Porsche breaks ground on $100M North American HQ
Atlanta Business Chronicle by Urvaksh Karkaria, Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Against the soundtrack of landing jets, Porsche and government brass broke ground on a $100 million North American headquarters campus that overlooks the runways of the world's busiest airport.
"We now have an iconic brand — one of the best in the world — associated with the city," said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on a drizzly Tuesday morning.
The groundbreaking, which involved digging shovels into an elaborate sand rendering of the campus, drew heavyweights including Gov. Nathan Deal; Porsche CEO Matthias Muller; and Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, grandson of company founder Ferdinand Porsche.
The German luxury automaker will move from its Sandy Springs, Ga., headquarters to a 26-acre campus that will include a 150,000-square-foot office tower. Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported on Porsche's plans to relocate the headquarters in October, 2010.
As part of the relocation, Porsche will move about 300 employees from Sandy Springs and add another 100 jobs as it consolidates finance and insurance operations from suburban Chicago.
"400 jobs... and good paying ones" Deal said. "They have to to be good paying, if they're going to drive those Porsches in the parking lot."
The Porsche headquarters will anchor the Aerotropolis, a 130-acre mixed-use development near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The headquarters move is hoped to trigger office development in Atlanta's economically sluggish Southside.
For Porsche, the site is attractive because it allows the company to put a driving track. It's also highly visible — millions of air passengers will see the building from their windows in their descent into.