Thom Abbott GRI Associate Broker Midtown Atlanta Real Estate

Hang onto your debit cards and wallets, kids! Parking in Midtown Atlanta and elsewhere in the city of Atlanta is about to get a whole lot more expensive!

Officals in the City of Atlanta are counting on a new privatized parking operation to raise some much needed revenue for the cash-strapped city. And that those people that get parking tickets, will think twice and have more ways to pay for that parking in the first place.

Duncan Solutions, Inc, a Milwaukee-based company, will take over the on-street parking operations in the commerical districts of Atlanta (including Parking In Midtown Atlanta) in November as part of a 7 year contract approved by the City Council.

The arrangement calls for the city to get a guaranteed $5.5 million in revenue, which is much better than the current $2.1 the city collected in the last TWO YEARS for parking tickets! Duncan Solutions gets to keep anything over the $5.5.

So how will they do this? By raising the number of metered parking spaces from 900 to 2,500! Almost 3 times what it currently is. And Parking in Midtown Atlanta will certainly feel it. There are numerous streets where parking meters once existed that will probably soon have a pay station similar to the one pictured here.

But along with the new metered parking, Duncan is suppose to be cracking down on the number of unpaid tickets (some 150,000) which could lead to another $7 million in revenue.

Joe Basista, commissioner of the city's Department of Public Works said, "Where we don't have meteredparking now, people can park for free all day." This hurts local businesses since parking spaces close to their establishment do not turnover.

Multi-space meters, like the one pictured, will accept dollars, along with debit and credit cards.

Duncan currently provides the same service in some 2,000 jurisdictions, including Las Vegas and Pittsburgh.

Personally, I've used the same type of device in Miami Beach, and found it to be great in the sense of taking my American Express card to pay for parking, rather than trying to find enough quarters to stuf a meter.

It will be interesting to when and where these multi-space meters begin to appear and how Parking in Midtown Atlanta will change....there are many streets where there use to be meters, and now there are non at all, or the simple 2-hour parking signs, but no parking enforcement people to patrol.

Better keep that debit or credit card hand come holiday shopping time!

The New Media Atlanta Conference is but a memory, but the knowledge will carry me on! I'll have more to say about it in a post in the next day or so. There's a great photo album on my Facebook profile.

But, out of most memorable events comes that one picture that just makes one speechless.....

My hats off to Brad Nix and Matt Fagoli, the co-hosts of this great event, and all those who volunteered to keep things going!

I enjoyed the day offering up Chris Brogan's new book!

The New Media Atlanta Conference rocked!

Midtown Atlanta Real Estate has it's days! But today, I had a chance to get some fresh ideas, due in part to Active Rain!

While Active Rain is a site for real estate agents to connect, it is certainly the very least part of it....in fact it is way more than just a site....

...many agents run their blog off the Active Rain site/platform

...many agents have used Active Rain and all of its blogs as a "Second Real Estate University."

...and many agents have made friends here...be they sort of virtual (having never met in person) or having the opportunity at some conference or REBar Camp to finally meet face-to-face. And then those meetings and on-line friendships become tangible.

Last night, I had the opportunity to continue one of those tangible friendships with my good friend Elizabeth Golden Ramsey from Huntsville, AL. She came to town on a shopping spree....and kinda floated in with the mass of rain we've experienced here in Atlanta for the past week.

But after a busy day of shopping for furniture for her new office, and me dashing between two neighborhood meetings, we finally met at my office in Midtown Atlanta. From there, we took a quick one block walk to one of my favorite restaurants, Gordon Biersch Midtown Atlanta.

You know, get two real estate people, plus an assistant (Elizabeth's assistant was with her) and all you are going to talk about all night is real estate, and how to get more business or new ideas!

So, with beverages in hand, we started off our conversation with a delicious helping of Gordon Biersch's Kettle Chips...Yum Yum!

And while we enjoyed that, Elizabeth got to tell me all about her new office she is opening and the new furniture that caught her eye during a shopping tour of Ikea Atlantic Station. Needless to say, she is quite excited about her new venture, and I certainly wish her the best of success.

As our conversation turned to how The Thom And Ray Team can pick up steam in the Midtown Atlanta Real Estate, it was time to enjoy a delicious FlatIron Steak and Mashed Potatoes....can you say Yum again?

I captured a photo as I started to devour this goodie..and you can rest assured, there was no doggie bag! Both Elizabeth and I enjoyed the same dish, while we tossed ideas around the table!

It's such a great feeling to vent your ideas to another professional, and have them offer up their suggestions on how to improve, or tweak an idea! And I certainly picked up a couple great ones!

Elizabeth slipped her leftovers into a to-go box...but they did not make it far. A homeless man at the entrance to the restaurant hit her soft spot so she passed it along to him! Way to go!

But this evening is one of the great things I've come to love about finding, and being here in The Rain! The opportunity to spend an evening exchanging ideas and talking shop, while enjoying good food and good friends!

Yes, Atlanta had way more than it's fair share of rain over the past week. But in this case, I'm glad I was in The Rain....Active Rain that is!

I can hardly wait for a roadtrip to Huntsville...never been, and I know we'll see the town!

Here's another edition of Midtown Moments....and an interesting take on what a real estate office can look like these days.

I won't say what our monthly lease is, but just imagine having 5,000 sq ft right on Peachtree Street, in the middle of Midtown Atlanta.

And this is what it looked like on a Saturday afternoon....

Atlanta Beltline Inc Names Brian Leary CEO

In a move that is sure to help one of the most ambious transportation and redevelopment projects in the U.S. get "back on track," the Atlanta Beltline Inc named Brian Leary it's new CEO.

Having personally met Brian at community meetings, I can say he's the right man for the job. You can meet people and walk away saying "whatever," or you can meet someone and say, "Wow, that guy knows his stuff." Brian falls in the second category, for sure.

Brian has been the Vice President for Atlantic Station for the past 12 years. This mammoth project took an abandoned steel mill, and the largest brownfield site, and turned it into a national model of sustainable development and smart growth.

I can recall driving through Midtown Atlanta on the Downtown Connector (the convergence of I-75 and I-85 through the Midtown/Downtown area) and seeing the old buildings that once were the Atlantic Steel Mill. Who would of ever thought that all the environmental regulations and hurdles would be met, and we would have an entire new community, just across the Downtown Connector, complete with a bridge spanning some 16 lanes of freeway! But, it's there!

Leary holds a master's degree in city planning and a bachelor's degree in architecture from Georgia Tech, where he received dual certificates in land development and real estate. How's THAT for a job resume?

"Brian brings the right combination of technical experience, development success and community engagement for what the Beltline needs as it enters the next chapter of its evolution," Beltline chairman Cal Darden said in a statement.

Michael Koblentz, chairman of the Northwest Community Alliance, said Leary is "someone with vision, smarts, charisma, and has a great connection to the neighborhoods and to business."

And this project will give Leary another opportunity to work the brownfield gig....some 1,100 acres of the 6,500 acres that make up the Beltline are in abandoned industrial areas that may require clean up.

The Atlanta Beltlineis a planned network of public parks, multi-use trails and and transit along a 22 -mile railroad corridor circling downtown Atlanta.

Leary feels this project has the biggest opportunity to have a positive impact on the quality of life in metro Atlanta. While Atlantic Station created thousands of jobs and a huge new tax base, the Beltline can transform the entire city.

Construction has already begun on the Historic Old Fourth Ward Park, one of many of the new parks that will be created out of the Beltline.

On a personal note, The Atlanta Beltline Inc with Brian Leary CEO is sure to move forward. It's projected completion is some 25 years away! Scare me! I only wonder if the plans being made now (i.e. the type of transit, etc) will be outdated by the time it's completed? I'm hopeful that The Thom And Ray Teamwill have an opportunity to help some people purchase new homes (condos) in areas along the Beltline as it develops in the years to come.

I do know, I'll be eligible for a Senior Discount and VIP parking to ride it anywhere by the time it's completed in 2034! Woo Hoo!

From this.......to.......this.....