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Thursday, September 4, 2008
Kenerly didn’t buy land months before stadium deal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC reporters Michael Pearson and Patrick Fox have run down the claims posted to this blog that Gwinnett County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly purchased land near the stadium three months before the deal was revealed to the public. They have found that the claims are incorrect.
Posts at this blog and at baseball economic J.C. Bradbury’s blog claim that Kenerly purchased the land in October 2007 - after county officials began secretly scouting for land for a new stadium but three months before the decision became public.
The land is located along Laurel Crossing Parkway, a little less than a half-mile north of the stadium site.
But Gwinnett County property records show the October 2007 transaction actually involved Kenerly selling half of his 50 percent stake in the land to his partners in the property venture; Mansour Properties LLC, operated by John Mansour; and Lifestyle Family Group LLC, run by Sam Leveto.
The records also show the partnership, including Kenerly’s company, has owned the site since 1996. That was long before the stadium was a point of discussion and before, even, construction of the nearby Mall of Georgia.
Incidentally, the land is closer to another stadium site considered - and ultimately rejected - by Gwinnett County. That site is a 65-acre parcel at Buford Drive and I-85 owned by the Orkin family.
Kenerly’s land is adjacent to that property.
Kenerly, who works as a real estate investor, told the Atlanta Journal-Constititution Thursday that he’s not interested in buying any land along the Ga. 20 corridor, including any near the stadium.
“With the way the economy is right now, I don’t think anybody is looking to purchase land,” he said.
He sold half of his ownership of the land in October to raise cash, and said he would like to sell the rest of it as well.
“I’m trying to unload everything,” he said.
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