Management team picked to construct rights center

ATLANTA — Cousins Properties and the Gude Management Group have been chosen to manage the design and construction of the Center for Civil & Human Rights.

"I can't tell you how much it means to our firm to take part in such an historic and meaningful event," said Sam Gude, CEO of the Atlanta-based company. "We're very proud and just absolutely elated."

The building will be about 100,000 square feet and located on 2.5 acres at the southwest corner of Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Ivan Allen Boulevard — land donated by the Coca-Cola Co.

Design and construction will cost approximately $100 million and take about two years. Half the money has been raised. The Atlanta City Council voted in August to approve $40 million in tax allocation bonds for the project.

The center's projected opening is 2011, and over the first 12 months 800,000 visitors are expected. Supporters say the center will generate an estimated $1.3 billion for Georgia's economy over 10 years

The museum's exhibits will include the Martin Luther King Jr. papers. Donnell Consultants Inc. of Tampa also is part of the winning team; its expertise is managing costs of cultural arts projects.

Cousins spokesman Matt Gove declined to discuss the selection, saying only, "I can confirm that we've been selected."

Doug Shipman, executive director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights Partnership, also wouldn't comment because contracts have not been signed.

The other finalist team was Carter Real Estate and the Dawson Co.

The center's downtown location is close to other tourist attractions: the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and Imagine It: the Children's Museum of Atlanta.

The National Health Museum is looking for land in the same area across from Centennial Olympic Park.

"When this center opens, people around the world will have a place, here in Atlanta . . . which will move the agenda of civil and human rights forward in the world," Coca-Cola Chairman Neville Isdell said last month when the museum's location was formally announced.

Kevin Duffy writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.