What is ‘Project Bulldog?’ No, it has nothing to do with Georgia football.
The code name “Project Bulldog” sounds like it should involve the calling of the Dawgs or at least some red-and-black uniforms.
But it has nothing to do with University of Georgia sports, and the only blitz involved will be the demolition of a former UPS hub south of Atlanta.
Yancey Bros., an Austell-based dealer of Caterpillar equipment, recently acquired the former UPS facility in the city of South Fulton. The site is near Six Flags Over Georgia, and Yancey Bros. plans to turn it into a campus for assembly, service and testing of Caterpillar power systems. It’s a nearly $79 million project slated to employ 457 workers, according to company officials.
Using the name “Project Bulldog,” the company went before the Development Authority of Fulton County on Tuesday to request a nearly $3.3 million tax break to assist with the transformation. The authority, which also goes by Develop Fulton, preliminarily approved the request, which was celebrated by South Fulton Mayor Carmalitha Gumbs.
“Transforming a former UPS site into a state-of-the-art, multimillion-dollar service and training campus supporting hundreds of new jobs and valuable workforce training is exactly the kind of economic growth we want to see,” she said in a news release.
Sandy Springs-based UPS occupied the building at 270 Marvin Miller Drive until March, shuttering its operation as part of a yearslong effort to redesign its business and cut costs.
Rachel Gradner, vice president of advisory services practice at real estate services firm CBRE, is a representative for the company and told the DAFC board the site requires brownfield remediation.
“Those benefits cover only a fraction of the cost to develop the campus, and the abatement would help close the remaining gap there,” she said.
The facility will be for the company’s electric and power generation division Yancey Power Systems. The site will also include a center for the company’s training programs, including Caterpillar-certified diesel technical training, leadership development and new hire orientation.
Employees at the site are expected to make an average salary of $72,600, which represents about $33 million in annual payroll, Gradner said.
Jerrod Lukacs, Yancey Bros.’ general counsel and director of strategy, told the DAFC board the facility will primarily service equipment and will not be a large electricity user.
Kwanza Hall, the authority’s chairman, added that he’s “pleased to support a project that reflects the continued revitalization of the Fulton Industrial corridor.” There’s been more than $150 million in combined federal, state and county investment into the area’s revitalization.
Project Bulldog is projected to generate nearly $8.4 million in new property taxes over the next decade despite the abatement, which ramps down over a 10-year period.
Tuesday’s vote was preliminary, meaning there will be a second vote to finalize the incentive. The authority’s board has rarely reversed course and denied a project’s tax break request after providing initial approval.
