CAP Annual Meeting Made Significant Announcements

April 3,2009

Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID) held its 67th Annual Meeting on March 26th at the Georgia World Congress Center in front of approximately 1,000 business leaders.

A major announcement at the meeting revealed the winning architect of the design competition for the new Center for Civil & Human Rights. The Freelon Group will partner with HOK Atlanta as the Center’s Architect of record. Public input, Center leadership, exhibit designer Gallagher & Associates and project manager Cousins Properties/Gude Management Group will contribute to the final design prior to breaking ground on the $125 million, 100,000 square foot Center.

Other significant news at the meeting included the launch of the new Downtown Dining District and the fact Downtown led the region’s office space absorption rate for the second consecutive year.

“Our board, members and staff were all extremely pleased with how everything came together at this year’s meeting,” said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress. “Even in a challenging economy, we had tremendous interest from a diverse group of individuals who came to learn more about what’s going on Downtown in terms of business, residential and cultural activities.”

Robinson also reported that a Citywide campaign “Give Change That Makes Sense”, designed to eliminate aggressive panhandling is having some effect, according to a survey by The Shapiro Group. He added more enforcement and enhanced education efforts are needed to curb panhandling.

Jesse Hill, Jr. was honored as this year’s recipient of the Dan Sweat Award, recognizing the heritage and accomplishments of the former CAP President. He is the former president, CEO and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company.

George Berry was also recognized during the meeting with the Turner Broadcasting Downtown Community Leadership Award. Berry is the former Commissioner of Industry, Trade, and Tourism for the state of Georgia, a past Commissioner of Aviation for the City of Atlanta and retired senior vice president of Cousins Properties, Inc.

S. Taylor Glover, President of Turner Enterprises, Inc., took over as 2009-2010 Chairman of CAP at the conclusion of the meeting from Tom Bell, Chairman and CEO of Cousins Properties, who completed a two-year term serving in that capacity.

Gold sponsors for this year’s meeting include AirTran Airways, The Coca-Cola Company, Dynami Group and Epstein Becker & Green P.C. Silver sponsors are Cousins Properties, Jackson Spalding, Legacy Property Group, Luckie Marietta District and Yates Construction. Bronze sponsors include A. Brown-Olmstead Associates, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Georgia Power Company, Holder Construction, King & Spalding, KPMG, Reznick Group, Richard Bowers & Company, The Schapiro Group and Turner Construction.