Cousins chief Bell to chair Central Atlanta Progress

Maria Saporta - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - 3/08/07

It's official. Central Atlanta Progress' next chairman will be Tom Bell, CEO of Cousins Properties.

CAP, a downtown business organization that will hold its 65th annual meeting March 27, had spent months lobbying Bell to take the two-year post —- succeeding Phil Kent, CEO of Turner Broadcasting System.

Finally, Bell said yes. The naming of Bell reinforces the ever increasing role that Cousins Properties is playing in downtown.

The company, a longtime developer of high-rise towers in downtown, Midtown and Buckhead, last year bought the nearly vacant 191 building on Peachtree Street. And then Bell announced that Cousins Properties was moving its own headquarters from Cobb County to the downtown building. (By the way, the move-in date is April 2.)

"Tom Bell is the real deal," said a delighted A.J. Robinson, CAP's president. "He's in charge of a company that means a lot to Atlanta and the region. The company made a significant purchase of an asset that needed some help, showing a great deal of confidence in the downtown community. And then they decided to move their own offices downtown."

Robinson also said Bell is a proven leader in metro Atlanta. He chaired the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; he chaired the chamber's Task Force for Quality Growth; and he currently is co-chair of Mayor Shirley Franklin's Peachtree Corridor Task Force.

Bell, who was on vacation with his family this week and couldn't be reached for comment, has become one of downtown Atlanta's strongest boosters. At a recent talk before the Commerce Club, Bell said: "Downtown is fast becoming the growing, dynamic sector of Atlanta."

Continuing the Cousins link, CAP will honor developer Tom Cousins, who is now chairman emeritus of the firm he founded, at its annual meeting with the Dan Sweat Award. Also, the Atlanta Housing Authority's Renee Glover will receive the Turner Broadcasting Downtown Community Service Award.

Downtown intrigue - It appears a possible purchase of the former Macy's downtown department store by Tom Cousins has stalled.

There's speculation that another potential buyer has the building under contract. But there's no confirmation."No comment" is all that Paul Pariser, a principal with New York-based Taconic Investment Partners (which owns the Macy's building), would say. Taconic has owned the building since July 2000, and Macy's closed down the store in 2003.

Although he wouldn't talk about a pending sale, Pariser was upbeat about downtown and the leadership at the city level and in the business community. All that is generating interest in the Macy's building.

"There's fantastic leasing activity at the building," he said. "We are very encouraged by the pace of activity. I do see a change downtown."Dollars flow in - Children's Healthcare of Atlanta continues to lure big dollars and strong leadership. The hospital has just begun the final year of its $265 million, five-year campaign, and it has raised $248 million. That's $38 million raised since July.

The organization also has added seven members to the Children's Foundation board, which is chaired by philanthropist Stephanie Blank.

The new board members: Brad Foster, executive vice president of the Zeist Foundation; Tom Giddens, who recently retired from Aflac and now has his own company; Tommy Holder, chairman and CEO of Holder Construction; Dr. Roger Hudgins, chief medical officer of Children's Healthcare Neurosciences Program; Mary Ellen Imlay, executive director of the Imlay Foundation; David Moody, president of Moody Construction Co.; and Suzanne Sitherwood, president of Atlanta Gas Light.

Community honors - The Bobby Dodd Institute, a nonprofit that encourages employers to hire the disabled, will honor community leaders at its sixth annual Breakfast of Champions today.

This year's honorees will be Alana and her son, James Shepherd, founders of the Shepherd Center; Dan Cathy, president and CEO of Chick-fil-A; and Panera Bread Co.Each is being honored for helping the disabled become economically self-sufficient, according to BDI President Wayne McMillan. Proceeds from the breakfast will go toward job training and placement with the hopes of making a dent in the 65 percent unemployment rate among the disabled.

Lagging arts support - The Woodruff Arts Center's new president, Joe Bankoff, is on a mission: to convince state leaders that public funding for the arts will pay dividends in education and economic development for Georgia.

But he knows Georgia has a long way to go. Speaking before the Atlanta Rotary on Monday, Bankoff said Georgia's annual per-capita investment in the arts is only 43 cents, causing our state to rank 43rd in the country.

The national average is $1.09. And among the 10 Southeastern states, Georgia ranks dead last in public funding for the arts.

Bankoff, formerly an attorney with King & Spalding, added: "State funding for the arts has dropped every year since 2002.

"If the status quo continues, it does not bode well for the proposed new symphony center, at least a $300 million development."

I'm aware of no major performance venue in modern times without at least one-third public support," Bankoff said."

So what's the problem?

Support of the arts and use of the arts in education is not something the state of Georgia has mastered."