Front Matter
Executive View
If you only read two pages
150
Acres total site
Former GM Doraville Assembly plant
$613M+
Gray CapEx 2021–2024
Site acquisition + Phase I delivery
$105M
FY2024 studio revenue
~70% occupancy
15yr
NBCU anchor lease
Signed June 2022
We are not the first people to look at this ground and see something. We are the first to still be standing on it.
Page 1 — One‑Page Executive View
For the reader who only reads two pages: This is what Assembly Atlanta is, where it sits, what's in flight, and what we're asking of you.
What Assembly Atlanta is
A 150‑acre mixed‑use development on the former General Motors Doraville Assembly plant site, owned by Gray Media (NYSE: GTN). It anchors a new operating model — production studios, hospitality, retail, residential, venues, events, and community — built so each piece reinforces the others. Phase I (the studio campus, 43 acres) opened October 21, 2023. Phase II is in planning: 120 condos/townhomes, 800 apartments, 250,000 sq ft retail, two hotels totaling 350 keys, and 1M sq ft of offices, anchored by venues — The Pringle (amphitheater), Jewel Box, Chihuly, IMAX, the hotel, and a planned entertainment program on Stage 5.
Why this document exists
Because what is being built is large, multi‑disciplinary, and dependent. Decisions made in one corner ripple across the rest. Without one place that captures the whole picture — who owns what, who is responsible for what, what depends on what, and what is still open — small things break big things, and we work backwards forever. This document is the foundation that lets us stop working backwards.
What we are asking the CEO to absorb
1. The structure is sound. Gray Media → an internal backbone subsidiary → Assembly Atlanta → Assembly Studios + venues + hospitality + retail + residential. NBCUniversal is the anchor production tenant. Atlantic American is not part of this structure; it is a separate public company tied through family ownership and a future arm's‑length cross‑sell capability.
2. The operating model is a dependency model, not a list of buildings. Every venue, service, and tenant has dependencies — sales, ticketing, events, F&B, AV, security, staffing, technology — that must be designed in, not bolted on later.
3. Each new piece is a decision: Owned, JV, Landlord, or Required‑Service. We treat that as a portfolio allocation, not a one‑off.
4. Reporting and documentation are the safeguard. A structure that automatically captures what is happening prevents the things that should not be happening — without naming names, without accusations, without drama. Transparency is the design principle.
5. Verticals branch off. This document is the trunk. Entertainment, sales, events, hospitality, community, education each become their own operating playbooks pointing back here.
Status dashboard at a glance
| # | Section | State | One‑line take |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover · Disclaimers · Purpose | LOCKED | Securities‑law aware. Carry forward verbatim. |
| 2 | What Assembly + Backbone Is | LOCKED | Spine and language settled. |
| 3 | Structure & Entities (Gray → Backbone → Assembly → Studios + Venues) | DRAFT — awaiting outside counsel | Solid; awaiting outside‑counsel name clearance. |
| 4 | Origin & Realistic Timeline (2021 → today → 2028+) | DRAFT — research in flight | Public timeline being assembled from primary sources. |
| 5 | The Dependency Model (new) | DRAFT — engine of the doc | The "oh, I get it" page. |
| 6 | Scenario Matrix — IMAX · Gym · Amphitheater · Stage 5 · Jewel Box · Hotel | DRAFT (new) | Owned vs. JV vs. Third‑Party vs. Required‑Service for each. |
| 7 | Operations: Sales · Marketing · Events · Ticketing · F&B · Security · IT | DRAFT (expanded) | This is a real operating company, not a side function. |
| 8 | Personnel Flow (seat‑based, not name‑based) | DRAFT (new) | Seats today vs. seats needed; staggered, realistic. |
| 9 | Shared Services Backbone | DRAFT | What lives where; what scales to Atlantic American on arm's‑length terms. |
| 10 | NBCUniversal | DRAFT — keep short | Partnership. Respect. Safety first. Consistency. |
| 11 | Government Relations · CID (Community Improvement District) · TAD (Tax Allocation District) · SSD (Special Service District) · Neighboring CIDs | DRAFT (new) | The ecosystem nobody fully maps — we will. |
| 12 | Capital Structure & Realistic Financials | DRAFT (new) | Public‑company posture, debt awareness, indicative phasing. |
| 13 | Cross‑Sell Capability — Gray ↔ Atlantic American | PROPOSED (light reference) | Future option. Arm's‑length. Audit‑committee routed. |
| 14 | Entertainment, Community, Nonprofit, Education Vision | DRAFT (new) | Halloween · Stage 5 immersive · Usher's New Look · Georgia Film Academy · culinary/music/acting partners. |
| 15 | Brand Voice · Visual Standards · Assembly Atlanta Branding | DRAFT | Clean, considered, image placeholders called out. |
| 16 | Regulatory Environment | DRAFT (new) | Gray (public co) · FCC · DOJ · SEC · Local · Labor · Privacy · IP. |
| 17 | Competitive Analysis & Comparable Districts | DRAFT (new) | Pearl/Hotel Emma · Jamestown (Ponce City Market, Industry City) · Battery · Hudson Yards · Hollywood Park · Trilith. |
| 18 | Reporting Needs | DRAFT (new) | What we measure, who reports, on what cadence. |
| 19 | Missing Documents · Images · Renderings Register | DRAFT (new) | Every artifact we are owed and don't yet have, by source. |
| 20 | JLL Reporting Memo (side memo, referenced here) | DRAFT (new) | Neutral. Establishes a forward cadence. |
| 21 | Next Steps | DRAFT (new) | The week ahead. The month ahead. The quarter ahead. |
| 22 | Open Items Register (consolidated) | DRAFT (new) | Every TBD in one place — nothing hides. |
| 23 | Governance‑by‑Design Appendix | DRAFT (new) | Privileged. The structure is the safeguard. No accusations. |
| 24 | Family · Entities · Deeper Knowledge Appendix | DRAFT (new) | The Robinson‑Howell context, AAME relationship, governance posture. |
| 25 | Naming Workspace | DRAFT (new) | "Backbone" is working; flagged for replacement; candidates tracked. |
| 26 | Operating Model: Forward View & Connective Tissue | DRAFT (new) | Forward Calendar, Decision Flow, Capital Flow, External Dependency Map. |
| 27 | Glossary | REFERENCE | Every acronym, alphabetical. |
Reading order if you only have 10 minutes: Page 1 (this page) → §5 Dependency Model → §6 Scenario Matrix → §21 Next Steps. You will know everything.
Reading order if you have an hour: Page 1 → §3 Structure → §4 Timeline → §5 Dependency Model → §6 Scenario Matrix → §11 GovRel/CID → §17 Competitive Analysis → §22 Open Items.