Alpharetta economic development director summarizes staff changes, life‑sciences outreach and office market trends

Charlie Jewell, economic development director for the City of Alpharetta, provided a partner update on staff changes, marketing efforts for life‑sciences and fintech, and recent office market trends.

Jewell said economic development staff are filling a vacancy for an economic development manager after Charlotte announced she will relocate out of Metro Atlanta and depart the city on Aug. 8. He said first‑round interviews have begun and staff hope to identify a candidate "in the coming weeks." Jewell asked authority members to thank Charlotte for her service before she leaves.

Jewell described marketing and outreach the department did at the BIO International Conference in Boston and at a Metro Atlanta Chamber reception. He said staff prepared a new sector marketing brochure tailored to life sciences that highlights employment statistics, flexible zoning for office and lab uses, and local company examples. Jewell said the city's zoning allows research and development/office uses to occupy up to 50 percent of a building (or 50 percent of a multi‑building campus), which can facilitate lab or light production uses in existing office buildings.

The director said the city will attend and exhibit at upcoming events including an economic development brunch in Atlanta and the Fintech South 2025 conference hosted by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). He said staff are working on a connected Alpharetta newsletter and a property‑feature program to highlight available buildings and sites.

On office market conditions, Jewell said quarterly data for Q2 show a local office vacancy of about 27.6 percent. He compared that to other Metro Atlanta submarkets referenced in the report: Midtown (over 30 percent) and central perimeter (about 27 percent); North Fulton excluding perimeter was reported at about 30 percent. Jewell said recent activity — including some return‑to‑office policies reported by brokers — has provided signs of demand recovery for office space, but he cautioned that older suburban office parks without nearby amenities continue to have higher vacancy. He cited local redevelopment efforts in Brookside (a 155‑acre office park) aimed at attracting investment and mixed‑use redevelopment.

Members asked follow‑up questions about mapping lab and R&D spaces, transportation for residents during Dogwood Square relocation (discussed in a separate agenda item), and the Northpoint Mall area; Jewell said there were no new updates on Northpoint Mall at the time of the meeting.