Mike Mason, Mayor, City of Peachtree Corners

Mike Mason, mayor of the City of Peachtree Corners, described the extensive work underway to develop the City, as well as the investment and partnerships formed to further the success of local businesses, namely through the opportunities presented by the Curiosity Lab and accompanying high-tech companies. “Live, work, and play has been the major goal of our community since the city’s birth,” he said, in an interview with Focus:.

What are the main sectors or industries driving growth and employment in the city of Peachtree Corners?

Peachtree Corners is prospering today, and our residents have positive feedback. People will tell us that we are doing a good job and that they like what we are doing to make the city more attractive. There is also a great deal of residential development taking place, with multiple apartment and townhome deals in the pipeline or being actively pursued. In March of 2022, North American Properties purchased the Forum, a 500,000-square-foot retail space that was suffering from the online shopping trend. It was important that the City worked with them to help determine options that were available to best redevelop the property.  Since their purchase, they have filled empty storefronts, built inviting public spaces, and revitalized the entire development.

High tech is also present; Intuitive Surgical is building its East Coast headquarters here. The 30-acre facility produces robotic surgical devices and is ramping up to create a total of 1,200 manufacturing jobs for the community. 

I am also proud of our Curiosity Lab, which is an incubator for technological testing,  development, and demonstration. There is a great deal of office and R&D space available with a three-mile autonomous vehicle test track and smart city infrastructure technology.

How are private-public partnerships (PPP) bringing economic development to Peachtree Corners?

They are essential to getting a city started. At Peachtree Corners’ inception, we learned a lesson from Sandy Springs. While they hired vendors to assist with their startup, we utilized PPPs because they allowed us to have a small number of city staff and establish the city at a faster rate. Public-private partnerships are how the Curiosity Lab works, and we’ve implemented this model into all our operations. We view our relationships with local companies as partnerships. To be successful, we want to make sure these businesses know they are not operating on their own and that we are just as invested in their success as they are. When we first started the Curiosity Lab, it was an autonomous vehicle track that we would offer for testing. Companies would provide positive feedback along with suggestions. We responded by trying to incorporate every requested amenity and by bringing in new partners, like high-end camera manufacturers.

How is the city balancing economic growth and a thriving business environment while maintaining quality of life for its residents and citizens?

Quality of life is why we created the city. We wanted to make decisions about our priorities, and the most popular undertaking so far is the Town Center. A developer owned property in our downtown area and stated that they wanted to put in a few hundred apartments, and this threw the community into an uproar. They had a right to develop there, but the city bought the land instead. This was the first time in our area that a city had spent that much money on a piece of property to influence the trajectory of the city. We weren’t sure what we were going to do with it — only that the community did not want the proposed development. This created our Town Center, which was part of the birth of the city. The city did not have an established downtown area, but with The Forum and Town Center, we now have an attractive entertainment, shopping and dining district, connected by our iconic pedestrian bridge.

Quality of life has been enormously influenced by having the Town Center and maintaining amenities such as sidewalks and freshly paved roads while working toward the construction of 11.5 miles of multi-use trail around the inside of the city. These efforts also serve to increase property values, which makes our residents happy.

How does the city’s geography play into attracting business and investment?

Our geographic location is a massive plus. The local highway system is shaped like a baseball catcher’s mitt, with the intersections of Highway 141 and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, and Peachtree Corners is situated in the middle. We also have immediate access to I-85 and I-285. We are located 20 miles from downtown Atlanta and 30 miles from the busiest airport in the world. This makes Peachtree Corners a premier destination for travelers to visit, and businesses to relocate. 

What makes Peachtree Corners an ideal place to live, work and play in? 

One of the pioneers of the phrase “live, work and play” was Paul Duke, who was instrumental in developing Peachtree Corners and the surrounding area. Our city was planned so well that we still benefit from the original cityscape plans. The idea is that people wanted to be able to live, work, and play in the same area. Previously, jobs were located downtown, people lived in the suburbs, and interstates connected the two. Live, work and play has been the major goal of our community since the city’s birth.