Cox donates former AJC building to city

ATLANTA – Cox Enterprises is donating the former headquarters of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to the city of Atlanta.

The $50 million building located at 72 Marietta St. is expected to be used for training sessions for police and fire officers, as office space and as gallery space for art exhibitions previously held at City Hall East.

“We’re thrilled to accept this generous gift from Cox Enterprises,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in a news release. “The former AJC property occupies a unique location in the heart of downtown Atlanta, near City Hall, Centennial Olympic Park, and the proposed multi-modal passenger terminal.”

Added Reed: “It is an ideal location for consolidated office space for the city of Atlanta and public safety training academies, and it will help save the city money by reducing our current expenditures on building leases.”

Earlier this year, the newspaper moved to a new facility in Dunwoody.

“Through our local media properties, the history of Metro Atlanta and Cox Enterprises are inextricably linked,” Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises, said in a news release. “For almost 150 years, our companies have covered the events that helped shape our city, from Reconstruction through the Civil Rights era and beyond, and we will continue to do so.”