, businesses have access to
funding,” said Warland. There’s access to
mentors if you’re a small business, or a
startup in particular.”
The dense community of companies
has also produced a deep pool of talent
ranging from coders and system architects
to sales professionals and seasoned managers. That stock is also constantly being
replenished by the students coming out of
highly regarded universities such as Georgia Tech and from an array of technical
colleges geared to training workers for the
sector.
“There is quite a lot of talent and broad
skill sets in this area and they like the
affordability and the livability of North
Fulton,” said Warland. “The talent is here,
the experience is here and the infrastructure is here.”
Small companies can also count on
more ready access to help in growing
their businesses. The Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce offers a variety
of groups and meetings to facilitate networking among tech entrepreneurs and
business people.
The Alpharetta Technology Commission’s Innovation Center supports innovation and entrepreneurship by offering
office space and access to support services
and advice from business experts.
“When it comes to startup or small
companies, the level and the quality of
service that you’re being given in the area
is extremely high compared to the metro
Atlanta,” said Sandrine Sauvage-Mack,
CEO of LV Health Solutions Inc., who
worked in Buckhead prior to moving out
to North Fulton. In the city, there is simply more competition for both attention
and services from support agencies and
chambers.
LV Health Solutions provides solutions to facilitate care coordination for
the aging population. Its EMA-Care platform streamlines the exchange of information, tracks help and services rendered,
and coordinates the actions of professionals and caregivers by using proprietary
algorithms.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions found a
home in North Fulton with the acquisition of Alpharetta-based data solutions
company ChoicePoint. The company provides products and services that address
evolving client needs in the risk sector by
performs tasks such as verifying patient
identification and eligibility for insurance
and assistance programs, as well as access
to health-care benefits.
“We had a base here and we started to
build out the health-care business,” said
A.T. Gimbel, senior director, health care
product management at LexisNexis Risk
Solutions. “One of the exciting things was
the amount of talent and health-care IT
knowledge in this area. It’s a good space
to start our health-care expertise.”
North Fulton market attractive to young home buyers
BY PHIL W. HUDSON
Staff Writer
Atlanta, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber
in particular, have launched major marketing campaigns to help bring millennials to Atlanta, but one suburb in Atlanta
is particularly popular.
Milton, which is about 31 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta is the No. 6 top
suburb for millennials in metro Atlanta,
according to a recent report.
But what makes it so attractive for
these young buyers that have traditionally preferred to rent rather than own?
Cathy Lane, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Partners, said in the past
North Fulton hasn’t
been as attractive
to young buyers
because of lack of
public transportation, lack of walking communities,
higher home prices
than other metro
counties for comCathy
parable first time
Lane
buyer homes and
higher property taxes.
Lane said the Greater North Fulton
Chamber of Commerce has been working hard on economic development,
which has attracted new companies and
other amenities preferred by millennials changing the paradigm. “[The] trend
is very positive for young buyers due to
the influx of high technology companies
seeking millennials in their work force
and that offer of higher paying jobs,”
Lane said. “More affluent millennials are
now able to afford housing in North Fulton and they are excited about ‘live, work
and play’ communities that are coming to
North Fulton such as Avalon and the proposed Riverwalk Village.”
Lane noted the downtown areas have
attracted a younger demographic because
of the ability to walk to microbreweries,
restaurants, bars and concerts.
Charlcie Forehand, a Realtor with
Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, said North Fulton has
become a desirable area for young buyers to purchase because of the affordability and size of homes in comparison
to homes in the same price point inside
the Perimeter. “Young buyers are also
attracted to North Fulton because of the
the award-winning school districts, economic opportunity and vibrant community living,” she said. “The active community lifestyle of Alpharetta and the
surrounding North Fulton subdivisions
is a huge draw for young buyers.”
Forehand added she calls Alpharetta
her “small hometown.” “We have walkability, great subdivisions, incredible
restaurants and shops and Avalon,” she
said. “The communities of North Fulton provide a multitude of options to get
involved through the many chambers of
commerce, area places of worship and a
variety of civic organizations.”
John Makarewicz, president of Mark
Spain Real Estate, said young buyers
are attracted to North Fulton for a variety of reasons. “Buyers thinking about
starting a family are attracted to the top
schools, parks and
access to family
friendly entertainment,” Makarewicz
said. “In addition,
developments like
Avalon, downtown
Roswell and downtown Alpharetta
are bringing chefJohn
driven restaurants
Makarewicz
and higher end
retail that young buyers are attracted to.”
Makarewicz added North Fulton is
very livable with less congestion on surface streets, walking trails, parks and
access to great restaurants and shopping.
“A lot of technology companies are
moving their operations to Alpharetta so
there is a shorter commute time,” he said.
“Features like this mean that North Fulton overall has a very strong real estate
market.”
Lane said the housing market in general in metro Atlanta is very strong and
North Fulton is no exception. “Inventory
on resale is fairly low creating a good seller’s market,” she said. “There are new
home communities being built as a sign
of the overall strength of the market in
North Fulton. Many buyers are opting
for a new home due to the lack of resale
inventory.”
Forehand said overall the North Fulton
market is steady with last year as new listings are up slightly and closings are down
slightly. “However, the interesting activity
is in the over $500,000 point where new
listings are up 20 percent from last year
and closed sales are up 13 percent,” she
said. “The current North Fulton market is
reflective of the the post-recession recovery with the higher price points showing
more pronounced recovery trends.”
Forehand added North Fulton is a seller’s market in the $500,000 and below
price point.
“We are seeing multiple offers when a
home in that price point is in good condition,” Forehand said. “In the $500,000
plus price point, there is a lot of competition between resale and new construction. Often, if a home is priced correctly,
it will sell in a matter of days.”
Makarewicz said currently the trend is
more towards resale North Fulton.
“Outside of new developments in Milton and pockets of Alpharetta, most lots
in North Fulton have been developed
out,” Makarewicz said. “Milton offers
new construction options but in higher
pricing points around $700,000 plus.
The younger buyers we see are gravitating more towards resale properties in
Alpharetta and Roswell.”
Stonebridge I • 1120 Sanctuary Parkway
Stonebridge II • 1110 Sanctuary Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30009
LARGE BLOCK AVAILABLE
250,000 Square Feet
Unique opportunity offering:
• Opportunity Zone benefits
• Abundant deck and surface parking at
6/1,000 ratio
• Debt free asset with institutional owner
• On-site café, fitness and
conference facilities
• Shuttle to North Springs
MARTA station
• LEED Gold Certified
For leasing information call:
Jeff Bellamy
+1 404 995 2221
jeff.bellamy@am.jll.com
Adam Viente
+1 404 995 6551
adam.viente@am.jll.com
6B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
JULY 8-14, 2016
MARKET REPORT
Owners harvest value in North Fulton office market
BY MARTIN SINDERMAN
Contributing Writer
Occupancy and rental rates are climbing, the pace of investment sales is brisk,
and new construction is (at least for now)
limited. That is making owners of properties in the North Fulton/Georgia 400
corridor office market one happy bunch
these days.
“The North Fulton office market is
on fire,” said Kevin Markwordt, managing director at
Transwestern.
“The momentum over the past
18 months in both
sales and leasing
has been outstanding,” he said. “The
fundamentals conKevin
tinue to be positive,
with rental rates
Markwordt
rising and vacancy
dropping. If these positive trends continue, class A occupancy rates could challenge the historic highs during the dotcom era.”
According to data from Cushman
& Wakefield, this 17.7 million-squarefoot market ended first quarter 2016
with a vacancy rate of 13.6 percent, better than both the neighboring 22.3 million-square-foot Central Perimeter’s 14.2
percent and the 139.9 million-square-foot
total Atlanta office market’s 16.2 percent.
Colliers International Atlanta reports
this market’s 90,000 square feet of
absorption during first quarter was bested
only by Midtown among all metro-area
submarkets. Better still, average rental
rates here increased by some 4.6 percent
during the first three months of 2016,
the highest percentage increase among
Atlanta submarkets during this period.
And, according to Colliers, “Class A rents
are at their highest point ever as well,
increasing a 10th consecutive quarter to
$24.01 per square foot.”
Rental rates typically increase when
buildings trade hands, said Jeff Bellamy,
managing director of agency leasing, at
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), which handles
leasing at 1.5 million-square-foot Sanctuary Park. And there’s been plenty of
that going on lately in North Fulton, he
said, citing as examples the recent sales
of properties such as Brookside, Mansell
Overlook and Georgia 400 Center, as well
as the pending sale of Northwinds office
park and the recent placement of Sanctuary Park on the for-sale market.
All told, some 70 percent to 75 percent
of the class A office market in North Fulton has either sold, gone under contract,
or is in the process of changing hands,
according to Lincoln Property Co. Senior
Vice President Hunter Henritze, who has
represented landlords in a number of
recent deals in this market.
“A lot of owners
that are selling are
doing so because
the market is good,
and it is a good time
to ‘harvest,’” Henritze said. “Buyers are realizing
that there is a very
Hunter
limited supply of
Henritze
space in this market, along with a
mature existing tenant base and excellent labor force — and as they come in and
improve these properties, they will keep
pushing rents.”
In the leasing arena, “Activity remains
steady, and owners as a whole seem to be
somewhat bullish,” said Bellamy. “We are
continuing to see a lot of users looking at
the north Fulton market for larger space
requirements on a regular basis.”
There isn’t a lot of big-block space currently available in this market, said Bellamy. Come third quarter 2016, though,
a 250,000-square-foot block will go on
the market when Verizon vacates Sanctuary Park’s Stonebridge I and Stonebridge II buildings.
Only one building is currently
under construction in the North Fulton market. 8000 Avalon, a $72 million,
224,000-square-foot joint-venture development by Hines and Cousins Properties Inc. in North American Properties’
Avalon mixed-use “urbanburb,” is scheduled to open second quarter 2017.
The building is currently about
19 percent leased, thanks to a recent
43,000-square foot deal with Microsoft,
which will be locating a southeastern
regional sales office here, along with a
Microsoft Technology Center. The technology giant was represented by Colliers’ Drew Levine and Pete Shelton in
the transaction.
“I think the Avalon building will lease
quickly,” Bellamy said. “We don’t expect
anything else to be announced anytime
soon,” citing the big block of Verizon
space coming on the market as a major
factor.
The gap between rental rates and construction costs has also been a factor, but
that gap is closing with the rise in market rental rates, according to Chris Scott,
principal of Greenstone Properties.
Greenstone’s Parkway 400 project,
located off Georgia 400 directly across
Old Milton Parkway from Avalon, has
land zoned for three buildings/630,000
square feet of office, Scott said. “We’re
chasing tenants, and we hope to get over
the finish line soon. We’re ready to build.
All we need is a little push.”
The outlook for the North Fulton office
market extremely positive, he said. “We
feel like the activity is there, and with
vacancy at around 10 percent, things are
just going to keep getting better.”
Usry sets the scene on how North Fulton
gets camera-ready for the big screen
BY ERICA RELAFORD
erelaford@bizjournals.com
The Peach State is sure to get its shine
on. According to nonprofit Film L.A.,
Georgia, now tied for No. 3 with Louisiana in worldwide film productions, is
reaching to rank No. 1 with help from
the Progress Partners of North Fulton
Atlanta.
Progress Partners is the economic
development arm of the Greater North
Fulton Chamber
of Commerce. Its
primary focus is
representing the
six cities of North
Fulton: Alpharetta,
Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain
Park, Roswell and
Sandy Springs.
Bethany
Progress Partners
Usry
helps recruit new
businesses into the
area, while also helping existing businesses grow and expand. Progress Partners serves as the camera-ready office
for North Fulton and coordinates general
camera-ready requests with the convention and visitors bureaus in each North
Fulton city.
Bethany Usry, vice president of Progress Partners, explains how sites are certified in North Fulton and what goes on
behind-the-scenes of films before they
hit the big screen.
Q: How many movies
or TV shows were
filmed in North Fulton
in 2015? According to
what I have, we have five
that actually filmed in
North Fulton last year. But we did have
for 2015, a total of 50 camera-ready
requests.
Q
A
R 4/6/2015 Headgames Entertainment
Johns Creek (Autrey Mill)
R May/June 2015 “Doin’ Time” Johns
Creek (Autrey Mill) Movie
R Apr-15 Suspicion of Disbelief Johns
Creek (Autrey Mill) Movie
R Mar - Oct 2015 Don’t Be Tardy
Milton TV
R Feb-15 Nioxon Milton TV ad
Q: How many do you expect in 2016?
We’ve had 32 location requests and
that was of May 31 and we’ve had one production film here so far. That production
is called “The Vault.”
Q: How many sites are camera-ready
in North Fulton? All of North Fulton
County is a certified camera-ready area,
so that would include all six cities. We
were actually certified camera-ready
in October 2010 and there is a database
of specific locations that the state
maintains and within that database
there are 149 locations that are in Fulton
County and about 98 percent of those
are in North Fulton.
Q: Have you ever been on set while
movies or TV shows have been filmed?
I have. I was able to go on set for a
portion of [“The Vacation” movie]. It
was one of the first times where one of
the location scouts invited me to come
out, so I was able to go and see them
film a few scenes.
Q: How was it to see the movie being
filmed then, compared to when you
watched it on the big screen? It was
interesting to see the amount of work
that goes in to just shooting one tiny
portion of the movie. The other thing
that I found quite interesting was the
fact that they use body doubles to set
the scenes. In order to get the lighting
right and position of the camera, they
have body doubles that match the
physique of the actors. It was definitely
interesting to see all the different types
of production crews that were needed.
There were food vendors on site, sound
engineers, hair and make-up — just so
many people that were needed for just a
very few minutes in the film.
Q: Have you seen growth in North
Fulton businesses that relate to the film
industry? I would certainly say that it
seems that the number of requests have
definitely escalated even over the last
few months. So from that standpoint
it seems like we’re getting a lot more
calls for locations and scene activity.
Occasionally, stories will run in the local
newspaper mentioning to homeowners
and business owners that they can
submit their location into the cameraready database and we definitely see
when those stories run that we get an
influx about the request [and] how
people can do that. The state also
manages a resource called the reel crew
database and as of June 13, as far as
crew that are located in that database,
there were 226 available individuals
that had been identified in North Fulton
cities. As far as support services, 64 are
listed in the reel crew database.
8B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
JULY 8-14, 2016
MARKET REPORT
Proposed T-SPLOST would help North Fulton roads
BY GARY MCKILLIPS
Contributing Writer
Some believe traffic is a lot like the
weather. To paraphrase Mark Twain,
“Everybody talks about it, but nobody
seems to do anything about it.”
That’s not the case, however, in north
Fulton County where cities are preparing to rapidly accelerate improvements
to roads, bridges, sidewalks, traffic signals, bike trails and more. The improvements will hinge upon approval of a new
Transportation Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST), which
will be on the ballot this November. The
T-SPLOST will consist of a three-quarters
of a penny (0.75 cents) sales tax that will
raise approximately $375 million over five
years with all six cities sharing to some
degree in the proceeds.
T-SPLOST is based upon very precise lists of projects from the six cities
in North Fulton as well the other cities
in South Fulton. The city of Atlanta will
have its own version of T-SPLOST.
“I’ve said this many times, the long,
long-term solution to Atlanta’s traffic woes will be for people to get out of
their cars, said Johns Creek Mayor Mike
Bodker. “Until we have a viable transit
solution, and I don’t mean just trains,
everything we do will just be a Band-Aid
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
As baby boomers retire, they will leave
behind hundreds of thousands of jobs
that will need to be filled and they will
want to downsize into low maintenance
housing, much like millennials.
“We will not only have to fill new jobs,
but will have all of those existing jobs to
fill after these folks leave the workplace,”
he said. “The empty nesters want a different lifestyle. I think
that will be a challenge to figure out
how they will want
to live. It will also
mean more health
care is needed in
our communities
because they will
Andrea
need more services
as they get older.”
Hall
Andrea Hall,
Sandy Springs’ economic development
director, said while the city has an educated workforce, providing those workers with a place to live is challenging.
More housing options are needed. “For
instance, we have three majors hospitals
here with ‘pill hill’ in Sandy Springs and
officials at the hospitals have expressed to
the city they would like more affordable
housing options nearby for their staff.
Nurses and lab techs make good salaries
but still don’t have housing options available to them in close proximity,” she said.
The city has tweaked zoning codes over
the last couple of years so developers can
incorporate more density into their housing projects. She believes the city can
PAVING THE WAY
(Projected T-SPLOST revenues by city*)
Sandy Springs
$101.4 million
Roswell
$93.6 million
John’s Creek
$82.7 million
Alpharetta
$62.7 million
Milton
$36.4 million
Mountain Park
$0.5 million
(*FULTON COUNTY ESTIMATES ONLY;
FINAL FIGURES MAY VARY
BASED UPON ACTUAL TAX RECEIPTS)
because it can only
last so long. And
that applies to all of
metro Atlanta, not
just North Fulton.”
While it may be
only temporary,
the T-SPLOST will
solve many current
Mike
traffic problems.
Bodker
To facilitate the
process North Fulton’s five largest cities — Alpharetta, Johns
Creek, Milton, Roswell and Sandy Springs
— hired Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc.,
which has partnered with another project management consultancy, Atkins, to
assure a coordinated transportation effort
throughout the county.
Eric Bosman, urban designer/planner
R
CLOSER LOOK
North Fulton Opportunity Outlook
Sept. 15, 2016 - 7:30 to 11 a.m.
Computer Museum of America
R Theme: The Next Generation
R Sponsors: Greater North Fulton
Chamber of Commerce and the
Council for Quality Growth
work with the development community
to accomplish their goals in adding housing options.
She added appealing to the millennials is critical because that is what major
employers are concerned about.
“There is going to be a worker shortage in the long term. From an HR perspective, companies see that these workers are going to be a huge part of their
workforce,” Hall said. “It used to be that
companies based decisions on where to
locate on real estate availability and costs,
and while that is still a factor, they are
more concerned with where their workforce is and how they will get to work.”
As part of the biggest office market in
the Southeast, Hall said Sandy Springs is
fortunate the city has great employers and
jobs, but transportation continues to be a
major concern. Sandy Springs is also fortunate to be home to three MARTA stations, plus one more right outside the city
limits, and that Georgia Regional Transportation Authority is adding new bus
routes to the area.
“We are working with our partners
in Dunwoody and with Perimeter Community Improvement Districts to address
that last quarter mile connectivity to help
at Kimley-Horn, said, “We have helped
gather project information, review the
projects, look for places where the cities can work together and address multi-jurisdictional problems.”
Revenue from the T-SPLOST will be
based upon night time population meaning Sandy Springs will receive the most
— approximately $101.4 million dollars
while Mountain Park will garner the
least, at approximately $554,000.
Steve Acenbrak, Roswell’s director of
transportation, said cities were asked to
provide lists divided into three tiers. “The
three tiers are based on the priority of the
projects and funding with the top tier
projects being those that will definitely
be built based on the most conservative
estimate of revenues.” For Roswell that
means if a recession reduces its hopedfor $93.6 million by 15 percent those tier
one projects will still happen.
According to Sandy Springs City Manager John McDonough, the projects are
further divided into categories such as
operations and safety improvements,
congestion relief, pedestrian and biking
improvements, maintenance and safety.
He said all areas are important, but one
of the most significant for Sandy Springs
involves operational efficiencies by making “intersection improvements such as
adding turn-lane capacity and putting in
adaptive traffic signals (those that adjust
based on traffic flow).”
For Roswell, which stands to receive
some $93 million from T-SPLOST “the big
rock in our tier one container is what we
call the Big Creek Parkway,” said Acenbrak. The $60 million parkway project will provide an east-west link from
Holcomb Bridge Road to Mansell Road
without connecting to Georgia 400.
“Right now Holcomb Bridge is the first
major east-west corridor north of I-285
and there is so much traffic on the road
because there is no other option to go east
and west.”
Johns Creek’s Bodker said his city must
improve its roads to accommodate traffic
coming from other areas. As an example
State Bridge Road will be widened to keep
pace with Alpharetta’s expansion of Old
Milton Parkway.
David Belle Isle, mayor of Alpharetta,
had a head start as his city recently passed
a $52 million bond, half of which went to
transportation. But Alpharetta still has a
list of T-SPLOST improvements.
“Alpharetta didn’t have to worry about
traffic until the late ’90s, but now we have
traffic and are also making this interesting shift from a community that is 100
percent vehicular to one with more and
more pedestrian and bicycle traffic,” he
said.
people easily and quickly get from the
MARTA station or the bus stop to their
office,” she said.
Courtney Bernardi, CEO of Johns
Creek Advantage, the city’s economic
development arm, said John Creek’s
challenges include the city doesn’t sit
on a major interstate, lacks public transportation options, has limited land suitable for development and has an aging
population.
“Companies and businesses are looking for a continuous pipeline of workforce availability to fill positions, so for
younger folks to live here and not have
to commute into the city is important,”
she said. “Also, having a younger demographic keeps the community young, relevant and vibrant.”
Much like Sandy Springs, housing
options for younger workers are hard to
find in Johns Creek. “As a suburban North
Fulton community, we have to make sure
we offer the amenities that draw a younger
population to our community. We have to
offer more than just executive level housing so companies can recruit employees
and have them live here,” she said.
The city just passed its first strategic
economic development plan. It is updating the city’s comprehensive plan and
looking closely at land use options and
implementing a comprehensive transportation strategic plan to align growth
and development and alleviate congestion. It is also investigating whether
to develop a city center to create a true
downtown, Bernardi said.
Land availability is an issue, she added.
With little land ripe for development in
Johns Creek, the city is looking for ways
to better use the existing land and create
more infill development. “We have a 10.3
percent vacancy rate overall so we don’t
have a lot of existing available space. We
have to figure out how we can better utilize the space we have,” she said.
Peter Tokar III, economic development director for the city of Alpharetta,
works tirelessly to change the perception
of Alpharetta from a bedroom community for executives to an intellectual community that offers a place for all people.
“We are constantly reviewing our
infrastructure and looking at ways to
provide things like WiFi in all parks and
throughout our downtown, along with
seeking out those development opportunities that cater to a walkable community and social driven community versus
a neighborhood community,” he said.
Alpharetta’s new city center, which
is breaking ground this year, will feature restaurants and retail on the ground
floor with apartments above. The anticipation of the town center has already
created a renaissance of redevelopment
in the downtown area. At least eight new
restaurants and a number of new boutiques and other retailers have moved into
downtown Alpharetta.
“We have always said we have millennials who live up north but they never
had a place to go,” he said. “We are making Alpharetta into a hybrid community
— taking our existing Class A office and
high-end residential neighborhoods and
filling in the gaps with apartment and
townhomes for millennials and young
families.”
Six Distinct Cities.
One Unique Opportunity.
MILTON
MOUNTAIN
PARK
ALPHARETTA
ROSWELL
JOHNS
CREEK
Chattanooga
To Charlotte
SANDY
SPRINGS
To Port of
Charleston
To Birmingham
International Airport
To Port
of Mobile
Port of
Savannah
Port of
Brunswick
Washington D.C.
Louisville, KY
75
Nashville, TN
85 Raleigh, NC
Charlotte, NC
95
85
20
20
Atlanta
Birmingham, AL
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
16
85
75
Mobile, AL
10
95
75
Orlando, FL
Tampa, FL
75
Miami, FL
With a workforce of more than 273,000 people, North Fulton Atlanta is an
economic powerhouse. Our six distinct cities, the 40+ mission-critical data centers,
numerous Fortune 500 headquarters and top-ranked schools make North Fulton Atlanta one of the best places
in the country to do business. So, if you are looking to relocate or just curious as to what North Fulton Atlanta
has to offer, we invite you to come join this outstanding business community.
866.840.5770 • www.GNFCC.com/Economic-Development
10B
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE
JULY 8-14, 2016
MARKET REPORT
North Fulton CID projects nearing completion
BY DOUG DELOACH
Contributing Writer
Build it and they will drive, walk and bicycle on it, so the saying sometimes goes.
Since 2003, the North Fulton Community Improvement District (NFCID), a
self-taxing area that spans from Mansell
Road north to McGinnis Ferry Road, has
invested more than $18 million to help
fund some $90 million in new infrastructure. Two of the CID’s most recent major
projects — the Encore Parkway (Corridor) Bridge and the Northwinds Parkway Extension — are primarily designed
to improve access and alleviate traffic
congestion.
“Years ago, the city of Alpharetta identified this [Encore Parkway Corridor] as
a primary area for enhancing access and
connecting businesses and activity centers,” said Kerry Armstrong, NFCID Board
Chairman and senior executive at Pope &
Land Enterprises Inc.
The $17.9 million project represents a partnership between the city
of Alpharetta, Georgia Department of
Transportation, Atlanta Regional Commission, and the State Road and Tollway Authority. The plan calls for widening the existing two-lane Encore
Parkway between Westside Parkway and
North Point Parkway. The new roadway
will include two 14-foot travel lanes, two
6-foot bicycle lanes, 8-foot sidewalks,
landscaped buffers on each side and a
raised, landscaped median. A sidewalk
R
Encore Parkway Bridge is a
major North Fulton CID project.
CLOSER LOOK
Encore Parkway Bridge
R Total project investment: $17.9
million
R CID contribution: $6.5 million
R Project partners: City of
Alpharetta, Georgia Department of
Transportation, Atlanta Regional
Commission and the State Road and
Tollway Authority
Northwinds Parkway Extension
RENDERING/SPECIAL
R CID contribution: $2.44 million
R GDOT contribution: $1.8 million
will be constructed on the east side of
North Point Parkway to connect the new
Encore Parkway Bridge to the existing Big
Creek Greenway trail and parking area.
“It’s all part of the demand for networks where pedestrians can get around
safely and people can ride their bikes,”
Armstrong said. “It’s not just another way
to move cars back and forth.”
The existing bridge over Georgia 400
will be replaced and upgraded in anticipation of future widening. The new
Encore Parkway bridge and roadway will
include streetscape features including
trees, landscaping, pedestrian lighting
and street furniture. The project’s ambitious construction schedule was designed
to accommodate the holiday shopping
season. The bridge will be closed from
Jan. 4 through Nov. 15 opening up to traffic just in time for the holiday retail rush.
The project is scheduled for completion
in spring 2017.
“We had to make sure we did not negatively impact North Point Mall and all the
other businesses and shopping venues,”
Armstrong said.
That is good news for retailers at North
Point Mall and the numerous retail operations, as well as entertainment businesses
in the area including the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. “The city has done a
great job with bringing more rooftops and
businesses to the area,” said J.F. “Nick”
Nicolosi, general manager at North Point
Mall. “Consequently, we needed better
circulation and connectivity both from an
automobile and a pedestrian standpoint.”
The $2.3 million Northwinds Parkway Extension represents a partnership between the NFCID, GDOT and the
city of Alpharetta. A separate development phase will be completed by Pulte
Homes as part of a residential community. The project creates a local connection from Kimball Bridge Road to Old
R City of Alpharetta contribution:
$554,000
R Construction cost: $2.3 million for
Phase I; Phase II to be completed by
Pulte Homes as part of a residential
community
R Project partners: City of Alpharetta
and GDOT
SOURCE: NORTH FULTON CID
Milton Parkway and a new point-ofaccess for the Gwinnett Technical
College Alpharetta-North Fulton campus.
“It’s going to be a game-changer for the
western side of Georgia 400, especially
considering other recent developments
in the area including Avalon and Gwinnett Tech,” said Chris Scott, principal at
Greenstone Properties. “One of the biggest potential concerns about North Fulton is the traffic. This project adds surface
street options, which is something the
CID has done a great job in addressing.”
VIEWPOINT
STEM-focused campus coming to North Fulton
I
n order to remain competitive in
our global economy, it is vital that
business and education create
strategic partnerships.
The goal of this partnership is to
understand workforce and economic
development needs and align these
needs with innovative educational
programs that ignite passion within
students for career-related instruction.
A great example of the outcome of
this partnership is the STEM-focused
campus that will be built in North
Fulton within the next few years.
As Fulton County Schools started the
research for the STEM-focused campus,
we used three metrics to determine
programming and curriculum.
One was leveraging the partnerships
with the business community,
workforce development teams and
post-secondary education. Many
taskforce meetings were held, where all
stakeholders were given an opportunity
to talk about the challenges they
were having in filling their talent
pipeline. There were common threads,
including the need for students to have
more STEM-related skills, the lack of
employability and work ethic skills, and
the challenges of finding instructors
to teach students at the secondary and
Yalanda Bell
is executive
director of career
and technical
education for the
Fulton County
School System.
post-secondary level. The taskforce took
these threads and is currently working
on sustainable short-term and longterm projects that will help address
those needs.
The next metric that we used to
determine the programming for the
STEM-focused campus was student
interest. In a recent report of the college
aptitude test, the ACT, students in
Georgia overwhelming expressed an
interest in STEM, specifically in the
areas of engineering, technology, and
health-care science. These students are
interested in opportunities to apply
their interest in math and science and
be in an educational environment that
will foster their creativity.
The last metric was workforce
trend data. The North Fulton Chamber
and Hire Dynamics provided micro
data on the supply and demand of
the workforce, specifically in the
information technology and health-care
science verticals.
For example, from January 2013
to December 2014, within a 10-mile
radius of Roswell, there were 14,782
job postings for software developers
(demand) and 1,628 active candidates
(supply). In the health-care sector,
from June 2013 to May 2015 there were
6,083 job postings for nurses (demand)
and 889 active candidates (supply).
After seeing this data, Fulton County
Schools provided the educational
framework for these sectors, including
information technology (programming,
information support and services,
networking, computer science), healthcare science (diagnostics, phlebotomy,
nursing, non-invasive technology in
healthcare and biotechnology research
and development and pre-med), and
engineering (mechatronics, robotics
and automated systems, engineering).
These three metrics were used to
develop the educational programming
that will be the focus of the STEMfocused campus in Alpharetta.
The funding for this campus, as well
as an additional campus in Fairburn,
was the helm of the recent E-SPLOST
vote within Fulton County. High school
students will be able to take academic
and career-related courses that are
aligned with company practices and the
needs of the business community in
North Fulton.
At the campus, they will be able to
complete a career pathway that will
lead to job shadows, internships, and
industry credentials that will give
students a niche when they are ready
to make decisions about their postsecondary and career options. The
campus will replicate a college campus
where students will be immersed in
their academic and career-related
studies.
The computer science, health-care
science, and engineering labs will
mimic lab settings in post-secondary
colleges and in the private sector.
The instructors will have industry
experience and be able to provide
students with authentic and relevant
instruction.
The strategic plan for Fulton County
Schools is centered on increasing
graduation rates and preparing students
for college and careers. The STEMfocused campus will provide students
with engaging and relevant instruction
and provides the tools, resources, and
instruction that will allow students to
be college and career ready.
JULY 8-14, 2016
ATLANTA Business CHRONICLE
11B
market report
Talent Coalition creating workforce solutions
By Leslie johnson
Contributing Writer
Cross-discipline initiative
The Talent Coalition was developed out
of vision for, and commitment to, North
Fulton. “For decades the greater North
Fulton community has come together
with a common goal of quality of life
with globally competitive education
choice and support for business and job
creation,” Usry said. “To continue growth
and not allow any stagnation, the [chamber]’s Talent Coalition is a cross-discipline initiative bringing together education and business to develop workforce
strategies that fill the largest skills gaps
in the region.”
The group has been busy assessing
the jobs and skills situation in North
Fulton, and the kinds of businesses that
have some of the biggest needs for specially-skilled workers. “To start, we have
identified the top five jobs in each vertical of health care and technology that are
in the highest demand but are the most
difficult to fill with talent,” Usry said.
“These jobs alone represent thousands
of available jobs in North Fulton. The
issues we are working to solve involve a
large number of constituents, so in order
Businesses
like AT&T
have helped
Gwinnett Tech
Alpharetta
North Fulton.
SPECIAL
to focus our efforts and create efficiencies, we need a single gathering point
of ideas, planning and implementation
which is why the [chamber] is working
to build connections and foster partnerships through the Talent Coalition.”
According to the 2016 U.S. News/Raytheon STEM Index, there is an ongoing
shortage of STEM (science, technology,
engineering and math) workers. From
2014 to 2015, there were 30,835 additional
STEM graduates and 230,246 more STEM
jobs. The index also indicated that the U.S.
will rely on foreign workers to fill STEM
jobs in the future.
North Fulton’s top employers include
tech-centered companies such as Verizon
Wireless and First Data Corp.
“Workforce needs in technology are
problematic throughout the country,”
Lyons said. “There are not enough graduates and not enough with requisite skills
to fill the burgeoning needs of technology companies. Around the North Fulton, Alpharetta area there’s a huge, huge
workforce that they need over the next
few years. We want to work with the local
community and industries because it has
a payoff for both of us.”
Lyons said GSU Perimeter’s relationship with State Farm is serving as a model
for future alliances. The school is putting
the finishing touches on an agreement to
provide an educational program to participating State Farm workers in the fall.
Moving forward, the school will work
out details on similar agreements on
a company-by-company basis, Lyons
said, but some of the possibilities could
include courses on company campuses
and a hybrid of online and in-class
courses offerings.
GSU and State Farm also have recently
teamed for an effort to help college students through $265,000 in grants, provided by the company. According to the
announcement about the grants, $10,000
is for K-12 STEM outreach, which will go
to the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban
Educational Excellence in GSU’s College
of Education and Human Development.
More focused pathway
Gwinnett Technical College has representatives on each of the coalition’s major
subcommittees, said Victoria Seals, vice
president of academic affairs, at the college, who chairs the health care capacity/
funding subcommittee.
“We believe that the efforts of the
coalition will lead to a more collaborative workforce development approach
from educational entities and the related
industry representatives,” Seals said via
correspondence. “This collaboration will
benefit Gwinnett Technical College and
our students by providing internship
IMPACT
“ CIDs have an amazing track record of getting projects built in Metro Atlanta.
North Fulton has proven itself to be a model of that excellent reputation.
Kerry Armstrong
Chairman, North Fulton CID
www.nor thfultoncid.com
“
A committed group of educational institutions and businesses are coming up
with workforce development solutions in hopes of helping North Fulton’s
fast-growing industries fill many crucial
positions and giving students a leg-up on
their careers.
“The most important three letters
someone can have after their name when
they graduate is j-o-b,” said Peter Lyons,
vice provost and dean at Georgia State
University Perimeter College, which is
a partner in the Greater North Fulton
Chamber of Commerce Talent Coalition.
Formed in 2015, the coalition has
a mission “to drive focus and change
through measurable programs to address
the job skills gap in North Fulton and be
the advocate among community business, education and public policy leaders,” according to the chamber’s website.
With a variety of diverse partners in
education, health care, technology and
beyond, the coalition is already seeing
positive signs of its partners’ efforts.
For example, Georgia State University’s
Perimeter College has noted an increase
in summer enrollment at its Alpharetta
site, said Bethany Usry, vice president of
economic development for the chamber,
via email. She said the rise contrasts to a
decline in summer enrollment at other
campuses across the region.
“They attribute much of this to the fact
that GSU changed its course offering to
include more classes that align with the
business community’s needs,” she said.
Also through the Talent Coalition:
GSU Perimeter College in Alpharetta
and Chattahoochee High School have
an agreement where GSU students will
start using Chattahoochee’s lab space in
the fall, Usry said.
opportunities and a more focused pathway to the high-demand jobs that are
currently going unfilled.”
Some coalition members are looking at ways to align their strengths and
push development forward in a way that
benefits students and employers.
“The primary advancement that my
subcommittee is working on is to develop
a more synergistic relationship between
our RN program and the BSN program
offered by Georgia State University,”
Seals said. “We believe that this initiative
will begin to address the nursing shortage that continues to be documented for
the North Fulton and metro Atlanta area.”
A collaborative spirit helps the coalition overcome the challenges of keeping up with ever-evolving industries and
information.
“Some of the challenges in developing
workforce strategies for the area have been
related to accurate data, clearly identified
skills gap, and entities working in silos,”
Seals said. “The coalition is facilitating a
broad-based platform for all interested
parties to work together to tackle these
challenges. By sharing data and aligning
curriculum with needed skills, Gwinnett
Technical College is increasingly positioned to provide the qualified workforce
to meet the needs in health care and IT.”