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Two of Atlanta’s big property managers are ramping up their response to the COVID-19 pandemic with relief funding and safety measures.

Jamestown, the real estate investment and management firm behind Ponce City Market and The Shops Buckhead Atlanta, has announced a $50 million relief effort to help the small businesses located at its properties. The fund is designed to support businesses
and their employees in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jamestown began preparing its COVID-19 response in January. In addition to implementing its own contingency plans for global operations, Jamestown formed a task force to offer broader assistance to its properties in Atlanta, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, as well as other cities around the country.

In late-April, as states began preparing to reopen, Jamestown recognized the need to expand its support to include financial assistance.

“In today’s economic climate, chefs need more from their landlord than just four walls
and a kitchen. We need a collaborative partner who understands there is a greater community benefit in helping our restaurant succeed,” said Chef  Anne Quatrano, whose Pancake Social and W.H. Stiles Fish Camp restaurants are located at Ponce City Market. “I have always been grateful for the support I received from Jamestown, and that is especially true now. Knowing they have set aside resources to help chefs and restaurateurs get through these uncertain times is a huge relief.”

North American Properties (NAP) has launched its COVID-19 response program Better Together at Colony Square, which undergoing redevelopment in Midtown. The program is focused on creating a safe workplace  because of the property’s significant office density, with unique initiatives that include a new elevator concierge program and an investment in UVC lighting.

NAP  is spending $280,000 to install UVC lighting technology to purify and destroy airborne bio-contaminants as part of the existing filtration systems within the two Colony Square office towers. The Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) cleaning method kill or deactivate microorganism in the HVAC system. These lights are often found in hospital systems and labs, but rarely in office environments. In addition, Colony Square’s air ventilation is a constant volume system that provides five air exchanges per hour, meaning fresh air is constantly circulating. At the beginning of every day, Colony Square’s towers are fully purged with outside air.

Based on a tenant questionnaire, most office workers plan to begin returning to Colony Square in June. So, starting on Monday, June 1, one concierge team member will be stationed in each elevator lobby, welcoming office tenants back to work, answering any questions and helping them navigate the “new normal.”

“We are taking proactive steps to make our buildings and common areas healthier for the community,” said Tim Perry, managing partner at NAP. “Clean air is one of many priorities for our team, along with increased sanitization protocols, enforcement of social distancing and reprogramming our event plans and common spaces. When our office workers and guests return to Colony Square, they will find an environment that is still vibrant and still very much Midtown, while also being responsive to our new normal.”

The post Jamestown, North American Properties ramp up relief efforts and safety measures at developments appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission voted to appoint Andrew Turnage as its first executive director. Mr. Turnage came highly recommended by The Goodwin Group, an outside search firm that conducted interviews with national medical cannabis experts and recommended the commission “select a prospect who is currently with the State of Georgia who has key legislative and executive relationships who can stand up this organization and has experience with such a process for the State of Georgia.”
 
“Mr. Turnage not only has the experience The Goodwin Group recommended, but specifically in the area of state licensing, which is essential to getting us up and running and producing low-THC oil,” said Dr. Christopher Edwards, chairman of the GAMCC. Dr. Edwards said upon acceptance of the commission’s offer, Turnage will begin work as soon as practicable. His initial responsibilities will include ensuring the GAMCC is adequately funded and staffed to get low-THC oil to patients in need.
 
Turnage has a master’s degree from the University of Georgia in adult education, with a specialty in organizational development and leadership. He has a law enforcement background as a former Deputy Sheriff with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. More recently, Turnage served as executive director for the Georgia State Board of Cosmetology and Barbers and for the Georgia Board of Nursing.
 
“In Mr. Turnage we have someone who has the background, know-how and capability to build a medical cannabis program in Georgia,” said GAMCC Vice-Chair Danielle Benson, who led the selection committee. “His licensing experience is critically important to the commission’s work, as is his educational background in organizational development and leadership. And his work in law enforcement is a huge plus.”
 
“We have one goal, and that’s to get oil for families in need,” said Turnage. “Think about families that have struggled to have their basic needs met during this pandemic. We have families in Georgia that have struggled for years to get this basic need, low-THC oil, and our task will be to ensure that they receive it.”

 

 

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the opening of applications for the Strength in Beauty Fund, a new relief effort to support Atlanta’s cosmetology industry workers adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will assist cosmetologists, barbers, manicurists, skincare specialists and makeup artists who have been impacted by measures taken to control the novel COVID-19 virus in the City of Atlanta.

 

“Atlanta has thrived on its rich history as home to some of the most skilled and creative cosmetologists and beauty brands for decades,” said Mayor Bottoms. As a city, we want to uplift those that take their time each day to brighten the lives of so many through their work. As the daughter of a former salon owner, I know the impact beauty has on our communities. This influence reaches far beyond what we see.”

To kick off #GivingTuesdayNow, Walker & Company Brands, the makers of Bevel, have donated to the fund to increase the support of cosmetologists in the Atlanta area. “When Mayor Bottoms announced the Strength in Beauty Fund, I knew, right away, that Walker & Company would contribute,” said Tristan Walker, Founder and CEO of Walker & Company Brands. “We salute Mayor Bottoms’ leadership, standing firm to help bridge the gap for those in need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Walker & Company is proud not only to call Atlanta home, but also to remain dedicated to the economic empowerment of the independent cosmetology workforce. We will always advocate for the health of our community, especially those most impacted by this pandemic. We stand with our hometown Mayor.”

Launched through Invest Atlanta, the grant will be given on a first come first serve basis to eligible applicants who have successfully submitted all required documentations and have met all guidelines. All available grants are in the award of $1,000 per applicant. The grant may be applied to essential financial obligations such as food, housing, utilities, medical expenses, and transportation costs.

Eligible participants must meet the following criteria:

A resident of the city for at least the last six (6) months;

The individual works in the city of Atlanta or the individual’s business is located in the city of Atlanta;

Be part of the cosmetology industry includes: Cosmetologist, Nail Technician, Hair Designer, Esthetician, Cosmetology Instructor, Nail Tech Instructor, Hair Designer Instructor, Esthetician Instructor, Cosmetology Apprentice, Esthetician Apprentice, Hair Designer Apprentice, Nail Tech Apprentice, Barber, Barber Instructor, Barber Apprentice

Have a current cosmetology license issued by the State of GA;

Able to establish a loss of business and impact on the business as a result of the COVID-19 virus;

Demonstrate a financial need to meet immediate monetary needs, i.e. food, rent or mortgage, utilities, medical expenses, transportation costs, or other essential financial obligations, caused by the economic impact of COVID-19.

 

 

The Vortex Companies announced the opening of two new facility locations to support its growing team of trenchless infrastructure professionals and meet the needs of customers in the southeastern region.

“This expansion was prompted as our team has grown to support increased business in the southeastern region. These strategic locations enable us to provide our employees more room and a healthy work environment, so they in turn can provide the high standard of service and quality products customers have come to expect from Vortex,” stated Mike Vellano, CEO of the Vortex Companies. 

The new, 14,000-square-foot building in Tampa will support the Florida Vortex Services group. The space will be a major upgrade for the team, featuring training and conference rooms, storage space, large, secured storage yard for vehicles and equipment and a separate maintenance and repair shop. The 8,000-square-foot building in Winder, Georgia will also accommodate a growing team, primarily supporting operations and installation crews. It will also house equipment and other products required for the increase in projects in the Atlanta area. “The new locations have been carefully selected and built out to support our team,” added Wes Kingery, EVP of Vortex Services. “Our staff and crew are extremely dedicated, and these facilities are designed to improve their environment and workspace.”

Overseeing the day-to-day details and buildout has been Nick Banchetti, COO of the Vortex Companies. “We’re taking this time, when our team members are mostly working remotely or on jobsites, to bring both facilities up to the Vortex Companies standard. They will be ready for our employees to start fresh after COVID-19.”

The Tampa facility will officially open May 11. While Vortex still has a work from home policy in place, the organization is set to commence a return to work plan for employees who are healthy and showing no signs of COVID-19. The plan will adhere to all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended practices and is contingent based on location.

Vellano echoed the sentiment, saying, “I’m proud to be announcing this expansion in the southeast, especially at this time. Vortex Companies is growing even while we are all facing adversity. That growth affords us opportunities to hire more talented individuals and expand to provide more communities the products and services that are vital to the completion of infrastructure repair and maintenance projects.”

According to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker, refinance activity reached an all-time high in March 2020 for millennial borrowers as interest rates plummeted. Refinance share – the percentage of all loans closed during the month that were refinances – increased for the third consecutive month and reached the highest mark since Ellie Mae began tracking this data in 2016.

The refinance share for all millennials in March was 38%, up four percentage points from February. Following an ongoing trend, refinance share increased as interest rates declined. The average interest rate for all 30-year loans closed by millennials in March was 3.66%, the lowest average rate since May 2016 and down from 3.86% in February.

Despite the uptick in refinance activity, average time to close for refinance loans fell two days month-over-month, from 38 to 36. Average time to close for all loans dropped from 41 to 39 days during the same time period.

“The Federal Reserve cut its target interest rate to near-zero in March, causing interest rates to drop and giving savvy millennial homeowners the opportunity to refinance to more favorable rates,” said Joe Tyrrell, Chief Operating Officer at Ellie Mae. “That pattern follows a trend we’ve seen in our data over the last 12 months, but what’s more surprising is time to close numbers decreasing despite the surge in refinance activity and the limitations lenders are facing as a result of COVID-19. Technology is now more important than ever and lenders investing in the solutions necessary to manage their pipelines virtually are seeing success.”

The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker divides millennials into two groups: older millennials – borrowers between 30 and 40 years old, and younger millennials – borrowers between 21 and 29 years old.

Refinance share for older millennials in March was 46%, up 5% month-over-month and more than double the refinance share of younger millennials, which was 21%. Average interest rates for the two groups were both 3.66%, though younger millennials were more likely to opt for non-Conventional loan types. In March, 27% of all loans closed by younger millennials were FHA loans compared to 16% for older millennials.   

“Educating millennials on the various loan types available is a priority for lenders and seeing younger millennials securing FHA loans is a sign that lenders are making progress on this front,” said Tyrrell. “FHA loans tend to be a great option for younger borrowers as they require a smaller down payment and have more flexible credit requirements than Conventional loans.”

Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker – Older Millennials vs. Younger Millennials

Despite a growing focus on customer experience, online retailers are still falling short when it comes to the final stage of the online customer journey. PPRO announces research findings that reveal over half of US respondents (58%) would stop a purchase if the checkout process is complicated. These findings highlight the increasing need for retailers to address consumers’ payment preferences.

Millennials (those born 1980-1993) are the least tolerant of complicated checkout processes, with 53% agreeing they would be quick to abandon their purchases. And it’s not just complicated checkouts that are thwarting retailers’ chances of a successful sale. 42% of US consumers state they would stop a purchase if their favorite payment method wasn’t available.

When asked about speed and convenience, 49% of Generation Z respondents (those born 1994-2001) agreed they would avoid using retailers that require entering payment credentials every time. Older generations show a higher tolerance, with only 30% of Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) and 25% of the Silent Generation (born before 1946) expressing a preference to use merchants that offer one-click payments.

While convenience is clearly essential to consumers; retailers also need to accommodate the growing consumer awareness of information security. In fact, 53% of shoppers view the security of their data and money as most important when choosing a payment method. 

On the topic of trust, 26% of US consumers admitted that they rarely adopt new payment methods and prefer to stay with the payment methods they know. This reveals a considerable amount of US consumers aren’t prepared to veer away from their preferred payment methods when shopping online. Retailers need to realize the importance of allowing their customers to make a purchase with their preferred payment methods. Or they run the risk of not only missing out on that single transaction but also losing a potentially loyal customer.

“With over 450 significant local payment methods in use across the globe, it can be a challenge for retailers to understand which ones to offer their customers. However, this research shows how crucial it is to offer the payment methods the customer prefers. It proves that the payment methods you offer can make a break or a sale. Currently, 82% of US consumers have used debit and credit cards for online purchases. 79% also confidently use PayPal or have used it in the past. 44% are confident in using mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the use of bank transfers has doubled in the last 3 years. There’s a surprising range merchants must consider at the payment page to improve conversion rates,” comments James Booth, VP Head of Partnerships, EMEA at PPRO.

“Retailers need to be aware that a slick user experience must extend to the point of purchase. A shop may have a personalized and easy-to-navigate website, but a shopper who isn’t satisfied with the payment methods available at the final stage will quickly move on to a competitor,” adds Booth.

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Hundreds of items — from personal essays to photo collections — have already poured into the Atlanta History Center’s digital files in its call for the public to submit documents of the historic coronavirus pandemic.

The “Corona Collective” initiative launched April 7, and within two weeks had received materials from more than 100 people, according to Paul Crater, vice president of collections and research services at the museum.

He said donated items include a 26-year-old woman’s account of how she nearly died of COVID-19 and a Google Docs file describing ways to help shuttered restaurants and their employees. Then there are more whimsical artifacts.

“We received a short documentary about this band who played social distancing shows in Ormewood Park before the stay-at-home order, and they’re being tugged around in boat by a truck and they’re playing to people while people are sitting on their porches, and it’s really fun,” he said.

Crater said that similar efforts from the DeKalb History Center and the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were among the inspirations for the “Corona Collective.” A particular model for gathering history as it happened, he said, was a similar program by the Missouri History Center during the 2014 Ferguson police-shooting protests.

Choosing which items to preserve in the museum’s collection — and even how to preserve such items as that Google Docs file with its hundreds of hyperlinks — are among the challenges of the effort, Crater said. “But I’ve always had this aspiration to do something like this and to be nimble like this,” he added, and the opportunities are big, too.

One goal is to use the material as starting points to solicit donations of physical items and oral histories for the still-shuttered museum when it is safe to do so. Another possibility: pop-up exhibits highlighting some of the neighborhood-oriented artifacts and inviting residents of those areas who might never have visited the museum before.

The museum chose to seize the moment and collect history in action that affects everyone, Crater said, and the submissions so far show a “sense of civic involvement and humanity that is really compelling to me.”

The “Corona Collective” accepts materials from anywhere in metro Atlanta, including Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. The museum’s staff is taking photos in the neighborhoods as part of the collection as well, with many of the images available on the website at atlantahistorycenter.com/research/coronavirus-collective. The website includes details about what types of materials will be accepted, copyright and other usage rights, and other information about the “Corona Collective.”

Other pandemic history projects

The following organizations also are seeking pandemic items and memories from metro Atlantans.

DeKalb History Center
“The COVID-19 Chronicles”
dekalbhistory.org

Heritage Sandy Springs
“COVID-19 Community Journal Project”
facebook.com/heritagesandysprings

Georgia Historical Society
“COVID-19 in Georgia”
georgiahistory.com

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