By: Maria Saporta
A constellation of Georgia-based global health entities has zeroed in on a Midtown tower to serve as the center of Atlanta’s Global Health Innovation District.
The Center for Global Health Innovation is in the final stages of negotiations to move to Tower Square, the former AT&T Building (and before that Southern Bell and BellSouth) that sits on top of the North Avenue MARTA Station.
Tower Square is the preferred site for Atlanta’s new Global Health Innovation District (Special: Icahn Enterprises)
The building is currently owned by Icahn Enterprises, founded by billionaire Carl Icahn.
“We have been working on this for a number of years,” said Clark Dean, a founding board member of the Center or Global Health Innovation (CGHI). “We are in the process of finalizing our negotiations with Tower Square. Our targeted move-in date is in the fourth quarter of 2021.”
Atlanta is uniquely positioned to have a Global Health Innovation District. Thanks to the presence of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta has become the leading center for global health.
“The COVID-19 global pandemic has spurred an innovation revolution for the life sciences and health technology industries,” Maria Thacker Goethe, CEO of CGHI, wrote in an email. “This district will allow for intentional collaboration between these sectors with our unparalleled global health community and will prompt economic growth and more importantly save lives.”
In order to solidify its role as a global health center, the community decided a few years ago it needed to have a central location where the different players could convene and interact.
Goethe said the announcement is “the culmination of the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Global Health ATL initiative,” and it represents thousands of volunteer hours over more than two years.