Skyline Views

Washington-Area Office-to-School Conversion Ahead of the Curve

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (Oct. 2, 2014) - Cooper Carry, a national architecture and design firm, is on the leading edge of an emerging trend, and its work in Atlanta and metro Washington, D.C., is being recognized by a global news organization.

The Associated Press recently highlighted Cooper Carry's architectural design work in the conversion of the former IBM regional headquarters in Atlanta to a high-rise high-school and a former office buidling in Falls Church, Virginia, to an elementary school. Let's go to the clip:

In the AP story, Lauren Perry Ford, a senior associate in Cooper Carry's K-12 Education Specialty Practice Group, says the team worked hard to overcome the lack of greenspace at Bailey's Upper Elementary School for the Arts & Sciences in the heart of Redskins country. (I am still allowed to write "Redskins" in this blog, despite the PTO's objection right?)

Ford said her team successfully created recreation and play areas in tight spaces. "In the second phase, we will be able to accommodate a more traditional gymnasium," the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP BD+C) said.

In Atlanta, the conversion of the IBM campus to the new North Atlanta High School has proven that architects and designers play a critial role in the adaptive reuse of office buildings. Repurposing the 11-story tower as a much-needed high school for north Atlanta and Buckhead helped ensure that a lot of rubble would not be added to our landfills.

The hometown project was so important to Cooper Carry that co-founder Jerry Cooper remained actively involved in the design from start to finish.

The Wilbert Group, the nation's leading real estate PR firm, is proud to call Cooper Carry a client.

 

 

Here's How a Third-Grader Sees Atlanta's Skyline

ATLANTA (May 7, 2014) - I saw this today at Pace Academy's pop-up Museum of Georgia History, as presented by third-graders at the independent school in Buckhead.

Now we know which office towers and buildings have captivated future architects and developers.

Construction Exec Sachin Shailendra Appointed to Georgia's Board of Regents

SG Contracting and SG Property Services have just signed on as The Wilbert Group's newest clients. These new additions to our roster further fortifies The Wilbert Group's position as the top real estate PR firm in the country. Here's the first news we announced for SG Contracting.

ATLANTA, April 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sachin Shailendra, president of SG Contracting, has been appointed to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia by Gov. Nathan Deal. SG Contracting is a full-service construction management and general contracting

company based in Atlanta.

 

"My appointment to this prestigious board, filled with men and women whom I highly respect, is such an honor," Shailendra said. "I look forward to contributing to this distinguished group and making the best decisions I can for the University System of Georgia."

 

Shailendra was sworn in on April 15. The board includes 19 members that oversee 31 colleges and universities throughout the state. Five members are appointed from the state-at-large, and one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The board also supervises the Georgia

Archives and the Georgia Public Library System.

 

Shailendra, a graduate of Georgia Tech, is also on the Atlanta Opera Board and the Children's Healthcare Sports Network Board. He previously served on the Alexander-Tharpe Fund Board of Trustees, the Board of Visitors for Emory University, the Georgia Network to End Sexual

Assault, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce's Government Affairs Council, and as president of the Woodward Academy Alumni Association. As an alumnus of Woodward Academy, he sits on the advisory council for the private institution.

 

About SG Contracting:

 

SG Contracting is an Atlanta-based general contracting and construction management company. Our principals and employees have extensive project experience collectively spanning over a century in several markets throughout Georgia and the Southeast. Our accomplishments include the

construction of projects throughout the metro Atlanta area, earning us the reputation for world-class quality and excellence.

Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School Taking Shape at Pace Academy in Atlanta

ATLANTA (March 25, 2014) - The new castle (aka the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School) at the Pace Academy campus on West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead is rising nicely.

Pace, an independent school in Atlanta, desperately needed more space to house its Upper School. The school launched an aggressive campaign to raise $32 million to fund the project, and Pace parent and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank came through with the lead gift. Tons of others, including the Wilbert family, have contributed to the cause. It feels sort of like crowdfunding in the coolest sense of the word.

The school needs to open in time for the start of the 2014-15 school year in mid-August. Atlanta's rainy weather hasn't helped the tight construction schedule, I'm sure, but it appears to be on track as of this week.

The photo above shows the 75,000-square-foot, four-story structure just as the brick facade is being laid. The bright blue that will be covered up must pay homage to Pace's colors.

Can't wait to attend the grand opening.

APS Will Raze Part of IBM Complex for New Buckhead High School

ATLANTA (Dec. 23, 2011) - Plans for the new high school in north Atlanta, a.k.a. "Buckhead High," are starting to crystalize.

Today, plans were revealed that show Atlanta Public Schools plans to redevelop the existing IBM campus on Northside Parkside into the new high school. That much has been known for a while. (Photo courtesy of IBM.com.)

What's new is this:

"Site will be redeveloped by removing one office building and approximately 1400 parking spaces to construct a new assembly building and athletic fields," according to a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) filing made public today.

The project size will be 475,000 square feet and accommodate 1,800 to 2,200 students, the filing states. The new high school at 4111 Northside Parkway will be completed in 2013.

In February, Atlanta school board members voted to acquire the 56-acre site for more than $56 million, The Atlanta Journal-Constitition reported.

The two buildings comprise 785,000 square feet of office and traning space built in 1978. Current tenant IBM is scouting new locations for a consolidated regional office. Jamestown acquired the campus in 2003.

Since the February vote, Buckhead residents have speculated about whether both IBM building would be razed or one or both would be used to house the new Buckhead high school. Today's DRI filing sheds some light.

The school system will tear down one builing and incoporate the other. Let's deem it a half-adaptive-reuse project.

Realtors Should Use Twitter & Blog to Build Brand

ATLANTA (July 22, 2011) - The Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors hosted a half-day seminar tis week on how brokers can use social media to boost their businesses. The seminar concluded with a panel whose members discussed how Twitter and blogs can help Realtors build their brand.

Panelists also talked about how social media have prompted mainstream media to post their content online ASAP instead of holding it for their print editions.

Here's what I had to say about why and how Realtors, brokers and other business people should use Twitter to build their businesses. (Turn up the volume.)

Several Sites Emerge in Search for Buckhead High

ATLANTA (Feb. 16, 2010) - Several properties have emerged as potential sites for the new high school in Atlanta's tony Buckhead community.

On Jan. 29, The Buckhead Blog broke news that Atlanta Public Schools is scouting for sites for a new high school in Buckhead, and land owners have lined up to get their properties before the school system. Early potential sites being mentioned include Colonial Homes apartments off Peachtree Road on the proposed BeltLine in south Buckhead, Paces Apartments on East Andrews Drive and the former West Paces Medical Center site on Howell Mill Road.

Properties along Northside Parkway near the Chattahoochee River also are being considered, according to the Buckhead Reporter.

To learn more about the search for land for the $35 million to $45 million school, check out Justin Farmer's story on WSB-TV, Channel 2. It's scheduled to air at 6:05 p.m. this evening and feature comments from Carter broker Rob Adamson, left in photo, with Farmer. The TV anchor interviewed Adamson on the site of the former West Paces Medical Center.

APS' search will be one of the hottest Atlanta site selections stories during the first half of 2010. Once a site is picked, it will take about two years to build the new school.

(Carter is a Wilbert News Strategies client.)