On Aug. 19, 2026, the Buckhead Coalition executive committee appointed longtime Buckhead resident Tommy Holder as chair for 2027-2029. “One of Buckhead’s greatest strengths has always been the people and partnerships that come together to move our community forward,” Holder said in a statement. “It’s an honor to serve as Chair of the Buckhead Coalition and build on the strong foundation already in place. Working alongside CEO Katharine Kelley, our members and community partners, I look forward to championing ideas, initiatives, and opportunities that keep Buckhead and the Metro Atlanta region thriving for years to come.” Kelley, a Buckhead native and former Green Street Properties president whose projects include Ponce City Market, Post Riverside and Glenwood Park, became CEO of both the Coalition and the Buckhead Community Improvement District in January 2026, succeeding Jim Durrett.
Holder has worked nearly 50 years at Holder Construction Company, joining the family firm — founded by his father, Robert Holder, in 1960 — as an intern in 1976 while studying at Georgia Tech and serving as president and CEO from 1989 to 2021 before transitioning to chairman. He took over a contractor doing about $250 million in annual revenue in 1989 and stepped down as CEO in December 2021; under his leadership, the private, family-owned firm has grown to more than $8 billion a year, building for Apple, Google, Meta and Delta Air Lines and, locally, building Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He will succeed Jonathan Rodbell, co-founder and partner of Atlanta Property Group. This real estate investment firm owns and operates nearly 3 million square feet across 12 office and industrial properties in the Southeast. “I am thrilled to pass the gavel to Tommy Holder,” Rodbell said in the announcement. “His leadership has earned the respect of business and civic leaders across Atlanta, and his commitment to Buckhead makes him exceptionally qualified to help lead the Coalition as we look toward the future.”
The choice signals where the Coalition believes its unfinished business lies. Holder currently chairs the Atlanta Police Foundation’s Safest City Campaign, a $100 million initiative running from 2025 through 2028 with the stated goal of making Atlanta the safest large city in America. In tapping the man raising the money behind the city’s police recruitment, camera network and training center, the Coalition is putting public safety at the center of its next two years rather than treating it as one plank among many. Holder is also a notable civic leader, as he recently served as board chair of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Tech Foundation, and sits on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Georgia Power Co. Additionally, Holder received the Council for Quality Growth’s 36th annual Four Pillar Tribute on Oct. 16, 2025, before more than 1,400 guests at the Georgia World Congress Center, an honor recognizing quality, responsibility, vision and integrity. The safety work lands in a neighborhood that only recently backed away from a secession push: after violent crime spiked in 2020, an organized “Buckhead City” movement threatened to take nearly half of Atlanta’s tax base with it. Atlanta Police Department Zone 2, which covers Buckhead, has since logged five straight years of crime reduction, a 27% decline from 2020 to 2025. Rodbell, who has served as chair of the Buckhead Coalition since 2025, will pass the gavel to Holder in January 2027 at the Coalition’s annual meeting at the St. Regis Atlanta, an event that routinely draws the mayor, City Council members and hundreds of civic leaders.
