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Key highlights from this report: A recent forecast singled out the 10 strongest housing markets in the U.S. These real estate markets could survive the coronavirus crisis better than most. Home prices could actually continue rising through the pandemic, in these metros. Arizona, Idaho and Washington made a strong showing in this particular forecast. The […]

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President Donald Trump once again scolded Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for his decision to start opening businesses again on Friday. Trump made the remarks during his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House. This is the second night in a row the president has spoken out against the governor.

“I want the states to open much more than he does,” Trump said. “I didn’t like to see spas open, frankly, I didn’t like to see a lot of things happening. I wasn’t happy with it. I wasn’t happy with Brian Kemp. I wasn’t at all happy. I could have done something about it if I wanted to.”

Trump said he had considered issuing an order to block Kemp, but instead said he and his advisor would watch the situation in Georgia “closely.”

Trump also pushed back on reports that he was initially supportive of Kemp’s decision, as reported by CNN. When asked by a reporter what he said to Kemp, Trump responded “I told him very distinctly… You do what you think is best, but I’m not happy about it. I’m not happy about Brian Kemp.”

The president made his remarks as the Georgia Department of Public Health was releasing the latest COVID-19 statistics. Confirmed cases stand at 21,883 and the death toll at 881.

Kemp has not wavered in his plan to begin reopening sectors of the economy on April 24, including gyms, hair salons, nail shops, tattoo and massage parlors and bowling alleys. Restaurant dining rooms, private social clubs, and movie theaters on April 27.

Kemp issued an executive order on Thursday evening called “Reviving a Healthy Georgia,” which includes safety specifics for businesses that will be reopening, including taking the temperature of employees, wearing masks, and limiting the number of people inside a business or restaurant. You can read the order at this link.

Kemp has faced mounting criticism for his decision and faced accusations that his move was designed to force workers off the state’s mounting unemployment roll.

VICE reported that the Department of Labor’s website explicitly states that “voluntarily deciding to quit your job out of a general concern about exposure to COVID-19 does not make you eligible for [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance].” A Department of Labor spokesperson confirmed to VICE that employees cannot continue to collect pandemic unemployment insurance if they refuse to “return to work out of general safety concerns.”

The post Trump says he’s still not happy about Kemp’s decision as governor releases guidelines for businesses to reopen appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Generating a good return on investment should be the goal of every ambitious real estate investor. While experienced professionals might be looking for very big returns, most investors would be…

Being a landlord can be a highly profitable venture. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic is, unfortunately, turning the rental property business on its head. Several tenants are losing their jobs…

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is encouraging City of Atlanta residents to continue to stay at home despite Gov. Brian Kemp’s controversial order to begin reopening businesses on Friday as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

During a morning phone conference with the Atlanta City Council, Bottoms said she had publicly expressed her concerns about the reopening order and would continue to do so. “I feel we are not in a position to begin opening up businesses in our city,” the mayor said.  “I’ve asked our law department to look at the governor’s order to see what we are empowered to do as a city. I encourage residents to stay home.”

Bottoms said city hall and city facilities would not be opening next week, and that she would be taking recommendations from the CDC and her health advisors about when it might be safe to do so. The mayor said Atlanta has been fortunate that the number of COVID-19 cases hadn’t been higher since steps were taken early to close down the city.

Bottoms said she would be meeting regularly with her advisory council on reopening the city. The mayor noted that two new COVID-19 testing  sites at Georgia State Stadium and Greenbriar Mall were open and she had joined other mayors in signing a letter to President Trump encouraging the collection of race and ethnicity data by zip code to track coronavirus hot spots.

Bottoms received a racial slur via anonymous text message last night, which was seen by her children. The message, which Bottoms posted on her Twitter feed, told her to reopen the city and used the n-word. Bottoms said she had a long conversation with her children and said “white supremacy is a sickness.” The mayor said she would not be deterred in her message. “Cowards don’t run for office,” she said. “I will continue to use my voice to speak for this community.

In other city updates, Bottoms said the city was serving meals to those in need at 19 recreation centers. There’s also a food program for senior citizens. Sign-up and information about both are at the ATLSTRONG.org website.

The mayor said approximately 2,000 homeless people had been tested in shelters and on the streets with 28 testing positive for COVID-19. She said an isolation hotel for the homeless in Downtown had been operational for two weeks and a second hotel partner was being sought. The city set aside $1.5 million to help the homeless and Bottoms said philanthropic partners had matched that sum.

Bottoms also discussed the Strength in Beauty relief fund for independent cosmetology workers being administered through Invest Atlanta and funded by philanthropic grants. “My mother owned a hair salon, so this is near and dear to my heart,” Bottoms said, noting she had made a $10,000 donation to the fund and encouraged the hair industry and public to make donations via ATLSTRONG.org.

The post Mayor urges city residents to stay home despite governor’s business order, looking at legal avenues appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Nonprofit arts organizations across Atlanta are expected to collectively lose $10.6 million due to the coronavirus shut down. The data comes from a new survey of more than 55 arts nonprofits conducted by Lara Smith, managing director of Dad’s Garage Theatre.

The data comes from a survey of most of the leading arts organizations in metro Atlanta, including many nonprofits that are part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies cohort. The Atlanta Regional Commission assisted in the creation of the survey and data analysis. Some of the organizations surveyed include Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Actor’s Express, Horizon Theatre, High Museum of Art, Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), Decatur Book Festival, 7 Stages, Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, City Springs Theatre Company, True Colors Theatre Company, and Youth Ensemble of Atlanta.

Organizations are looking at average losses of $25,000 to over $1 million, depending on budget size. For instance, organizations with budgets under $250,000 are currently set to lose an average of $25,000 while organizations with budgets of between $1 million and $2 million are set to lose $345,000 on average.

“All in, right now there are $10.6 million in anticipated losses across the arts nonprofit sector in Atlanta,” Smith said. “This number will only go up, as these numbers are underreported, by a large margin. Four organizations with budgets of over $10 million participated in the survey, but only three reported anticipated losses. And we had one third of the region’s nonprofit arts organizations participate.”

Perhaps the most disturbing figure in the survey is that 19 percent of arts nonprofits in Atlanta aren’t sure they are going to make it, and may close permanently. Another 34 percent are only going to make it if they get assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) or similar loan programs.

Smith said 96 precent of respondents expressed the need for additional funding in the form of an unrestricted grant with a total need of $4.78 million. Those surveyed indicated needing just over $2.5 million in loans, with 65 percent of that falling into the long-term loan category, as many have concerns they will not receive SBA funding.

“There are organizations that have $1 to $2 million budgets, which may seem like a lot, are in precarious positions,” Smith warned. “If they lose $345,000 and don’t have a financial buffer, the losses could sink them.”

Many arts organizations also expressed uncertainty about when they would reopen their doors. “Arts organizations are trying to wrap their heads around the timeline for reopening. Some were saying this summer, some were saying not until 2021,” Smith stated.

There is some good news to this survey, including the fact that 64 percent of organizations started the COVID-19 crisis with a financial safety net in the form of a reserves, a line of credit, or an endowment. The average amount of buffer is six months, but ranges from one month to four years. Also, 30 percent  of respondents have not made any staffing changes, as they have been able to maintain current payroll and contractor payments.

According  to Josh Phillipson, who manages Arts and Culture for the Atlanta Regional Commission, the nonprofit arts and culture sector is a $719.8 million industry in metro Atlanta – one that supports 23,514 full-time equivalent jobs and generates $64.5 million in local and state government revenue.

“Spending by nonprofit arts and cultural organizations totaled $434.8 million in metro Atlanta during fiscal year 2015,” Phillipson said. “This money moves through our local economy and supports a variety of businesses and government initiatives. Event-related spending by arts attendees totaled $285 million in Metro Atlanta during fiscal year 2015, excluding the cost of event admission.”

Smith said cutting arts organizations and artists out of economic relief packages would be a mistake, especially since our sector is central to building a strong economy.

Arts and culture organizations – theaters, music venues, museums –  have a symbiotic relationship with many other industries, such as tourism, hotels/hospitality, travel, restaurants, and nightlife, she said.

“Dinner and a show”is a real thing – people want to go out and have a great night on the town, they want to see a show and have a delicious dinner,” Smith added. “Music venues and museums draw in tourists, which helps our hotel and airline industries. When looking for new corporate headquarters, companies often consider the density of arts organizations – they know their employees want to live in a vibrant, fun, enjoyable town.”

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What do Georgia’s cities mean to their local leaders and residents? How can we communicate why they matter? The Georgia Municipal Association provides an annual data snapshot to help answer these questions and tells a brief but comprehensive story of the achievements – and challenges – in its 538 member cities.

Cities play a vital role in the state’s economy by providing jobs and producing the vast majority of Georgia’s gross domestic product. They do so despite taking up a small proportion of the state’s land, containing less than half of the state’s population, and being predominantly small in terms of population size.

Georgia’s cities are attractive places to live, so much so that their population growth outpaces that of the state. City populations also increase by about a quarter every day due to commuting.

Cities provide important services to residents and visitors alike. But revenue streams to fund essential items such as water, sewer, or fire and police protection are limited because most of the state’s tax-exempt property is located in cities.

Cities are doing their part to invest in the future. Local governments receive overwhelming voter approval for special local option sales taxes (SPLOST) to fund capital projects. Whether on a county-wide or regional basis, cities collaborate with other local governments to maintain and improve Georgia’s infrastructure.

And yet, local funds will not always be enough. Use this document in your advocacy efforts for a long-term, strong local-state-federal partnership and help GMA and your city address local infrastructure needs.