State of the City, Takes Us into the Future

Mayor Mike Mason shares the city’s accomplishments and where it’s heading in terms of jobs, business growth, and a smart technology

Mayor Mike Mason delivered his annual State of the City Address to a full house on Monday night. Over 180 Peachtree Corners residents and representatives from the business community were on hand to hear his 6th annual address held at the Marriott Hotel on Technology Parkway.

In his presentation, Mayor Mason talked of the city’s vision and pointed to the successful completion of the 21-acre Town Center which has brought people from near and far to shop, dine in one of the 15 new restaurants and take in the sights and sounds of the two-acre Town Green where family activities and outdoor concerts are held.

The mayor spoke about the tremendous success of the new Town Center, which created 28 new businesses and 528 new jobs. The Town Center is expected to bring in $1.3 million in annual sales tax revenue and $15.4 million in annual sales.

He pointed to the rise of home values which are up 10.6%, and the downward trend of office vacancies which has dropped from 25.1% to 19.4%.

Technology Park, which is the economic engine of the city, has seen a significant increase in new technology-based businesses that are moving into the 500-acre park. Some of the recent businesses included Brightree, a cloud-based software company which is moving into the former Honeywell location. The building is currently undergoing major renovations. ASHRAE, a top leader in developing standards and guidelines for indoor-environment control technology, is remodeling and retrofitting the old Recall building into a showcase for its latest HVAC&R. 

At his annual address, he noted that the city’s efforts to create a master plan to transform Technology Park, has paid off.  First imagined in the 1970s by the city’s founder, Paul Duke, the park, is being re-imagined into an innovation hub. The plan incorporates the addition of research institutions, entrepreneurial training and mentors, professional networks, enhanced walkability, public space and mixed land use.

The city’s plans to add over 11 miles of multi-use trails throughout the city continues. The mayor announced a new section, the Crooked Creek Trail, that is currently in the planning stages. The 2.4-mile section is designed to help spur redevelopment along the Holcomb Bridge Road corridor. The new amenity will connect to nearby Crooked Creek Park in Sandy Springs. A majority of funding for the $2.4 million project will come from federal and state sources along with a $300,000 grant from the ARC.

Additional Highlights:

• The city has invested $20.3 million in infrastructure improvements since 2015 on roads and sidewalks including repaving over 6 lane-miles of city streets and the installation of 3.5 miles of sidewalks just last year.
• City purchased 5.7 acres adjacent to the Town Green which could be developed into a performing arts facility, an expanded Town Green, event or gallery space. The public will be invited to weigh in on the possibilities for this tract of land.
• Construction on the pedestrian bridge will begin in the next few months, the botanical garden will follow.
• Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, the city’s intelligent mobility and smart city living laboratory, is under construction and drawing interest from around the globe. Consisting of a 1.5-mile autonomous vehicle test track and 25,000 square-foot technology incubator, Curiosity Lab is located within Technology Park Atlanta and expected to be complete later this year.
• The city is now one of only three locations where Georgia Tech Professional Education classes are taught on-site. Students attend classes to learn computer coding and data science and analytics at Prototype Prime located in Technology Park.
• Work is underway to finish the construction of the multi-use trail around Technology Park Lake and eventually connect to the Town Center.
• The city’s first brewery, Anderby Brewing is opening in Tech Park in late July.
• In 2019 the city’s Finance Department earned two coveted awards: Excellence in Financial Reporting Award and the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.
• Smart 50 Award: Among the thousands of applicants worldwide, Peachtree Corners won the 2019 Smart 50 Award in the mobility category from Smart Cities Connect for its Curiosity Lab project.

“The state of the city is great,” said Mayor Mike Mason. “Soon, we’ll look at designing the next phase of Town Center, finish constructing the trail around Technology Park Lake and begin work to connect to the Town Center. This year we’ll complete the construction on the autonomous vehicle test track and continue our efforts to incentivize redevelopment in the Holcomb Bridge Road corridor. We will also continue adding amenities to Technology Park such as transportation, recreation, dining, housing, and education.”