The proposed Tyler Perry Deal
Tyler Perry’s plans at Fort McPherson included:
* Perry agreed to purchase 330 acres of the 488-acre former Army post for $30 million.
* He planned to build up to 16 soundstages, or about three times more than he has at his current studio near Greenbrier Mall.
* The civilian authority responsible for redeveloping the site would receive about 144 acres for future development and to meet certain requirements to serve the homeless at no cost.
* Future infrastructure improvements — including streetscapes and transit — and green space are being discussed.
* McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority originally planned to close on a transaction Oct. 15.
About Fort McPherson
* Fort McPherson covers 488 acres south of downtown Atlanta.
* The Army post, founded in 1885, became a casualty of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program that closed installations in order to streamline the military.
* Fort McPherson was formerly home to the Third Army, the U.S. Army Reserve Command and the headquarters of the Army Forces Command or FORSCOM.
* An original master plan for the site called for a science and technology park, mixed-use development and the preservation of historic buildings and green space.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed claimed a major victory in June when he announced that filmmaker Tyler Perry planned to buy the bulk of Fort McPherson and build a massive movie studio complex.
Six months later, the future of the closed Army post and surrounding communities is in doubt again. Perry appeared last week to be backing out and planning instead to put his studio expansion on land he owns in Douglas County, as first reported Thursday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The situation is fluid, but some observers say if Perry bails out, it could derail any near-term chance of redeveloping the Army post. Others say a Perry retreat would offer a fresh start.
Fort McPherson’s closure in 2011 left a 488-acre hole in an area that sorely misses the economic vitality. About 7,000 military and civilian jobs pulled out.
Redevelopment of the site is fraught with challenges but also carries the potential to re-energize a part of the city that hasn’t kept pace with neighborhoods north of downtown.
City and redevelopment officials, who brokered the Perry deal announced last summer, have declined comment. Attempts to reach Perry, who is said to be frustrated by delays and red tape, have not been successful. Proxies for both sides have talked only on condition of anonymity.
On Friday, the sides disagreed on whether talks were even continuing. One person in the city camp said civilian authorities haven’t received formal notice promised from Perry that he is in fact out of the deal, and that talks are ongoing.
Some have suggested Perry is playing hardball with the civilian agency and that a deal to bring him to Fort Mac is still within reach.
Redevelopment rarely easy
Converting military bases into thriving economic hubs is rarely easy or swift.
Athens did well turning the Navy Supply Corps School into a medical school campus for the University of Georgia and what is now Georgia Regents University. It’s taken many years, but Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, N.H., has been converted into a bustling corporate park and airport.
Redevelopment of Fort Gillem, a post in Forest Park that was mostly closed in recent years, only recently started after environmental and other issues long delayed a civilian takeover. A Kroger distribution center is under construction.
Fort McPherson is adjacent to East Point on Atlanta’s southern border and offers easy access to MARTA’s north-south rail line. After the Army announced closure plans in 2005, a civilian authority spent years envisioning a life sciences park and residential community at the post. But little came of the master plan amid a recession and slow economic recovery.
Now community leaders and residents are left to wonder: If not Perry, who and what?
“In no way did I think (the Perry plan) was a perfect deal, but what I haven’t heard are people with millions of dollars banging on the door,” said Gamba Stewart, a resident of the nearby Sylvan Hills neighborhood who sits on the community engagement subcommittee. “I think it’s sad if we cut off our noses to spite our face.”
Another studio group, Ubiquitous Entertainment, claimed in a lawsuit it had a deal before Perry. On Friday it said its commitment to build a studio complex on the site has “never wavered.”
Critics of the Perry plan complained about secrecy in the negotiations and a lack of community involvement in the negotiations with Perry. Some feared Perry might replace a fort with just another walled-off compound.
“Until there is a clear indication the deal is officially off, I will continue to pursue all options available to me, legal and otherwise, to ensure the community and surrounding areas are protected from any shortsighted, backroom deals,” State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, said in a statement.
Only ‘credible’ deal?
Authority officials have said Perry’s was the only “credible” offer on the table for the site, which despite the MARTA line sits in an area of above-average poverty and has seen little substantial private investment in decades.
The deal called for Perry to acquire about 330 acres, about two-thirds of the property, for a studio complex and tourist attraction. The authority would use $30 million from Perry to acquire the post from the Army. The authority would retain the remaining 144 acres — property about the size of Atlantic Station — for future development.
Authority leaders have said Perry would essentially provide the money needed to bring the Army land into civilian control.
Brian Hooker, who heads the civilian redevelopment authority, noted the dearth of interest since Perry’s original closing date passed on Oct. 15.
“Not only were there no other (credible) offers at hand, there haven’t been any others to date,” Hooker told the AJC on Thursday, hours before the news of Perry’s apparent pullback.
Michael Hightower, managing partner of The Collaborative Firm, an urban planning and development firm in East Point, was hesitant to pronounce the Perry deal dead.
“It’s premature to put the casket there at this moment,” said Hightower. “At the same time the (authority) has (a potentially) vibrant site with the right use. If it’s back in their hands, they’re going to make the right decision for the future of that site.”
David Barton, managing broker for Academy Properties in Stockbridge, said redevelopment around Fort McPherson is beginning, but mostly house-by-house and block-by-block.
Investors are buying up craftsman homes and duplexes, renovating them and renting them to retirees and young professionals who work at the airport or in the medical centers in Atlanta.
Perry’s deal would be a nice touch, he said, but it’s not going to stop the activity going on there.
“It was exciting and something you could hang your hat on to say, ‘Tyler Perry was moving his studios in the area,’” Barton said. “But it won’t take away from the transformation that’s already occurring.”
Calls for a regional view
Kay Wallace, a West End resident who was a top official during the 1996 Summer Olympics, said officials should think big.
“When you think of Fort Mac you have to think of it in a regional way,” Wallace said. “People have tried to minimize Fort Mac (by saying it’s) just about the communities around the base.”
Wallace sees a beehive of development and activity in southwest Atlanta. It would have affordable to high-end housing, amphitheaters, zones of commercial and business activity — all built in and around existing neighborhoods.
She echoed concern about lack of community input.
“If Mr. Perry’s deal is as good as they say it is, it will be head and shoulders above any other deal they put on the table in a fair and open process,” she said.
Steve Nygren, longtime Atlanta restaurateur and developer of Serenbe in South Fulton, said a more comprehensive plan for southern Atlanta is needed that would help jumpstart renewal between downtown and the airport.
“When you look at all the MARTA stations on the Southside between the airport and Atlanta, it’s one of the huge future assets for the city if we develop it correctly,” he said. “It’s got to be a big vision for the entire Southside.”
A lot of attention has been paid to the area around the airport and creating an airport city or “aerotropolis” near Hartsfield-Jackson.
“But what about the communities in between?” Nygren said.
Staff writer Katie Leslie contributed to this report.
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