ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[daharris80]

New renderings (for study purposes not construction) is out for the Turner Field and parking lots development by Georgia State. Best part is the new dome. Notice anything missing? Will be strange to see areal shots of downtown in the future with no Georgia Dome on the horizon.









Source

[AtlantaMustang]

"The George", on Memorial, is making good progress, and the other project, on MLK across the little park from it, is doing demo/site work. Going to be an interesting little pocket of density when these and other projects there wrap up.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Originally Posted by daharris80

New renderings (for study purposes not construction) is out for the Turner Field and parking lots development by Georgia State. Best part is the new dome. Notice anything missing? Will be strange to see areal shots of downtown in the future with no Georgia Dome on the horizon.

Source

That looks amazing. Yes please

[cabasse]

those renderings are amazing. that needs to happen.

[Ant131531]

Let's be honest. A neighborhood like THAT would take a decade or decades to build out. Just remember it's just a concept...it is not actual renderings. That's like the best scenario.

Still looks good though.

[Street Advocate]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Let's be honest. A neighborhood like THAT would take a decade or decades to build out. Just remember it's just a concept...it is not actual renderings. That's like the best scenario.

Still looks good though.

Yes, agreed. People need to keep in mind this is more retail, street activity, and better quality designs than we see in Midtown, Buckhead, or along the EST. Although it is a great vision though for what an area (and other areas in Atlanta) could be.

[TarHeelJ]

Keep in mind too that it's GSU and not the city or a private developer. Universities get things done and could probably make something transformative like this happen in a fraction of the time. This could end up being GSU's central campus.

[jsvh]

Those renders look amazing.

Yes, while it will take years for all of it to be built, I think this scale of development is more likely than not.

Keep in mind this is what GSU / Carters early plans for the area were which seem to already be in-line with this vision: http://news.wabe.org/post/gsucarter-plan-turner-field-300-million



Also, here is the full LCI that those renders belong to: http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/news/documents/2016/07/25/Turner_Field_LCI_Plan.pdf

[Martinman]

Originally Posted by TarHeelJ

Keep in mind too that it's GSU and not the city or a private developer. Universities get things done and could probably make something transformative like this happen in a fraction of the time. This could end up being GSU's central campus.

Actually the plan is to have IIRC 60% of this redevelopment as private development (Carter).

[atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by TarHeelJ

Keep in mind too that it's GSU and not the city or a private developer. Universities get things done and could probably make something transformative like this happen in a fraction of the time. This could end up being GSU's central campus.

Plus the area definetely has the road infrastructure with University ave, Hank Aaron Dr, Ralph David, I-75/85 and I-20 to support the project. This area is literal about to blow up. It would be so awesome to have the skyline start further south of the city.

[MdtwnATL]

Why didn't they do this when the Braves had no plans to move? Wasn't that part of their gripe?

[arctk2014]

Originally Posted by MdtwnATL

Why didn't they do this when the Braves had no plans to move? Wasn't that part of their gripe?

Because the Braves wanted to develop AND control the entire area around them- something that was panning out to be a bad deal not only for the City of Atlanta but also the Atlanta-Fulton County Rec Authority. I'm willing to bet the Braves were wanting to move when they were sold to Liberty Media regardless- they had no interest in being a part of the community anymore.

Mind you both sides could have worked better decades ago, but it seems there was always a push-back from the Braves who were requiring substantial public investments with the benefits of also controlling more than what these types of partnerships should permit.

Cobb County was willing to offer them pretty much whatever they wanted- and now they get a Fuqua-esque "oasis" in a sea of asphalt with even worse transportation options than previously griped about - but hey they're getting a Superica, right?

The LCI plan wouldn't fit with what they Braves were wanting anyways - it's too community-oriented rather than an entertainment district that the Braves were wanting.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by MdtwnATL

Why didn't they do this when the Braves had no plans to move? Wasn't that part of their gripe?

As pointed out above, the city wanted to do something like this for a while but the Braves always wanted full control of it and large tax-payer-funded-kick-backs.

Here are some of the plans solicited by Invest Atlanta before the move was announced, you can see many similarities to these current plans: http://www.ajc.com/news/business/visions-pitched-for-turner-field-parking-lots/nTsPT/

The team that includes North American Properties and Russell New Urban Development has pitched a $400 million combination of 1,000 apartments and lofts, 80 townhomes, 250,000 square feet of retail, 400,000 square feet of offices and a hotel. The plan would create a network of walkable streets, convert the former Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium area into Hank Aaron Park with a plaza south to Turner Field. The design also includes stops for a streetcar extension or possibly an automated people mover similar to one at the airport.

[daharris80]

Originally Posted by jsvh

As pointed out above, the city wanted to do something like this for a while but the Braves always wanted full control of it and large tax-payer-funded-kick-backs.

Its much more complex then these first two comments make it seem. The Braves would say:

1.) The city/county promised to do something with the parking lots they owned for 30 years and decided not to, instead accepting the parking revenue and not following through with promises. The Braves would point to plans like the one cited above as evidence of unfulfilled promises.

and

2.) When the Braves and City/County were in negotiations the parking lots were not made available to them for development. It was only after the Braves moved the City/County decided to sell the lots. The Braves would likely say the deal the Braves made with Georgia State is exactly what they were trying to get before they moved to Cobb County, namely control of the parking lots to develop.

Whether a tax incentive (similar to what the Falcons received) would have been required or if the Braves were simply asking for the lots and the right to develop them, or how the Braves would have developed the lots if they ever got them from the City/County are questions we'll never know the answer to.

Keep in mind that while the negotiations were ongoing between the Braves/City the Braves were studying/proposing using their own money to bring public transportation to Turner Field, presumably on the condition they also got the lots and the right to develop them.

At the end of the day I can see and understand why the Braves did what they did (for their own economic/competitive advantage) and why the City/County did what they did (from 2013 forward) to get the most out of the public assets in their care.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by daharris80

Its much more complex then these first two comments make it seem. The Braves would say:

1.) The city/county promised to do something with the parking lots they owned for 30 years and decided not to, instead accepting the parking revenue and not following through with promises. The Braves would point to plans like the one cited above as evidence of unfulfilled promises.

and

2.) When the Braves and City/County were in negotiations the parking lots were not made available to them for development. It was only after the Braves moved the City/County decided to sell the lots. The Braves would likely say the deal the Braves made with Georgia State is exactly what they were trying to get before they moved to Cobb County, namely control of the parking lots to develop.

Whether a tax incentive (similar to what the Falcons received) would have been required or if the Braves were simply asking for the lots and the right to develop them, or how the Braves would have developed the lots if they ever got them from the City/County are questions we'll never know the answer to.

Keep in mind that while the negotiations were ongoing between the Braves/City the Braves were studying/proposing using their own money to bring public transportation to Turner Field, presumably on the condition they also got the lots and the right to develop them.

At the end of the day I can see and understand why the Braves did what they did (for their own economic/competitive advantage) and why the City/County did what they did (from 2013 forward) to get the most out of the public assets in their care.

On #1, it is just wrong to frame this as something Braves have been pushing to have redeveloped for 30 years with the city always saying "no". That is simply false. Those parking lots are there because of bad urban design that both the city and Braves have bought into for decades. The idea that we need to build a city around suburban car commuters has been the dominant view up until pretty recently in the city.

On #2 there was no conspiracy against the Braves. GSU is getting nothing better than the Braves were offered. In fact this is a much better deal for the city. There are no taxpayer dollars from the city going to GSU in this deal. The reality is, the Braves were given a perfectly reasonable offer to stay in a nice 17 year old stadium and have the area around them redevelop but they were greedy and wanted more and left the city over getting offered more tax dollars from Cobb. But the Braves have not been good neighbors and this area will flourish without them.

[lbh]

Originally Posted by daharris80

New renderings (for study purposes not construction) is out for the Turner Field and parking lots development by Georgia State. Best part is the new dome. Notice anything missing? Will be strange to see areal shots of downtown in the future with no Georgia Dome on the horizon.

Yes it looks amazing. The redevelopment of this area will be great for atlanta. I took the liberty of adding it to devmap: http://devmap.io/developments/gsu-turner-field-re-development

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by lbh

Yes it looks amazing. The redevelopment of this area will be great for atlanta. I took the liberty of adding it to devmap: http://devmap.io/developments/gsu-turner-field-re-development

It does look amazing...I hope we don't have to rehash the debate about the Braves moving.

[arctk2014]

Originally Posted by jsvh

As pointed out above, the city wanted to do something like this for a while but the Braves always wanted full control of it and large tax-payer-funded-kick-backs.

Here are some of the plans solicited by Invest Atlanta before the move was announced, you can see many similarities to these current plans: http://www.ajc.com/news/business/visions-pitched-for-turner-field-parking-lots/nTsPT/

Other plans that were presented:

[ATLksuGUY]

Originally Posted by daharris80

Its much more complex then these first two comments make it seem. The Braves would say:

1.) The city/county promised to do something with the parking lots they owned for 30 years and decided not to, instead accepting the parking revenue and not following through with promises. The Braves would point to plans like the one cited above as evidence of unfulfilled promises.

and

2.) When the Braves and City/County were in negotiations the parking lots were not made available to them for development. It was only after the Braves moved the City/County decided to sell the lots. The Braves would likely say the deal the Braves made with Georgia State is exactly what they were trying to get before they moved to Cobb County, namely control of the parking lots to develop.

Whether a tax incentive (similar to what the Falcons received) would have been required or if the Braves were simply asking for the lots and the right to develop them, or how the Braves would have developed the lots if they ever got them from the City/County are questions we'll never know the answer to.

Keep in mind that while the negotiations were ongoing between the Braves/City the Braves were studying/proposing using their own money to bring public transportation to Turner Field, presumably on the condition they also got the lots and the right to develop them.

At the end of the day I can see and understand why the Braves did what they did (for their own economic/competitive advantage) and why the City/County did what they did (from 2013 forward) to get the most out of the public assets in their care.

This is as close to correct as I know it, and yes I know people associated with the Braves and the move and also the construction of the new stadium and associated complex. They simply saw it that the current administration was giving the Falcons more in benefits and incentives while the braves were pulling more fans and more revenue to the city. It was an unfair situation and the club took the more monetarily favorable route. After all, they are a business...

[jnihiser]

Juniper:


206 Edgewood (This fills a big gap on this street):






I can't remember if I posted this Lindbergh project from a few months back, but it's so incredible how much additional density this brings to the corridor, I figured folks would find it cool to see:




And this isn't a pic of anything in Atlanta, but rather, Detroit:

I was there this weekend for MoPop and thought that this is a clever way to handle a parking deck (the retail appears to be a recent addition).