From the perch atop a new 420-foot glass tower in Cobb County, Atlanta appears as a city in a forest, green woods stretching from the home of the Atlanta Braves to the nest of the Atlanta Falcons in downtown Atlanta.
The tower’s creator, TK Elevator, is a multinational firm in the process of relocating its corporate offices from Alpharetta to The Battery in Cobb County. On Wednesday, executives showed off their new $200 million digs. The facility, when it officially opens in February, will become the company’s North American headquarters.
The three-building complex will include 205,000 square feet of office space. It’s highlighted by the 420-foot elevator test tower, the tallest building in Cobb County and the tallest of its kind in North America.
Company officials say they will be able to add 900 high-paying jobs in IT, engineering, administration and training by moving to Cobb County. TK Elevator plans to mine metro Atlanta universities like Georgia Tech and Historically Black Colleges and Universities for talent. They will also work with local middle schools to help stimulate an interest in engineering amongst fifth through eighth graders.
“It was definitely the right decision to move here because of who we can attract as new employees into our business,” said Kevin Lavallee, TKE’s North American president and CEO. “We’re super excited about it. We have people relocating from all over North America and the world.”
The Cobb County Development Authority, a quasi-governmental board independent of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, approved about $15 million worth of tax breaks in 2018 to help lure TK Elevators to Cobb. Company execs said the state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta also offered incentives to help with the move, though they did not divulge how much.
Cobb County commissioners, who offered about $1.3 million in tax breaks, say TKE’s move will bring quality jobs to Cobb.
“The kind of investment they’ve made here shows that Cobb County’s a great place to do business,” Cobb County Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said. “Headquarters from across the country are moving here, it’s not just this facility.”
Construction began in 2019 on the facility, which sits just across the street from Truist Park in the heart of The Battery mixed-use center.
“It really goes to show how the Braves’ decision to move here in 2013 has had such an impact on Cobb,” Cumberland CID Executive Director Kim Menefee said. “They (TK Elevator) had lots of choices where they could’ve located their headquarters. But one of the reasons they chose this area was because it’s growing, it’s exciting and they wanted to be a part of that.”
Credit: Matt Bruce/AJC.com
The test tower will have 18 elevator shafts and several training elevators that will be used to test safety and qualifications on a number of cutting-edge technologies, including high-speed “twin” elevators and rope-free elevators that move horizontally.
TKE was owned by the Thyssenkrupp Elevator Company until February 2020, when the German company sold its elevator division to a consortium of private equity firms. The consortium rebranded TK Elevator as a stand-alone company with 50,000 employees on at least five different continents.
TKE company heads took media members, local elected leaders and civic officials on a bottom-up tour of the the test tower, which remains under construction.
Those who rode a high-speed freight elevator to the 27th story of the test tower could feel a crisp breeze. Tension mounted as the large elevator doors slowly opened, giving way to the panoramic vista.
The tower provides a good view of Braves’ nearby stadium, but a building blocks the field. To the east, the Perimeter Center shopping district in Dunwoody appears with the Buckhead business center providing a high-rise backdrop.
TKE will use the top floor as a meeting room for corporate events.
After the tour, several attendees gushed about the new addition to The Battery’s business profile.
Sharon Mason, president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, said many other global corporations like Home Depot, Papa John’s, RaceTrac and Vanderlande have headquartered their businesses in Cobb County in recent years.
“They’re a top, world-class company and they’re going to just attract even more world-class talent here,” Mason said of TK Elevator. “I think it adds to Cobb being home to best-known brands.”
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