‘Aerotropolis’ Concept Envisions City Within City
Published Nov 03, 2008
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s expanded people mover will take passengers from the airport to the new Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility and nearby Georgia International Convention Center.
A proposed redevelopment of Ford Motor Co.’s shuttered 122-acre plant site in Hapeville could anchor an “aerotropolis,” a city built around aviation-related commerce – in this case, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The term “aerotropolis” was invented by Dr. John Kasarda, a business professor at the University of North Carolina, and has been brought to Atlanta by local developer Jim Jacoby, the force behind Atlantic Station, a residential, business and entertainment development in Midtown Atlanta.
Jacoby Development has the Ford site under contract and has been pitching the aerotropolis concept to Hapeville officials, as well as the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority.
Jacoby envisions 6.5 million square feet of development, including 2 million square feet of office space, 1.6 million square feet of retail and hotel and conference facilities.
“An aerotropolis takes into consideration the economics of an airport,” says Shelley Lamar, planning manager for the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation.
Lamar, whose specialty is land use and community development, says the concept shows an understanding of how airports work.
“We have all these cities around the airport and we all have to work together,” she says. “The zoning has to take into consideration the proximity to the airport – you can’t put a house at the end of the runway. But if this plan establishes cargo and freight warehousing closer in, then office and industrial out from there, then retail, then residential, it could work.”
Given that Hartsfield is the world’s busiest airport and a key economic generator in the Southeast, it’s not surprising that a newfangled development concept would be pitched at it.
“They want to take advantage of their proximity to the airport and create something that takes advantage of the activity that’s already there,” she says. “That’s a good use of the synergy that’s there, and something they could really build on.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Ian Curcio
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