Downtown’s Ambassador Force® Opens New Park-front Headquarters

March 13,2009

Tucked under the spiraling neon brilliance of the world’s most recognized brand, in a prime park-front property, is where you’ll now find the new headquarters of Downtown Atlanta’s Ambassador Force® and Clean Team.

“We’ll cut the ribbon on Friday, March 13 right after an 8 a.m. ceremony at City Grill restaurant, where we’ve invited our leadership, membership and others to help us celebrate this move,” said A.J. Robinson, President of Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID). ADID fields the 68-member Ambassador Force and 13-member Clean Team.

“We’ve been searching for a new location for around a year.” The Ambassador Force has been residing in temporary space provided by Cousins Properties adjacent to their 191 Peachtree building. “Their generosity has given us time to find the perfect place for a permanent headquarters,” said Robinson.

Located in the historically and architecturally significant Olympia Building, facing the South end of Woodruff Park, the 6,339 square foot space provides a perfect location for the Ambassador operations. “Being right off of Five Points puts us at the center of Downtown and gives us timely access to our entire 220 block service area,” said David Wardell, CAP Vice President of Operations and Public Safety. “Since Woodruff Park is so integral to many of our programs, this gives us a park-front prominence to keep at eye on things.”

The Olympia Building, originally owned by the Woodruff Foundation, was gifted to the State of Georgia. “We talked with Foundation and the State and got an excellent reaction to the thought of basing our headquarters there,” said Craig Jones, Chair of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District Board. “We signed a long-term lease a few months ago and then began renovating the space to suit our needs.”

Jones went on to say that CAP members stepped up to assist in the renovations and construction by providing a number of services and materials on a pro bono basis or at an extremely reduced cost. “Being a non-profit, we have to really stretch our dollars as far as we can. The generosity of our members and the community helped make this a reality.”

CAP members and others assisting with the Ambassador Force headquarters construction and renovation were: ASD; idea | span; Georgia-Pacific; Cousins Properties Inc.; PM Realty Group; Chad Aron and Stephanie Friese; Flood Brothers; Georgia Building Authority; Southface Energy Institute; The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta; Corporate Environments; Milliken; Skanska and The Home Depot Foundation.