Today’s New York Times features a story by Shaila Dewan about Atlantic Station’s Millenium Arch.
Because the arch was near a large blue and yellow furniture store, some people nicknamed it the Arc d’Ikea.
All this time I thought they called it that because it was shipped flat and assembled with a hex wrench.
Big news for Suniva, a solar-cell company headquartered in Norcross.
Urvaksh Karkaria and Douglas Sams report:
Norcross, Ga.-based Suniva Inc. will supply solar cells to Aerotropolis Atlanta, a planned 130-acre mixed-use redevelopment of the former Hapeville Ford plant.
The deal could be worth “tens of millions of dollars,” said Jim Jacoby, developer of 6.5 million-square-foot aviation-intensive business district that is expected to include office, retail, restaurant, hotel and airport parking. The site is adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Suniva, a Georgia Tech startup, claims to have a lower-cost way to make solar cells.
The company, which snagged nearly $1 billion in orders from Indian and European solar module makers, has developed technology to make solar cells that can transform more of the sun’s energy into the juice that powers today’s plugged-in world.
…
The solar infrastructure is expected to satiate up to half of the development’s electricity needs. Longer term, Jacoby said, he plans to sell excess power generated at Aerotropolis to surrounding developments.
Jacoby also plans to install solar cells in other projects, including at Atlantic Station — the developer’s best know redevelopment project.
Excitement builds for Mike Huckabee's April visit to Atlanta.
Former presidential candidate and rodent chef Mike Huckabee will visit Atlanta next month to speak as part of the Urban Land Institute’s 2009 Spring Council Forum.
The former governor of Arkansas, who now hosts a bizarre television show on a comedy network, will be the event’s keynote speaker. Other notables scheduled to speak at the forum include Mayor Shirley Franklin, Charlie Rose and some guy I’ve never heard of but who looks very, very smart.
Jokes aside, ULI organizes thought-provoking events, and this forum’s schedule is worth a look if you’re a lover of urban environments. On the agenda are a variety of seminars and break-out sessions, as well as mobile sessions where attendees can learn about the Beltline, Atlantic Station and Buckhead. Thursday promises a presentation about the current economic crisis.
For more information, visit ULI’s event website. Any welcome gifts of sautéed teriyaki opossum will be immediately incinerated, so don’t even try it!
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Give torture a hand!
>> ALL OVAL, ALL THE TIME: Obama says he “screwed up” on Daschle’s nomination. Finally, a president who can admit mistakes. Speaking of, Cheney continues to champion Bush’s mistakes. And Obama administration plans to cap future bailed-out executives’ pay at mere pennies — half a million dollars.
>> GAWKER EXPLAINS IT ALL: The filibuster — as it relates to our dying economy.
>> Sadly, you might not be able to get your regular fix of celebrity gossip and Bigfoot sightings from Wal-Mart in coming weeks. The magazine wholesale war has hit the homefront and it ain’t pretty.
>> YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: Another fine job done by the New York City police, using informants and undercover operations to catch dangerous criminals! Or just an artist with a political bent that pisses off ad companies…
>> As if LiveNation hadn’t already cornered an unfair share of the market, now they’re looking to merge with Ticketmaster. Isn’t this illegal or something?
>> Going once, going twice — extremely overpriced Atlantic Station condos at the price they should’ve originally been listed!
>> OMG: “The City” meets Obama and politics in “The District.” Best. Idea. Ever.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
SEAT'S TAKEN: Kooza's unicycle duo
Some of the best parts of Cirque du Soleil are the things that go wrong.
It’s not that I have a sadistic impulse to see injuries or mishaps under the blue-and-yellow stripes of the Grand Chapiteau. The performers’ reactions to accidents or slip-ups simply add an additional charge to the show. I caught two apparent mistakes on the opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s latest show, Kooza.
First, during the tightrope performance near the end of Act One, one man came up behind another and jumped over him, leap-frog style. His feet landed on the wire but he lost his balance and had to grab hold to keep from falling. Then, during the gravity-defying teeterboard stunts near the finale, one acrobat perched on a single metal stilt, hopped onto the low end of the board and was launched into the air. He did multiple flips in the air with the stilt deliberately still attached. He landed upright on the stilt, but stumbled.
Such moments can make a greater impression than the same circus acts performed without a hitch. In its nearly 25-year history, the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil has made the wildest feats look easy, but sometimes you appreciate the routines’ demands when they look more difficult. Plus, you can’t help but share in the performers’ espirit de corps after an error. They always do the same routine again, immediately, to get it right, in an almost macho show of bravado and professionalism.
It’s possible that such mistakes are actually deliberate and intended to build suspense. If so, they succeed brilliantly. That may not be likely, but I love the idea. (more…)
1) Diane Durrett signs her new novel, Driving Music City, and follows it up with a performance at Eddie’s Attic.
2) Take photos of your dog with Santa for Paws and Clause 2008 at Central Park in Atlantic Station.
3) The two-day 13th annual Telephone Factory Art Show and Sale — which includes Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room — calls it a weekend.
4) Disney’s Beauty and the Beast continues at the Strand Theatre.
5) My Brightest Diamond and Clare & the Reasons play the Earl.
(Photo courtesy Diane Durrett)
This week’s Time and Place photo is from the Bodies exhibit at Atlantic Station.
If you ever questioned the phrases of your mama like, “beauty is only skin deep,” or “it’s what’s inside that counts,” you need to head out to the Bodies exhibit at Atlantic Station. I ventured there Thanksgiving eve and left feeling quite nauseated and more convinced then ever that my mother was right.
Beauty really is only skin deep. We are all ugly on the inside.
The exhibit has been somewhat controversial — would you want your body exhibited like this?
Check out more photos from the exhibit at our Sideshow blog.
Suggested soundtracks for looking at photos — choose your vibe:
“Bodies” by the Sex Pistols
Or…
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra
(Photos by Joeff Davis)
Decatur Metro notes yesterday’s AJC article about Nadege Adam and Jude Valles, a couple who’ve overextended themselves when it comes to home ownership. With credit now tight and the housing market in disarray, the couple now faces skyhigh payments.
Here’s what Decaturite noticed:
But the number that caught my eye in the article wasn’t their $419,000 Smyrna home that costs $100,000 less than it did a few years ago. Suburb declines are well documented at this point. Personally, I was struck by the condo at “Twelve” Atlantic Station, which was purchased for $387,000 in 2005-6 and is now worth $150,000 less.
This is the Atlantic Station that everyone (including the AJC) touted as the new wave of smart growth development. Massive, single developer cities that could do no wrong as long as they threw a bunch of residential and commercial in the same general vicinity. Atlantic Station was so awesome because it had its own zip code and organized mommy stroller walks. Yeah well, the economy may have played a part in exacerbating this problem, but a 39% decline in home values is nothing short of damning market critique of this project, which shows that all smart growth (just like everything else) isn’t created equal. You can’t cut corners, you can’t overestimate demand, and I personally believe you can’t build a town from scratch and expect it to compete with areas that have developed over time.
Well put. Be sure to check out the comments as well. (On Decatur Metro, I mean — the comments on the AJC’s article are, as usual, mostly just displays of ignorance and racism.)
Is it an example of 21st Century kitsch, as the Christian Science Monitor implies?
Or is the Millennium Gate at Atlantic Station, dedicated last weekend, a new city landmark worthy of our civic pride?
The debate rages on skyscraperpage.com. Our favorite comment so far came in response to a post asking why the monument looks photoshopped in every picture.
Responded a poster named Joey: “Perhaps it’s because it looks so much better than its surroundings. Like a hot girl among the other Georgia Tech engineers.
(Photo: www.thegateatlanta.com)
WILDFIRES: Cumberland Island fire is 90 percent contained; progress made against California wildfires could be undermined by hot, dry weather this week.
VICK: Files for bankruptcy.
PLANE DEALING: The malfunctioning jet that Obama had to make an unscheduled landing in yesterday wasn’t his usual plane; it was previously used by Hillary Clinton. He still made it to Atlanta, though, appearing at two fundraisers last night and at McEachern High in Powder Springs today.
THE BURLY GATES: Atlantic Station’s Millennium Gate is revealed, and the Christian Science Monitor reports that the 82-foot-tall, $20 million monument is “a serious statement that risks, against the topsy-turvy backdrop of modern mass development, to become a legacy to 21st-century kitsch.”
HOUSE DIVIDED: An Atlanta family is trying to sell its mansion so it can give half its worth, about $800,000, to fight hunger in Ghana.
SEX OFFENDER LAW: Homeless Gainesville sex offender challenges a Georgia law that doesn’t allow him to register with the state’s sex-offender list without including an address.
IRONY: Paulding County restaurateur/racist thinks free speech should allow him to call Obama a monkey on his restaurant’s marquee but shouldn’t allow others to call him a racist:
“I believe in your right and my right or anybody else’s right to say what they want without being criticized as being a racist,” said Lanzo.
This could prove interesting.
A little bird flew upon thine window and tipped me about a piece of property near Atlantic Station owned by the State Road and Tollway Authority. The nearly 6-acre parcel of land sits across the street from the IKEA store and is sure to make developers drool.
It’s also been eyed as a key stop along the planned commuter-rail network that would spider from downtown Atlanta. (This particular route juts toward Athens.) Before Gov. Sonny Perdue’s time, AIG Real Estate sold the land to then Gov. Roy Barnes’ administration for below market value.
Earlier this month, SRTA designated the land as “surplus” property and the State Properties Commission listed the parcel on its website. It will begin accepting bids July 10. A commission spokesperson says the agency is not obligated to accept any of the offers. So maybe they’re just sticking their toe in the water.
If you’re a forward-thinking developer who understands that people want to live and work close to transit options, this photo to the right is probably just as appealing as water to a parched man in the desert. It’s near the Beltline, you’ve got a Publix a couple of blocks away, located near a bustling neighborhood and separated from Downtown only by 3,235 lanes of interstate. Commuter rail isn’t exactly the speediest service to connect people to downtown, but it’d be nice to have some rail serving Atlantic Station.
Deals like these usually involve sealed bids, with the highest offer, regardless of planned use, usually the one being accepted. Let’s hope whoever purchases this property keeps the train in mind.
You don’t need a lot of room to build a train stop for folks, but a solid transit-oriented development would be a nice addition to the area.
(Photo courtesy State Properties Commission)
