Tag: Groundbreakers 2015

Howard’s initial involvement in Habitat in 1996 was born out of remembrance for his father, who grew up during the Great Depression and whose parents were evicted twice. And the famous penny-pincher’s mission intersects nicely with that of the organization.

Forty years after activists rallied to save the Fox Theatre from demolition, the Fox Theatre Institute is sharing the love with money and restoration support for other historic venues across Georgia.

Atlanta’s new Chief Bicycle Officer will be a full-time planner, engineer, and advocate for the city’s pedal-friendly goals, which include plans to double the length of protected bike lanes (from 30 to 60 miles).

Plenty of city planners obsess over millennials, but how many actively solicit their feedback?

Perkins + Will—a global architecture firm with hundreds of local employees—focuses on sustainable building.

New ecofriendly buildings are great, but as Ross Wallace, a designer at the Old Fourth Ward’s sustainable design firm Epsten Group, points out, “What’s more sustainable than using an existing building?”

The City of Decatur has garnered plenty of awards for its environmental work. Last year it became the first local government to reach platinum status in the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Green Communities program, a designation that recognizes an all-encompassing effort.

Abode, a homebuilding company led by architect Christopher Leerssen, is changing the look of Reynoldstown with homes that are boldly modern yet don’t clash with older housing stock.

On a Monday in June, 25 years ago, activists broke into the vacant Imperial Hotel, made their way to the highest floor, and lowered a massive sign emblazoned with the directive: “House the Homeless Here.” Soon the encampment inside the historic hotel numbered 100 protesters.

JE Dunn Construction builds new offices and schools. But for its Atlanta headquarters, the company bought and refurbished a vacant 40-year-old, two-story building on Cumberland Parkway.