Decatur annexing former DeVry campus

By April Hunt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Decatur grew by 21 acres Monday night. The City Commission unanimously voted to annex the former DeVry University campus on Arcadia Drive.

It was the largest addition to the four-square-mile city in more than a decade, and its second annexation in two months.

The university requested the annexation in July. The city’s school district also signed off on the plan, which meets the city’s stated goals for annexation: increasing the tax base and controlling a main gateway into Decatur.

The city also changed the campus’ zoning to mixed-use and will control what residential and commercial development occurs there.

A regulating plan approved Monday night allows up to 1,337 residential units, though DeVry and city officials expect no more than 550 condos and townhouses to be built alongside neighborhood commercial businesses, such as dry cleaners and restaurants. Any project must also include 4 acres – or 20 percent – set aside for green space.

No development is expected for at least five years.

As is, the campus is valued at $13.5 million, generating about $222,000 in taxes for the city and school district.

With 550 residential units plus $10 million worth of commercial space, the land is projected to be worth $65 million and put more than $1 million into city and school district coffers.