DORAVILLE, GA. — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was onhand Friday at the site of the former GM plant in Doraville to officially open the new Serta Simmons Bedding headquarters.
The mattress company now employs more than 500 people at its 210,000-square-foot office building situated adjacent to Third Rail Studios within the $2 billion Assembly Yards project. Joining Gov. Kemp were Doraville Mayor Donna Pittman, chairman and CEO of Serta Simmons Dave Smith and outgoing CEO of Serta Simmons, Michael Traub.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp made remarks at the opening of the 250,000-square-foot Serta Simmons Bedding headquarters in Doraville on Friday.
In 2014, The Integral Group LLC acquired the land after GM closed its plant in 2008 and began working on Assembly Yards. The planned “city within a city” will offer 120,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, 500,000 square feet of office space, more than 700 residential units and three miles of paved pathways at full buildout.
“Assembly Yards is one of the things that really excites me about our metro area,” said Kemp during the event.
Autonomous Transportation
In addition to creating a place where people can work and live, Integral is also creating a technological hub by bringing in Georgia’s only autonomous shuttle bus operated by Navya that will be able to take employees from the campus to the Doraville MARTA station.
Gov. Kemp took the initial ride on the electric shuttle, which holds 15 riders at a time, can operate eight hours on a full battery charge and will travel at top speeds of 15 mph.
Navya’s autonomous shuttle at Assembly Yards holds 15 riders at a time, can operate eight hours on a full battery charge and will travel at top speeds of 15 mph.
According to Etienne Hermite, CEO of Navya, Integral will need two or three shuttles at Assembly Yards to be able to pick up riders every five to seven minutes and keep up with demand.
Tim Shock, senior director of business development with Navya, says the only other Navya shuttle in the Southeast is owned by Royal Caribbean in Miami, though those shuttles are used only for private use. Navya also has shuttles in Las Vegas and at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich.
— Alex Tostado