Norfolk Southern makes it official: It’s moving HQ to Atlanta

Eastern railroad Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) made it official today and said it will relocate its headquarters to Atlanta from Norfolk.

The relocation, which is expected to take a couple of years, was finalized after the Atlanta City Council signed off a deal for the railroad to sell its property in Atlanta’s downtown Gulch development to CIM Group, a real estate company.

CEO James A. Squires told the Atlanta Business Chronicle that the company will relocate 100 employees next year into temporary offices at its current Atlanta location. The remaining 400 will move in 2021 when its new headquarters building, in Atlanta’s lower midtown area, is expected to be completed, Squires told the paper. Norfolk Southern is in discussions to purchase a site in an area near the campus of Georgia Tech.

About 2,025 employees are housed at the company’s existing complex, in the Colony Square business area of midtown Atlanta north of the new building.

Another 350 field employees will be moved to the new facility.

Aside from the benefits of consolidating corporate workers at one location, the large number of flights at Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport, the world’s biggest for passenger traffic, was a key factor in the move, Squires said.