On Tuesday, dignitaries, real estate investors and supporters of downtown Atlanta revitalization gathered for the official opening of the Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) and debut at the new FlatironCity building. It is only the second U.S. based MIC and joins in the building a pet project of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, the Women’s Entrepreneur Initiative.
According to a statement from Microsoft, the MIC is a result of the CityNext Digital Alliance between Microsoft and the City of Atlanta. “The alliance focuses on increasing access to Microsoft software and technology support for citizens — with an emphasis on K–20 education, student entrepreneurs, software startups and job seekers. It supports the local economy through increased digital literacy, career readiness and services for accelerating innovation.”
The building is the brainchild of Arun Nijhawan, the Managing Principal at Lucror Resources. Lucror is an Atlanta-based real estate private equity firm focused on the redevelopment of urban areas. According to Nijhawan, the location of the FlatironCity is ideal in downtown Atlanta. Built in 1897, the building is the city’s oldest skyscraper, a giant at 11 stories before the turn of the previous century. Across Peachtree Street is Woodruff Park, in the heart of the Georgia State area. There are 30,000 students at Georgia State increasingly focused on digital entrepreneurship and Georgia Tech is just a few miles away. Nijhawan credited timing and luck in getting such a unique space for this type of project. According to Nijhawan, the next generation of workers place a lot of value in a unique, different type of working environment and the FlatironCity project is a great example of that.
Nijhawan said that they envision the MIC “becoming a destination for entrepreneurs, academia and corporations. A place for people with diverse backgrounds to meet, exchange ideas, leverage their respective strengths and truly innovate.”
Some of the space in the new building will be dedicated to start-ups and some to more established companies. The building will have dedicated fiber-based internet and private conference space as well as the more open floor plans typically seen in some startup hubs. Atlanta’s Figo pasta restaurants will open three food concepts on the bottom floor of the building for both building tenants and the public.
In his statements before the ribbon cutting, Mayor Reed called the project the crown jewel of Atlanta’s tech focus. Despite some pushback from the area’s City Council member, Kwanza Hall, the section of Broad Street adjacent to the building will be permanently closed, allowing for more pedestrian access and a plaza for public use. City officials are hoping that Flatiron City, along with the Advanced Technology Development Center, commonly known as the ATDC and partnered closely with Georgia Tech, the newly opened Switchyards and the Buckhead-based Atlanta Tech Village will all help to prevent tech brain drain in Atlanta.
Developers in Atlanta have traditionally headed for more tech-friendly pastures, such as San Francisco and New York, but Atlanta is looking to capitalize on its large number of universities, not just Georgia Tech or Georgia State, but also Emory, Morehouse, Spelman, Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus, Oglethorpe and others. FlatironCity’s opening represents another piece in metro Atlanta’s changing economy.
