Tom Cousins
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Thomas Grady Cousins (born December, 1931) is a prominent real estate developer primarily in Atlanta, Georgia.
Important projects include CNN Center, the Omni Coliseum, 191 Peachtree Tower, the Pinnacle Building in Buckhead and the first phase of the Georgia World Congress Center. He and competitor John Portman completely remade downtown Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s.
He also helped revive and redesign East Lake Golf Club, which, formerly the golf course of the Atlanta Athletic Club (which had since moved to Duluth, Georgia) and the home course of golfing great Bobby Jones, had fallen into disrepair. He hired Rees Jones (no relation to Bobby) to redesign the golf course, which has since hosted the PGA Tour's season ending Tour Championship several times, and become one of the leading golf courses in Atlanta since. This was part of a greater revitalization of the East Lake neighborhood around the golf course.
Cousins graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in 1952 from the University of Georgia in Athens.
He retains air rights over the CNN Center parking deck in Atlanta's massive railroad gulch.
He stepped down as head of Cousins Properties in January 2002.
Not to be confused with Thomas Cousins the famous marine archaeologist.