Gultch/CIM Group Development

[smArTaLlone]

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...source=twitter

Vibrant downtowns are the engines of great cities. They are the cultural, economic and social centers that fuel the growth and continued prosperity of metropolitan areas. “Without a strong and inclusive central heart,” noted urban philosopher Jane Jacobs, “a city tends to become a collection of interests isolated from one another. It falters at producing something greater, socially, culturally and economically, than the sum of its separated parts.”

After reviewing publicly available information on the Project, JLL understands that the proposed incentive package does not require cash outlays by the City of Atlanta, the State of Georgia, or any other public entity. Instead, the bond structure outlined to pay for the infrastructure mentioned above will be reimbursed through increased tax proceeds produced by the development. No existing tax revenues or city budget funds will be utilized. This creates a strong alignment among the City of Atlanta, its residents, and the developer, as CIM must build a successful tax-generating environment to recoup a portion of project costs from the taxes the project generates.

Projects on the scale of the proposed Gulch development do not occur without some incentive. The vast majority of similar large-scale redevelopment projects would not have been built without some public financing mechanisms.

[Libertarian]

The pro-bond interests with dollar signs in their eyes are advertising heavily on WSB radio etc. But they failed to reckon with the force. Populist council-critters are not buying in until they see a clear win for their constituents. Right now it seems a bigger risk that if they vote for for it, their constituents will soon blame them (as well they should) for throwing the city's bonding capacity down a rathole and making the rich richer and poor poorer while housing affordability, education and infrastructure go to crap. Mayor Bottoms are you listening to the people?

[ATLMidcity]

Originally Posted by smArTaLlone

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...source=twitter

Whenever I host visitors to the city, they always have a very negative opinion of the Gulch and say things like, "Why don't they build something in that ugly ass hole? Or, "that's an eyesore".

And nobody wants to walk along that portion of Centennial Olympic Boulevard because it appears so depressing and desolate.

I do agree that the city should renegotiate the terms of the contract for a better deal, but if nothing gets built there in the next 20 years, we'll be wishing the deal had gotten approved by city council.

I'm also of the opinion that once the Gulch is under contract, the rest of downtown (Underground Atlanta & South downtown redevelopment) would take off like a rocket. Right now, those developers seem to be having a hard time turning dirt.

Besides, when will downtown see mid-to-highrise residential development on all of those surface parking lots like what Midtown is experiencing this economic cycle?

If we can get the ball rolling with the Gulch development, I think the investments will pour into downtown in ways we all would appreciate.

Development-wise, downtown Atlanta is really a dud compared to other large regional cities.
Midtown, Buckhead and the gentrification of in-town neighborhoods is what keeping the city interesting.

Downtown's development could be so much more, if the Gulch gets built.

[skyscraperpage17]

City of Atlanta, Gulch developer in talks to revise deal

https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt-...JABVMkSK2xrWN/

"Developer CIM Group and the city of Atlanta are locked in 11th-hour negotiations on a public financing package to support the $5 billion project aimed at transforming downtown’s Gulch.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has pushed for a Monday City Council vote on the current proposal, which calls for up to $1.75 billion in public financing. But that plan might have hit a wall. It appears the measure does not have the eight council votes needed to pass, and a Monday vote is doubtful, people familiar with the matter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bottoms has staked significant political capital on the Gulch project, which she says will transform a neglected area in the heart of downtown. But she was forced to shelve an earlier vote.

CIM and the city met for hours Thursday and Friday to hash out new terms. They discussed ways to reduce the overall taxpayer contribution and increase the public benefits, said three people who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to comment."

[skyscraperpage17]

"From the mouths of babes"

https://mobile.twitter.com/keishabot...839341578?s=12

[smArTaLlone]

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/...oposal-to.html

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Monday morning that she will present an amended Gulch proposal to the Atlanta City Council in a bid to save the giant redevelopment project, which has so far failed to win sufficient support from the Council to win its approval.

The new plan will eliminate the planned 10-year extension of the Westside Tax Allocation District (TAD).

Atlanta Business Chronicle had reported on Oct. 4 that Bottoms was reevaluating the controversial extension of the Westside Tax Allocation District. That concession would reshape the ambitious deal between the city and Los Angeles real estate company CIM Group, which proposes to develop the Gulch over the next 10 to 12 years, creating a micro city on the historic but now vacant railyard.

[Martinman]

Kudos to the city council for holding out for a better deal. As I have learned more about it and with the new terms, I am now firmly on the side of supporting this deal. I hope it passes.

[skyscraperpage17]

YAAASS!!! God bless Councilman Farokhi!

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2018/10/1...posal#comments

"District 2 Councilman Amir Farokhi said Monday that he and the council would need at least the next few weeks to mull over the deal, and he’d like to see the plan mapped out in a way that allows for commuter rail in the future, the paper reported.

Farokhi also said he wants to ensure the streets that will one day cross through the development are controlled by the public, rather than CIM Group, which would mean the Gulch could one day host the protests and rallies that occasionally snake through downtown."

[Pemgin]

I hope that this development doesn't all fall through and the Gulch remains a wasteland for another generation because a few councilmembers are holding out for something better. This might become a situation of allowing perfect to be the enemy of good. It's not like any other developers are beating down the doors for the chance to develop this land.

[L41A]

I'm all in for protests, rallies, freedom of speech, etc. but as a reason to hold up this development that argument is lame. Councilman Farohki should have just stopped and stayed with the argument for commuter rail and public streets (rather than private). It really sounds silly.

Commuter rail (multi-modal station) has been mentioned for decades in the area with no or even backward movement. It ain't like developers are beating down the door for the area. And without developers, commuter rail will require substantial public commitment for which the state has not historically shown much interest. Don't bite off your nose to spite your face.

[Newnan_Eric]

Originally Posted by L41A

I'm all in for protests, rallies, freedom of speech, etc. but as a reason to hold up this development that argument is lame. Councilman Farohki should have just stopped and stayed with the argument for commuter rail and public streets (rather than private). It really sounds silly.

Commuter rail (multi-modal station) has been mentioned for decades in the area with no or even backward movement. It ain't like developers are beating down the door for the area. And without developers, commuter rail will require substantial public commitment for which the state has not historically shown much interest. Don't bite off your nose to spite your face.

I agree that he should have stopped and just said that the streets should eventually be public streets.

As for Commuter Rail, I think Farohki is right to review the impact of the CIM development. This is really the only location that a Multi-Modal Terminal would work. I'm not saying that we have to push CIM to fund all or part of a station, but we need to make sure this development doesn't prevent us from eventually creating one. I still hold out hope that our City/Region/State will wise up and make this a priority.

[montydawg]

Originally Posted by Newnan_Eric

As for Commuter Rail, I think Farohki is right to review the impact of the CIM development. This is really the only location that a Multi-Modal Terminal would work. I'm not saying that we have to push CIM to fund all or part of a station, but we need to make sure this development doesn't prevent us from eventually creating one. I still hold out hope that our City/Region/State will wise up and make this a priority.

All we really need is the ability to convert the ground level parking area into rail platforms. It seems they can just give greater height clearance in specific areas (they will likely need 30 feet or so) and position the support columns in such a way to allow train movement. They might need to build in ventilation shafts to handle diesel trains, since that will likely be used. While it might reduce parking capacity by removing a level in a certain area, it does not seem like it would cost much more other than re engineering to the existing plan. Perhaps the major and city council are playing 'good cop, bad cop' to get a better deal and negotiate with CIM.

[pica]

Originally Posted by Newnan_Eric

I agree that he should have stopped and just said that the streets should eventually be public streets.

The part about the protests is Curb's editorializing, not part of Farohki's comments. Unsurprising that Curbed's bad writing would cause this kind of misunderstanding. Here's the entire quote in the AJC article that served as the basis for Curbed's blog post:

“I commend the administration for hearing the public’s hesitation and skepticism and for continuing to work for a better deal,” said Councilman Amir Farokhi, who represents the Old Fourth Ward. “As council members, we’re still waiting to see the entirety of the proposed deal. We haven’t seen all the details.”

Farokhi said council members want to take the next few weeks to ensure commitments to affordable housing are firm with “no loopholes.” He also said he wants to make sure access is preserved for potential future commuter rail and that streets within the development are controlled by the public and not a private developer.

[Libertarian]

Wow, that's quite a difference.

[Libertarian]

I don't know if I trust either source to be honest.

[trainiac]

Originally Posted by Libertarian

I don't know if I trust either source to be honest.

I'm with you. There are definitely some forces that are not public. Hopefully it's a force for good because I've been very aware of the gulch for 20 years and this is the first time I've seen any developer willing to seriously look at it.

Even before I worked in the area, back in the 90's I really thought the state partnership thing was gonna go somewhere and then prompt Cousins to activate their air rights over the CNN decks (which they had since the mid-70's!). But all that was 3 shell-companies ago.

The fact is, this site needs a lot of help:
* 100 years of industrial use (imagine the amount of soil remediation)
* Rationalization of property boundaries (if this deal falls through)
* Lack of utility infrastructure
* Condition of existing viaducts (these will have to be tied into a new street-level and will need a lot of work)

In short, this project is as big an undertaking as converting Dixie Steel into Atlantic Station and needs at least as much help

[Sura]

New deal has been released. My opinion means nothing, but for some reason I think I'll still be looking at that hole in ten years time.

https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt-...Mr3k0rDJKXWPN/

[montydawg]

The Atlanta city council has a special gultch working session tomorrow on Tuesday at 11:30 am and the next full council meeting is Monday the 5th of November. It should be interesting to see what transpires in that timeframe. With the amazon stock loosing so much value in the past few weeks (56 billion loss in just one day) it should be interesting whether beeps chooses a value city like Atlanta or a more expensive competitor, such as Virginia

[skyscraperpage17]

A company is not going to base a long-term decision as big as HQ2 solely (if at all) on a few rough days during a normally rocky time of year for stock markets.

[OTPandProud1974]

I attended my first ever Atlanta United game two weeks ago. I'm not a soccer fan, but spending a morning and early afternoon at the Gulch -- which right now acts as a parking zone/party zone -- I can see the potential beauty of this site.

And in my opinion, it's not CIM's vision.

The Gulch could be what the Buckhead Village was in its nightclub heydey. It could easily become the new Underground Atlanta/Kenny's Alley circa 1970s if curated properly.

And that wouldn't necessarily need to include spending $500,000,000 on raising the Gulch to street level. Honestly, most of the charm was that it was below street level.

There is so much vitality and energy there for United games, it would be a shame to coat it in mixed-use homogeny. There is something genuinely authentic there. It's just not CIM's vision.