Fresh Loaf

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.

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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.

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It’s an odd twist to the transit discussion. For decades, road builders, developers and lawmakers have walked in lockstep about transportation. Roads were access routes to cheap property. Roads meant money.

But as more and more residents are choosing to live closer to Atlanta — and shorter commutes mean cheaper gas bills — one developer behemoth has been in talks with MARTA to serve them.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Jacoby, the development firm that turned Atlantic Station from a polluted steel mill into a mixed-use pocket of urbania — has been meeting with the city’s largest transit agency to bring rail service into the shuttered Ford plant in Hapeville it has under contract. Jacoby plans a massive office and retail complex for the 122-acre property. The article also discusses the now-vacant GM plant along I-285 and what several companies will need to consider.

From the piece:

“‘Build it and they will come’ doesn’t hold much value if it takes too much time to get there,” said Chris Montesinos, planning and zoning manager for the city of Hapeville.

“Developers see the value of transit as an alternative means of getting people to and from their projects.

“As the region’s population continues to grow exponentially, transit availability is going to play an increasingly important role in the decision to locate new development in one particular location over another.”

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