As we broke yesterday, Mercedes-Benz US is looking to Atlanta for a possible HQ relo from Montvale, NJ. But where is the deal looking to go? Numerous sources indicate the luxury automaker is almost exclusively eyeing a build-to-suit corporate campus somewhere in Central Perimeter. And certainly, there are choices--from the Ackerman & Co/Cousins Properties Abernathy 400 JV (here with our version of signage), the Hines Interests' Northpark project, to even the former Goldkist HQ site being developed by Crown Properties. Sources say in the short-term existing space is an option. But long-term, Mercedes-Benz wants to develop its own campus here, a strategy that hearkens very closely to what State Farm has done in Central Perimeter over the past year.

And Atlanta may not be the only contender. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that North Carolina is still in the mix, with Daimler taking incentive offers from that state as well for a move out of NJ (with its HQ here). There's a chance Mercedes-Benz could also ultimately stay. It's done this before. As NorthJersey.com noted yesterday, in 1998, Mercedes-Benz eyed moving to NY, but then pulled the plug on those plans after it was “deemed too expensive.” Still, there's a lot of money on the table. The same website reports that Georgia is offering up to $50M in incentives for the move. Still, sources tell us Mercedes-Benz execs are certainly asking more detailed questions about metro Atlanta, such as where the good schools are, and where housing is affordable and plentiful. And those questions, as one source notes, are indicative of a company that more or less has made up its mind to move.