GE joins the ranks of numerous other established and start-up companies looking to leverage the city's unique combination of superior talent, infrastructure, and governmental support. For example, he notes, Honeywell will likely choose Atlanta for its $10-billion Home and Buildings Technologies Center and FinTech giant Global Payments has already announced it will expand into Buckhead next year. Rubenstein points to smaller companies also impacting the market, such as mLevel, OneTrust, N3 and Ingenious Med who have expanded their presence in town.

Atlanta climbed one notch in a year to number 21 on CBRE's annual Tech-Thirty list. The list offers insight into the 30 leading tech markets in the US and Canada ranked by high-tech software and services job growth.

“Atlanta's robust technology ecosystem has positioned the city as one of the nation's leading destinations for companies seeking to invest in innovation centers,” Rubenstein says. “Furthermore, when considering personnel and real estate costs, Atlanta still represents a relative value compared to other technology centers around the country. The potential for future growth is limitless.”

According to CBRE, Atlanta's high-tech jobs grew 12.6% from 2013 to 2015, up from 7.8% from 2012 to 2014. Atlanta is classified as an emerging tech market in the report, meaning that the city is in an expansion phase with rents rising at a faster pace than other markets, and office vacancy declining.

“Atlanta continues to be an attractive city for tech companies,” Christian Devlin, Tech & Media Practice Leader for CBRE in Atlanta, tells GlobeSt.com. “With a low cost of doing business combined with incredible educational institutions and an appreciation for the value that tech talent and tech companies add, we are seeing more innovation centers, more coworking destinations, more walkable and bike friendly areas and an increasing focus on public transit and amenities rich developments that are attractive to the tech community. With almost 20% new jobs in Atlanta coming from the tech sector, we believe this positive momentum will continue.”

ATLANTA—With GE recently announcing that it has chosen Atlanta for its technology hub—and Atlanta generally rising as a tech city—people are doing more than talking. They are investing and leasing.

Recently, Savills Studley executive managing director David Rubenstein attended Venture Atlanta. The conference is dedicated to matching investors with emerging technology companies.

According to Rubenstein, Atlanta has developed into a major technology hub over the past 15 years. From FinTech and security software to CRM and healthcare IT, Atlanta is attracting top notch talent and investment from all over the globe.

“If there was anything to be learned by attending Venture Atlanta, it was that there is a substantial appetite for investment coming into Atlanta specifically because of its robust technology ecosystem,” Rubenstein tells GlobeSt.com. “Shortly after the event, GE officially announced that Atlanta was chosen for its GE Digital division, providing just one more example of the kind of high-quality investment I predict will continue to flood into this market.”

GE joins the ranks of numerous other established and start-up companies looking to leverage the city's unique combination of superior talent, infrastructure, and governmental support. For example, he notes, Honeywell will likely choose Atlanta for its $10-billion Home and Buildings Technologies Center and FinTech giant Global Payments has already announced it will expand into Buckhead next year. Rubenstein points to smaller companies also impacting the market, such as mLevel, OneTrust, N3 and Ingenious Med who have expanded their presence in town.

Atlanta climbed one notch in a year to number 21 on CBRE's annual Tech-Thirty list. The list offers insight into the 30 leading tech markets in the US and Canada ranked by high-tech software and services job growth.

“Atlanta's robust technology ecosystem has positioned the city as one of the nation's leading destinations for companies seeking to invest in innovation centers,” Rubenstein says. “Furthermore, when considering personnel and real estate costs, Atlanta still represents a relative value compared to other technology centers around the country. The potential for future growth is limitless.”

According to CBRE, Atlanta's high-tech jobs grew 12.6% from 2013 to 2015, up from 7.8% from 2012 to 2014. Atlanta is classified as an emerging tech market in the report, meaning that the city is in an expansion phase with rents rising at a faster pace than other markets, and office vacancy declining.

“Atlanta continues to be an attractive city for tech companies,” Christian Devlin, Tech & Media Practice Leader for CBRE in Atlanta, tells GlobeSt.com. “With a low cost of doing business combined with incredible educational institutions and an appreciation for the value that tech talent and tech companies add, we are seeing more innovation centers, more coworking destinations, more walkable and bike friendly areas and an increasing focus on public transit and amenities rich developments that are attractive to the tech community. With almost 20% new jobs in Atlanta coming from the tech sector, we believe this positive momentum will continue.”