Coca-Cola eyes big move downtown (Atlanta, Auburn: homes, neighborhood, buy)

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by westau

These are all negative things to people who already live close to an office. The area they are talking about moving from has a good mix of apartments, townhomes, and also reasonable single family homes. No office downtown can provide that. New jobs downtown is a good thing. Moving jobs from a nice suburb to downtown is a good thing for downtown and a bad thing for the majority of those employees.

These are all options to mitigate the negative of having to drive downtown that doesn't exist when an office is in an area that is easy to drive to and live around.

I believe if you polled the people who work outside of the downtown/midtown/buckhead area the majority would see a work move to any of those areas a big negative because they probably already live close to work.

Well, you know what? If they don't like it, they could always seek other options. I'm sure that in this economy, and with a company as prestigious as Coke, they could easily be replaced with someone younger and more flexible.

[cqholt]

Until they realize they can't afford to live decently anywhere near the office and be able to raise kids with good schools.

I am 28 and I don't know a single person my age that has any desire to be downtown outside of events at Phillips/Georgia Dome and that is just because they happen to be there.

High paying jobs that can't afford to live Grady cluster?
You must know some boring people then. Downtown is a great place to go.
The majority of Millennial prefer to live and work in urban environments and use ulternate commuting. This could be the reason Coke is moving IT downtown, to attract the future of IT.

[atler8]

By the way, the Suntrust Tower is on the far northern edge of downtown & really only about 3 blocks or so from the south end of Midtown if you use the North Ave. corridor as the dividing line.
The tower is in an attractive area & is more accessible than you might suspect, which all surely would be part of the reasoning behind such a move if it comes to happen.
I'm picking up on a lot of negativity toward downtown but mostly from one source.
Perhaps they can tell us what would improve downtown in their opinion.

[bfarley30]

It seems like a lot of people are under the impression that all the workers there live close to their jobs. If that was the case why does ATL has such terrible traffic? Most probably don't live near the job and have to commute one way or the other from somewhere not close.

And no one is saying that all 1,000 plus employees are going to hop on MARTA to get to work but I'm sure some will along with some that us Xpress/CCT/GCT commuter buses and some that are going to drive.

And it's good for a company with a name like Coke still investing in the core of the city. Downtown has a lot of good stuff down there and a lot of people come there just to hang out along with those who live there. Wasn't Midtown full of hippies and hookers back in the day? Wasn't Buckhead a party zone and dangerous? Weren't some of these intown areas full of projects at one time? The all have evolved and downtown is doing the same. People are reinvesting in downtown and ultimately it will become great again versus the stigma that some have that don't even go down there. Every great city has a great downtown. Thumps up to ATL for continuing to revive the inner core!

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by JPD

Nobody even has the option to ride MARTA to their current location.

So, what is your point? No more corporations should move to Atlanta because nobody wants to carpool or take MARTA, or choose wisely where to live?

JPD - My point is exactly what I wrote. I meant to imply nothing. That was simply my observation. I certainly did not mean to imply that I thought no more corporations should move downtown or anywhere else. It was simply a statement as to the relative accessibility of MARTA to the workers who will be employed by Coca Cola at this new location. As for where people choose to live - that is a personal decision and not mine to make for anyone.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

An important fact to realize is that it sounds like most of these jobs will be coming from the Towers at Wildwood Plaza, which are on Windy Hill Road. I would imagine that most of the employees live relatively close to the area, so MARTA is an unlikely scenario since it would take less time to just take I-75 into town than to deal with the top end perimeter trying to get to a train station.

My guess is that most of the workers won't be happy about this since if they are high paid jobs as the article says, most of the employees are likely homeowners and they probably bought in areas like East Cobb with their big salaries so they could have nice houses in good school districts.

Having said that, the SunTrust tower is my favorite building in all of Atlanta. If someone gave me my choice of any building to work in downtown, that would probably be the one I would pick (just guessing, I've never actually been inside of it).

I don't really get the strategy of moving IT workers into expensive downtown office space, though. If they are able to be remote from the North Avenue building anyway, I would be more inclined to move them into an office park in a cheaper area like Kennesaw or something than class A office space downtown. I bet they are getting a huge deal, tax breaks, etc.

I guess they always have the option to find work elsewhere. These people probably value their jobs with a company like Coca Cola, so they will go to work at any location the company chooses. This is not uncommon - sometimes companies move out of state or out of the country and the employees have to go (or not go) with them. Those people may need to feel lucky they are only moving a few miles and that they are able to keep their jobs.

[jeoff]

High-paying jobs or not, you can easily triple your mortgage moving from the suburbs to something approaches the equivalent home in the Grady Cluster. That's a big hit for anyone.
Staying in the 'burbs might not so bad, if like many other IT workers, they are able to telecommute often--the centrally located office would be available when it is needed.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by jeoff

High-paying jobs or not, you can easily triple your mortgage moving from the suburbs to something approaches the equivalent home in the Grady Cluster. That's a big hit for anyone.

A key factor than in that is also sq footage of suburban homes is much larger. So you may have to trade off a smaller home to get in to the better Grady cluster at the same price you were paying in the burbs. But I bet you can find a cheaper home than the burbs in the Jackson cluster. Not to mention you can find even cheaper than that in other in-town areas if you don't have school aged kids.

It really comes down to a life-style choice: Do you prefer a large McManshion where you have to drive everywhere. Or something smaller, closer to your neighbors in a community you can walk around and take transit. And the fact is the 20-somethings they want to attract to work there are choosing the later and this downtown location will be far more convenient for them than the old location in the suburbs.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by NYbyWAYofGA

Well, you know what? If they don't like it, they could always seek other options. I'm sure that in this economy, and with a company as prestigious as Coke, they could easily be replaced with someone younger and more flexible.

I hope Coke doesn't have such a cavalier attitude about its employees. Sounds like an employee might not need much talent to work for Coke if anyone will do.

SunTrust Plaza is about as miserable of a commute as I can imagine. MARTA by train is the best option. With so many IT jobs headed for North Fulton you'd think the burbs would be best and costs would be lower in Cobb.

[cqholt]

And the fact is the 20-somethings they want to attract to work there are choosing the later and this downtown location will be far more convenient for them than the old location in the suburbs.

This is exactly why Coke is moving closer to the HQ. To give the 20-somethings a convenient location to the lifestyle majority of them prefer. Those that live in North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett or other suburban locations have the option of using GRTA express or MARTA to get to work. Before there was little to no transit option.