Blog Topic: Business, Man

In the Loop: Is Ride-Share Service Uber Coming to Athens?

By Blake Aued | August 13, 2014 12:54pm

Photo Credit: Photo via uber.com

Replace the late-model Mercedes with a 30-year-old Volvo wagon, and this is what Uber in Athens might look like.

No more stumbling back to the house or throwing up in the back of a van! Finally, rich, drunk college students will be able to get home in style.

It's not clear if the controversial ride-sharing service Uber is operating in Athens yet, but the company is at least looking for drivers.

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In the Loop: Student Housing Developer Turns His Attention to Shopping Center

By Lee Becker | August 11, 2014 10:43am

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

With the student housing complex Athens Ridge on Old Macon Highway now fully leased, Kelly Mahoney said he is turning his attention to the future commercial complex across the street.

The goal is to make that complex, named The Falls of Oconee, a “more boutique version of Butler’s Crossing,” Mahoney said last week.

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In the Loop: Assisted Living Center Prematurely Announces Groundbreaking

By Lee Becker | August 5, 2014 4:05pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

The future site of Thrive.

Anyone who went to the future location of Thrive Senior Living off Virgil Langford Road over the weekend in response to a news release issued last week by the company would have been surprised by what they didn’t find.

“Atlanta-based Thrive Senior Living has broken ground this week at The Village at Athens, an innovate new Assisted Living and Memory Care community in Athens, GA,” the news release on PRWeb stated, complete with the typing error for “innovative.”

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Homedrone: Georgia Theatre Sold to Group of 'Silent' Investors

By Gabe Vodicka | August 5, 2014 1:12pm

Scott Orvold, Drew Beskin and Wilmot Greene

After weeks of rumors suggesting a deal was in the works, Georgia Theatre owner Wilmot Greene tells Flagpole he has sold the iconic downtown music venue for an undisclosed sum to a group of anonymous regional investors operating under the name Agon LLC.

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In the Loop: Is Caterpillar in Cahoots with Gov. Nathan Deal?

By Blake Aued | July 31, 2014 11:10am

Photo Credit: Photo via online.wsj.com

This is a month old, but in light of our recent feature on the progressive group better Georgia and the connection to Athens, it's worth bringing up.

Gov. Nathan Deal has built his campaign around Georgia being ranked the No. 1 state to do business. But Better Georgia implies that Deal is using his political connections—including with Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman, whom Deal gave $44 million in tax breaks to build a plant in Athens—to influence the rankings.

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Culture Briefs: Website Launched for Cyclists in Athens and Elsewhere

By Blake Aued | July 30, 2014 4:56pm

A University of Georgia graduate has launched a new website to help bicycle riders—especially tourists—navigate cities.

Bikabout.com, founded by Megan Ramey, already has maps of bike routes in Boston, where she lives. Friday, the site will add nine other cities: Athens, Madison, WI, Minneapolis, Portland, OR, Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago, Fort Collins, CO and New York City. She is touring those cities over the next six weeks by bus, train, plane and, of course, bike.

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In the Loop: Half-Moon Outfitters Moving to Prince Avenue

By Blake Aued | July 11, 2014 2:55pm

Half-Moon Outfitters plans to move next year from Five Points to the former New Way Cleaners building—vacant since 2009—on Prince Avenue.

Flagpole news intern Stephanie Talmadge spoke to Chad Hall at Half-Moon, who said the move is unofficial but "pretty much confirmed" and won't take place until "June-ish."

New Way is considered a brownfield because of the chemicals used in dry-cleaning, so some environmental cleanup will be necessary.

Hall said the store is moving so they can have more space for outdoor equipment rentals (kayaks and paddle boards, for example).

Half-Moon has seven stores in Georgia and South Carolina and an eighth planned in Augusta.

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In the Loop: UPDATE: The Sunshine Cycles Mural Is Gone

By Blake Aued | June 30, 2014 2:23pm

Photo Credit: Frances Berry

People are bummed that the mural on the side of the former Sunshine Cycles store on West Washington Street (it moved to Baxter Street in April) has been painted over.

Philanthropy—the Tennessee-based Christian women's clothing store that is taking over the space—posted a message from landlord Corky Sams on Facebook explaining the decision:

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In the Loop: UPDATE: Authority Votes Down Tax Breaks for Hotel

By Blake Aued | June 12, 2014 5:21pm

Tax breaks—they're not just for Caterpillar anymore.

An Athens development authority is set to approve millions of dollars in tax breaks for a new downtown hotel this afternoon.

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In the Loop: Developer Gets Free Pipeline in Oconee County

By Lee Becker | June 9, 2014 2:57pm

The Georgia Public Service Commission will spend more than half a million dollars to run a gas pipeline under Highway 316 to Resurgence Park, the commercial subdivision being created by Nichols Land and Development Company on Virgil Langford Road.

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