The bids are in and it looks like the Atlanta Civic Center isn’t fetching what city leaders had hoped.
A deputy to Mayor Kasim Reed told members of the Atlanta City Council on Monday that the city received as many as eight bids on the property near Piedmont Avenue, but that all came in well short of what city leaders think the nearly 20-acre property is worth.
“Everything is way below market,” Deputy Chief of Staff Katrina Taylor-Parks, a liaison to the council, said when asked about the progress of the sale. “One bid didn’t even put a dollar amount in. They just said they’d come in 50 percent below market value at the time.”
Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens, a board member of Invest Atlanta — the city’s economic development agency reviewing the bids — said city leaders estimate the property near the Georgia Power headquarters is worth at least $40 million.
Reed spokeswoman Jenna Garland said Invest Atlanta is still reviewing bids.
She did not say whether the city is considering rebidding the project, but noted: “Mayor Reed is looking for one-of-a-kind proposals for the Civic Center that are unique, cutting-edge, and the right fit for Atlanta in the 21st century.”
Citywide Councilwoman Mary Norwood suggested that if the city rebids the property, it could host an international design competition to generate broader interest in the site.
Reed announced plans in April 2014 to sell the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center to developers, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he envisioned nothing less than “iconic” for the site’s next act.
The entertainment center is one of several properties — including Underground Atlanta — the mayor is shedding to help free up city cash and stimulate in-town redevelopment.
A 2012 study of the Civic Center property anticipated it was on track to lose $400,000 annually through 2017. Releasing the arts venue to the private sector would generate new property tax revenue.
Atlanta officials want to shed financially underperforming city properties to free up cash ahead of an infrastructure bond referendum in March. Voters will decide whether to approve a bond package worth up to $250 million to help tackle a backlog of more than $1 billion in needed road, bridge, sidewalk repairs.
The Civic Center was built in 1967 and its theater seats 4,600. It has played host to the Atlanta Opera and touring Broadway shows, and the campus was once home to the SciTrek museum. In recent years, the site has been popular as a filming location and is currently the set of “Family Feud.”
The request for proposals issued in October had goals for the property, including increasing jobs and creating an economic anchor to drive redevelopment between Downtown, Midtown and the Old Fourth Ward.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle, citing unnamed sources, reported recently that several noted development firms, including Atlanta-based Carter, JLL (formerly Jones Lang LaSalle) and Ackerman & Co. had submitted bids.
About the Author
