One of the three developers involved in the proposed redevelopment of Ft. McPherson is dropping out of the multimillion-dollar project.
Forest City Enterprises is moving away from consulting on master plans for projects such as Fort Mac to focus more on building, owning and managing shopping centers, office buildings and apartments, company spokesman Jeff Linton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday.
Forest City’s departure comes nearly two years after the Cleveland, Ohio-based firm was chosen along with Integral and Cousins Properties to redevelop the 126-year-old army based which closed in 2011. Cousins is a prominent developer responsible for much of Atlanta’s skyline.
Forest City’s exit also may illustrate the glacial pace of the project, which has been in the works since 2005 when the government announced it was closing military bases around the country.
To date, no contracts have been signed by any of the developers. Nor has the U.S. Army transferred any of the base’s 486 acres to the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority, which was set up by the state to oversee the base redevelopment after it closed in 2011.
As the U.S. Army and redevelopment authority continue to hammer out details, plans for the massive military complex are in limbo.
The head of Cousins Properties indicated Thursday his company is “here to serve” the redevelopment authority.
“We’re local. We’re not going anywhere,” Larry Gellerstedt, chief executive of Cousins Properties said Thursday. “We really don’t know what direction the Fort Mac authority is going to take with the project. A lot of time has passed. Everybody is looking to the development authority to say what it wants to do. It’s an extremely important parcel of land for the city. If Cousins’ is involved, fine. If not, that’s fine too. I hope it’s successful at some point.”
Gellerstedt said Forest City’s exit does not create any ill will for his company. He noted that the Forest City-Integral-Cousins trio worked together on the multimodal master terminal for Georgia Department of Transportation.
The group was chosen in 2012 to redevelop the former military base in south Fulton County. Redevelopment is supposed to occur in two phases. Plans for the first phase, 104 acres, call for a Veterans Administration medical clinic that already exists and a proposed bio-science research and development center. The overall vision for the property is to preserve 40 existing historic structures, add residential units and build a 30-acre event-festival space.
“Essentially, we’re looking to create a walkable, live, work, play community,” said Jack Sprott, executive director of the redevelopment authority. “Our focus is on jobs especially science, technology and bio jobs.”
Forest City’s departure “wouldn’t slow us down but we need to keep moving forward as quickly as possible,” Sprott said. The main concern, he noted, “is how quickly can we secure another developer?”
Sprott said the authority is conferring with its attorneys on the best way to find a new developer to join the existing group.
“We think we’ll get ownership of the (the first phase of the) property in May or June of this year and the second phase probably a year later,” Sprott said Thursday.
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