With all of the attention focused on the debut of the new Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal at Hartsfield (and to a lesser extent, related scandals) there hasn't been much news on another new, much bigger project planned for the vicinity of the airport. We refer, of course, to Aerotropolis- the bold vision The Jacoby Group has for the shuttered Ford assembly plant in Hapeville. Apparently Atlanta is not alone in making plans to build a mini-city around its airport, as evidenced by the headline of this piece from the Engineering News-Record: "Aviation-Based Development Emerging as Trend in Planning." The article focuses on Denver's plans for its airport city, but the timing was interesting in light of last week's news that Porsche and the City of Atlanta are closer to a final deal on the relocation of the German automaker's North American headquarters to Aerotropolis. In addition, given the merger of Porsche and Volkswagen currently in process, there is now talk that VW could also relocate there.
· Aviation-Based Development Emerging as Trend in Planning [Engineering News-Record]
· Porsche HQ closer to deal, VW could follow [Atlanta Business Chronicle]