Fifteen months into being CEO of SoDo Atlanta, LLC, the holding company that owns 57 historic buildings, 10 city blocks, and 16 acres of Atlanta’s downtown core, I get asked the same question numerous times a week: “what is the biggest challenge holding our downtown back?” My first answer…
Why do some restaurants work and some don't? Why do some software startups successfully scale while others flare out? In the software world we constantly talk about authentic demand and product-market fit. Now that we’re in the real estate business – particularly in an unproven market, there are…
An experienced real-estate developer told me the other day, “y’all have a very unique situation going on in downtown. Normally, one development starts, builds, and delivers while the surrounding developers wait and see what happens. That’s not the case right now.” There’s been a feeling of positive…
There have been two times in my career where I observed an entrepreneur start a company and know from day one they were going to execute their exact game plan and crush it. Like a fast pitch getting rocked in the upper decks right after the batter makes contact. No…
When we turned seven years old in the Birdsong household, my maternal grandfather, who lived in Philadelphia, would take each grandkid to Washington D.C. for a weekend. It was a rite of passage for my brothers, cousins, and me. We’d take the train from Philadelphia to Washington D.…
Nestled on the backside of the bulky 222 Mitchell Building one block south of historic hotel row sits a three story, brick building for “all lovers of the artistic and beautiful.” Or at least that is what a 1908 Atlanta Journal article described the architectural phenomenon which still stands today.…
The topic of authentic work came up the other day and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The question was posed: what is unauthentic work? To answer that, clarifying the definition of authentic work made sense. One of the greatest aspects in working with startups and early stage…
Last week I attended an Atlanta Legacy Makers reception unveiling the plan and designs for the new living art memorial set to be constructed in downtown’s Woodruff Park. The live art will memorialize the relationship between former mayors Ivan Allen Jr. and Maynard Jackson. While at the reception, I…