ATLANTA—The great recession of 2008 left the entire US real estate market in disarray—and Atlanta was slow to recover on many fronts. Now, the Atlanta real estate market is experiencing a rapid incline, and major real estate transactions confirm Atlanta's emergence.

William Montgomery, a shareholder and chair of the Commercial Real Estate Practice Group at Chamberlain Hrdlicka in Atlanta, points to several major transactions that have helped to generate positive economic development and long-term benefit to the city. Those deals are Pinewood Atlanta Studios, the acquisition of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, and, of course, the Mercedes-Benz deal.

In the spring of 2013, 288 acres of pasture land within the City of Fayetteville was sold to a joint venture between Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A entrepreneur and Pinewood Studios, headquartered in London, England. This transaction brings industry-related businesses that serve the movie and TV production business to Fayette County, which adds to the already rapidly growing presence of movie and TV series productions in Georgia.