WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(ATLANTA, GA) -- In what insiders say could be the largest energy test of its kind to date involving a commercial real estate project, Atlanta-based Jacoby Development Co. and Suniva of Norcross, GA, plan to use solar power throughout Aerotropolis Atlanta. Their joint venture deal was signed this week.

The initial phase of the partnership includes the planned installation of up to 10 MW of solar power in the main parking structure of the redevelopment.

Aerotropolis, an estimated $1 billion project, will have 6.5 million square feet of office, retail, restaurant, hotel and airport parking at the 130-acre site of the former Hapeville, GA Ford assembly plant, on the Atlanta outskirts. The site is adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

While the partnership between Jacoby Development and Suniva will begin with Aerotropolis Atlanta's parking structure, both companies say they are investigating more opportunities to work together at this site and other projects.

"Partnering with Suniva at Aerotropolis Atlanta promises to deliver environmental sustainability and economic development by bringing a Georgia company to the table with us," says Jim Jacoby, Chairman and CEO of Jacoby Development Inc.

"Building a new commercial center to attract jobs to the site of a former automotive plant is a great example of how American business reinvents itself, bringing new life and new opportunity to the community through innovation and hard work," says Suniva CEO John Baumstark.

Suniva has been widely recognized, most recently in Geroge Gov. Sonny Perdue's State-of-the-State address, as a standout company in the renewable energy sector, bringing new technology and green jobs to Georgia.
 
Baumstark says Suniva manufactures high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells with low cost techniques in order to make solar-generated electricity cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Suniva sells its advanced solar cell technology worldwide.

The company was founded in  2006  by Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi at the  Georgia  Institute of Technology's University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research. The federal Dept. of Energy funds the research program.

Suniva is a spinoff from the university's photovoltaics department. Rohatgi, is also Suniva's chief technology officer.

Jacoby Development Inc. is a global developer of retail space and a landmark fixture on the Atlanta commercial real estate scene. 

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