An Atlanta city agency will hold what is likely the final public vote on a Falcons stadium deal at a specially-called meeting on Thursday morning.
The pivotal political decision was last month’s approval by the City Council, but a vote in favor Thursday by Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, would start the process of preparing bonds to sell to investors, as well as approve various agreements between the city, the team and the Georgia World Congress Center.
A vote would come days before the start of the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament at the Georgia Dome. Stadium proponents have said a new retractable roof facility would not only satisfy the Falcons’ desire for a state-of-the-art home field but also help Atlanta retain and attract marquee events such a Super Bowl.
Invest Atlanta had been expected to vote to approve bonds last month. The stadium pact calls for city hotel-motel taxes to pay for about 20 percent of the stadium’s expected $1 billion construction costs.
But officials said Invest Atlanta’s board needed more time to be briefed on amendments to the agreement added by the City Council.
Several concerned infrastructure improvements and an economic development plan for neighborhoods near the Georgia World Congress Center, on whose campus a new stadium will be built.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has committed $15 million toward community development around the new stadium, to be built on one of two sites near the Georgia Dome.
Invest Atlanta is expected to match that with money from Tax Allocation District (TAD) revenue, and it is in charge of crafting a “community benefits” for nearby neighborhoods.
Invest Atlanta — if its board votes yes on the deal Thursday — would issue bonds backed by city hotel-motel taxes for $200 million of the estimated construction costs. Hundreds of millions more in future hotel-motel tax revenue is committed to help cover stadium expenses and interest through 2050.
The board must also approve the use of TAD funds as part of the deal.
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