Healthcare IT News reported in March that athenahealth planned to expand in Atlanta. That was according to local news reports. It was not until June, though, that athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush confirmed it.

The fast-growing health IT company, headquartered in Watertown, Mass., would invest $10.8 million in the expansion at the Ponce City Market development, and Bush promised to create 500 new high-paying jobs over five years.

Ponce City Market, the former City Hall East, is a mixed-use project that will include residential units, restaurants and retail in addition to office space. Athenahealth, which will occupy 75,000 square feet, will be the development’s first major office tenant.

Athenahealth also has operations in Rome, Ga., as well as in Alabama, California, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and India.

“Ponce City Market offers athenahealth everything we could ask for in an office space as we deepen our roots in Atlanta and presents us with the opportunity to provide a daily environment that lives up to the work-life aspirations of our company,” Bush said June 27 when he confirmed the plans. “We are building a national health information backbone that will have a revolutionary impact on the cost and quality of healthcare and are increasingly focused on ensuring our teams work in environments that encourage innovation and collaboration and support the important work we do.”

Athenahealth, founded in 1997, offers cloud-based services for EHR, practice management and care coordination to more than 40,000 providers nationwide. The company acquired Alpharetta, Ga.-based Anodyne Health in 2009. In response to its rapid growth and expanding markets in the Southeast, athenahealth will consolidate its Alpharetta workforce of approximately 100 people to its new location at Ponce City Market.

“Athenahealth is one of the fastest-growing companies in HIT, an exploding industry in which the largest sector is already thriving in Georgia, thanks to our robust telecommunications infrastructure and healthcare system, talented workforce and pro-business environment,” said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, in announcing the plans. “Athenahealth’s strategic decision to locate here moves us closer to becoming the No. 1 place in the nation to do business.”

Sean Wieland, senior analyst at Piper Jaffray, has been bullish on athenahealth, pointing out in a May 3 brief the company’s strong business development in Q1.

“We continue to believe that the company is positioning itself for prolonged growth as other physician vendors struggle to find the right stride,” Wieland wrote.