As a driving force of the New South after rising from the ashes of the Civil War, Atlanta moved forward, and as Georgia’s capital and largest city, it is again displaying its capacity to reinvent itself as it continuously evolves through its biggest construction extravaganza to date.
The city launched a rebranding two years ago and is now living its ambitious new tagline, “Every Day Is an Opening Day.”
A new World of Coca-Coca, unveiled May 20 in Coke’s home town, is the latest eye-opener, standing alongside the $200 million Georgia Aquarium, which opened in 2005. Meanwhile, a mid-2008 groundbreaking is planned for a third major convention-corridor attraction: the Civil and Human Rights Center.
These new attractions are just the high-profile tip of a development iceberg that has spawned other new and expanded attractions. Now it’s delivering new boutique hotels, some part of massive mixed-use projects that promise to shape Atlanta into an even more dynamic town.
“Big meetings have always come to Atlanta because it’s an easy city to get to and has the infrastructure to hold them,” says Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer for the Atlanta CVB (ACVB). “Where we were lacking was in terms of people saying, ‘What do I do when I get out of the meeting?’ Now we have new prize amenities that are adding to the destination’s appeal.”
The aquarium, he explains, is becoming a major factor in conventioneers choosing to stay extra days, and because of its venue space, it has helped the ACVB book meetings and conventions.
The new attractions adjoin the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), one of the country’s five largest convention centers. Adjacent to the center on the south side are the Georgia Dome and Philips Arena, and to the east, a downtown boasting 16,000 hotel rooms.
Downtown Atlanta is also home to the 6.2 million-square-foot AmericasMart, the city’s trade complex, which later this year will open a new 70,000-square-foot meeting and event space.
“In the last five years, downtown has become more vibrant—a brighter, cleaner, safer environment with tons of new restaurants,” says Chris Anderson, director of sales and marketing at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which is in the midst of a $140 million renovation and expansion. “We’ve seen our corporate group business grow, and we’re still economical compared to many other major cities.”
Out and About
In addition to enjoying new marquee attractions, delegates can stroll the 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park, take in its free after-hours summer concerts, or take a tour of the CNN studios.
With more than 100 stores, bars and nightclubs, downtown’s Underground Atlanta is a short walk or one MARTA rail stop from the GWCC.
Almost all popular sites can be reached by MARTA’s Tourist Loop bus. Stops include the High Museum of Art, the Jimmy Carter Museum and Library, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Sweet Auburn.
Reached through the spine of Peachtree Street or by interstate are the visitor magnets of Midtown and Buckhead.
With 16 hotels and 3,200 guest rooms, Midtown provides the city’s culture and arts district and the standout green space of 180-acre Piedmont Park and the adjacent 15-acre Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Midtown’s High Museum of Art is part of the Woodruff Arts Center, which also encompasses institutions such as the Alliance Theatre, the 14th Street Playhouse, the Atlanta College of Art, and the Atlanta Symphony. An unprecedented exhibition, Louvre Atlanta, launched last October at the High and runs through 2009, with works from the Paris institution. The central exhibit during the first year features works assembled during the reigns of Louis XIV and XVI.
Georgia Tech’s Technology Square, almost four years old, represents Midtown’s high-tech side. It is home to two IACC-certified meeting facilities: the 252-room Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, with 21,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Georgia Tech Global Learning and Conference Center, with 32,000 square feet of function space.
North of the square, Midtown also serves up a new mini-city: the growing, pedestrian-friendly Atlantic Station. It’s being developed on the site of a 140-acre former steel mill, with lofts, apartments and offices. Its core, a 12-building retail, restaurant and entertainment center, opened in October 2005. New stores like Dillard’s and the Southeast’s first Ikea make Atlantic Station a big draw for Atlantans.
With 5,000 hotel rooms, Buckhead represents chic, upscale Atlanta. Its impressive collection of luxury hotels includes The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead; JW Marriott Hotel Buckhead, the Westin Buckhead, and the InterContinental Buckhead.
Trendy restaurants and shopping—notably the upscale Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza malls—add to its magnetic appeal.
Boutique Mania
Two historic building conversions signaled Atlanta’s belated entry into the boutique market. Almost three years ago, the 140-room Indigo Midtown opened opposite the opulent Art Deco Fox Theater, a popular off-site venue. Downtown’s 110-room Glenn Hotel followed early last year—the first of several new hotel projects attracted to sites close to the aquarium.
Early last year, Atlantic Station’s first hotel—the 101-room Twelve Hotel Atlantic Station, featuring a 6,000-square-foot ballroom—came on-line as part of a 26-story condo project. Novare Group will debut a second Twelve, the 101-suite Twelve Centennial Park, in late August as part of a 39-story, twin-towers residential development.
This fall, the 127-room Ellis Hotel, which will have meeting space, is slated to open downtown at Peachtree and Ellis—the conversion of an empty historic building that was once the Winecoff Hotel.
Part of the new mixed-use Park Plaza project, the 242-room Hilton Inn Garden Downtown is scheduled to debut near the aquarium early next year.
Next year, Starwood is planning to unveil two W hotels: the 257-room W Downtown, with 10,000 square feet of meeting space and part of the $2 billion, nine-block Allen Plaza mixed-use project, and the W Midtown (transformed from the Sheraton Midtown Atlanta at Colony Square, which closes July 8).
Also expected to open in 2008 is the St. Regis Buckhead, which will have a 9,200-square-foot ballroom. Among other Buckhead projects under way or planned are another W with 291 rooms; a 300-room Hilton; the 127-room Mansion on Peachtree; and a Kessler Collection hotel.
Venue Bonanza
With new and expanded attractions, Atlanta is not only benefiting from an elevated role as a leisure destination, it has also added new off-site venue options.
In its first year, the Georgia Aquarium entertained 3.5 million visitors—well above the projected 2.4 million—and also hosted more than 700 meetings and events. After-hours, the aquarium can host groups of up to 5,000 people. In addition to a 16,400-square-foot ballroom, it has a 250-seat theater, an atrium and a cafe.
In October, the aquarium will complete a $13 million expansion and improvement program that includes an additional 7,000-square-foot ballroom prefunction area, meeting room upgrades and new tasting rooms for Wolfgang Puck Catering.
“The expansion will allow us to host larger events simultaneously,” says Will Ramsey, the aquarium’s director of group sales. “By increasing event space, we’re providing more people with the opportunity to host a unique, first-class event.”
The World of Coca-Cola, located on a 20-acre site and double the size of the former facility, can host group events for up to 1,500 people.
With a range of venues that includes historic homes and gardens, Buckhead’s Atlanta History Center recently unveiled one more: its $10 million, 27,500-square-foot Centennial Olympics Games Museum, which opened in July 2006.
Meanwhile, the High Museum of Art added more event options in November 2005 when it opened a $130 million, 177,000-square-foot Renzo Piano-designed addition, almost doubling its size.
Hartsfield Expansion
Last year, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport debuted a fifth runway aimed at relieving aircraft congestion. It was part of a $5.4 billion improvement and expansion that includes a new international terminal opening in 2010.
Ten miles south of downtown and 15 minutes by MARTA rail, the airport is surrounded by more than 30 hotels, with 11 major-brand properties together providing more than 4,000 rooms and 140,000 square feet of meeting space.
Here, the 400,000-square-foot Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) offers Georgia’s second-largest convention facility. Planned projects will enable the facility to attract larger and more multiday events and eliminate the need for airport shuttles. An automated people mover will debut late next year, transporting visitors from the airport to the GICC.
A new 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use project named Gateway Center, announced early this year, will include a 400-room GICC headquarters hotel and a 150-suite hotel, both slated to open in early 2009.
Also, ground is expected to be broken later this summer on Choice Hotels’ 140-room Cambria Suites, which will be located less than a quarter-mile from the airport.
Two meetings-equipped options, both IACC-certified, are 25 miles south of the airport in Peachtree City: the 250-room Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center, with 33,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 233-room Aberdeen Woods Conference Center, which includes 64 meeting rooms and recently completed a $25 million renovation.
Outlying Options
For rural gatherings, Lake Lanier, located north of the metro area in the Blue Ridge foothills, is a 1,100-acre recreational playground 45 minutes from downtown Atlanta. Standout properties here are the 216-room, IACC-certified Emerald Pointe Resort & Conference Center, with golf and 21,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 254-room Renaissance PineIsle Resort and Golf Club, with 22,000 square feet of function space.
In addition to a 25,000-square-foot, IACC-certified conference center, Chateau Elan Winery & Resort at Braselton, 40 minutes north of downtown, has a 272-room inn, a spa and 63 holes of golf.
From Lake Lanier, the Chattahoochee River provides a national recreational area that winds through five metro counties. They include Cobb, protruding northwest from Atlanta, and Gwinnett, located northeast of the city. Both counties have quaint towns, burgeoning suburbs and a plethora of meeting facilities.
Marietta, Cobb’s county seat, boasts four nationally registered historic districts. Within walking distance from downtown, the Marietta Conference Center & Resort has golf and more than 20,000 square feet of IACC-certified meeting space.
Nearby is Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and the county is also home to Six Flags over Georgia, which last year unleashed Goliath, the Southeast’s largest and tallest rollercoaster.
Eight miles from Marietta is the county’s primary convention facility: Cobb Galleria Centre. Besides two malls, it features 144,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 25,000-square-foot ballroom and 24 meeting rooms, as well as the adjacent Renaissance Waverly Hotel, with more than 60,000 square feet of function space, and the Sheraton Suites Galleria–Atlanta.
Venue options will expand Sept. 15 with the gala opening of the adjacent $145 million Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. As the new home of Atlanta’s opera and ballet companies, it will feature the 2,750-seat John A. Williams Theatre, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, a courtyard and terrace, and an 11-acre park.
Joyce Calandra, CEO of the Cobb County CVB, says the center will impact not only Cobb County but also the entire region.
“The theater will be a magnet for cultural tourism throughout the Southeast,” she says. “Developers are flocking to areas surrounding the center, with visions of hotels, restaurants, office space, and condos. New mixed-use developments will give the county a tremendous boost.”
Gwinnett, the largest of the metro counties, features more than 100 hotels and four major malls, including the Mall of Georgia, the state’s largest.
Lawrenceville, its historic county seat, is four miles from the Gwinnett Center, the county’s major group venue. The center features a 700-seat performing arts center, a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 22 meeting rooms, a 21,600-square-foot ballroom, and a 13,000-seat arena, home to the Gwinnett Gladiators minor-league hockey team.
Lisa Anders, marketing communications director for the Gwinnett CVB, says the center has “wildly exceeded everybody’s expectations.” The county is in the early stages of planning an expansion that will include more exhibit and breakout space, and a headquarters hotel.
“That will change the dynamic considerably,” she says, explaining that at present the facility only has only about 400 guest rooms within easy walking distance, which limits its ability to sell to national associations.
Nearby, one developer is seeking approvals to build an Embassy Suites and another is doing site work for a project expected to include two Marriott-brand hotels.
Tucked between Gwinnett and Atlanta is DeKalb County, with Decatur, its county seat, on the MARTA rail line.
DeKalb is home to one of Georgia’s top attractions: the 3,200-acre Stone Mountain Park. The 800-foot-high granite outcropping with massive carvings of Confederate leaders draws 4 million visitors a year. Visitors can hike a 1.2-mile trail or ride a sky lift to the summit and also take in its seasonal laser show, a riverboat cruise and attractions such as a re-created 1870s town and antebellum plantation. A new winter attraction will open in November: Coca-Cola Snow Mountain, featuring tubing runs and snow play areas.
The park’s 336-room Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort offers 32,000 square feet of meeting space and 36 holes of golf, as well as team-building programs.
The county is also home to Emory University and its 198-room Emory Conference Center Hotel, which has 23,000 square feet of IACC-certified meeting space and the adjacent 107-room Emory Inn.
For More Info
Atlanta CVB 404.521.6600
www.atlanta.net
Cobb County CVB 678.303.2622
www.cobbcvb.com
DeKalb CVB 770.492.5000
www.atlantasdekalb.org
Gwinnett CVB 770.623.3600
www.gcvb.org
