The Development Authority of Cobb County on Tuesday agreed to provide $10 million in tax breaks for a new mixed-use development near the Battery and Truist Park in a vote that divided the board.
The Henry is a $500 million, two-tower luxury housing, hotel and retail project named for Atlanta Braves baseball legend Hank Aaron. Developers will receive tax breaks for hotel and retail elements that amount to $160 million of the project.
Credit: Goldenrod Companies
Credit: Goldenrod Companies
It will be located across the street from Truist Park with a pedestrian bridge connecting to the stadium and the Battery, developers said.
The project was advertised on LinkedIn as a partnership between Goldenrod Companies, SK Commercial Realty and the Braves Development Company. But project officials did not publicly disclose the Braves’ involvement to the board in November when the proposal first surfaced, despite the baseball club owning part of the land, according to property tax records.
The Braves gave its portion of the land to the developers in exchange for 3% ownership in the project, said Zach Wiegert, the managing principal at Goldenrod Companies.
The Braves leadership team previously told county officials they would not seek tax incentives for projects at the Battery after they secured $300 million in public subsidies toward stadium construction. The Braves stand to benefit financially from a hotel and housing project that could bring more customers to its restaurant and retail tenants at the Battery and Truist Park.
The development board members did not voice concerns over the Braves’ involvement in the project at Tuesday’s meeting. Chairman Clark Hungerford has said he believes the Braves Development Company has held up its end of the bargain.
“What they said is they would not ask for any incentives for the Battery,” Hungerford said. “I don’t think they are reneging on their commitment to not ask for additional incentives on the Battery.”
Credit: Taylor Croft
Credit: Taylor Croft
The board approved the project by a 4-3 vote, with Courtney Knight, Karen Hallacy and Jamala McFadden opposed.
Hallacy questioned whether tax breaks were warranted and whether the jobs are the type the development authority was designed to attract.
“One of the missions of this development authority is to bring in high-paying jobs that are enhancing the economy,” she said.
Hungerford countered that the authority’s mission is to promote jobs, not just high-paying jobs.
“We’re trying to provide incentives to have economic development in this area,” he said. “Other than the Omni Hotel, I don’t know that any other hotel has been built in and around here in the last 10 or 12 years.”
The luxury development is expected to bring 350 jobs in the hospitality and retail sectors. Those workers most likely will not be able to afford to live in the area, Hallacy said. All of the apartments will be rented at market rate, and the condos will sell for around $800,000 to $900,000, Weigert told the board.
“This county — in fact, the region and the country — is struggling to find and produce workforce housing at rental and purchase price levels that folks can live here,” Knight said. “The rates you’re probably charging ... will mean that many of the people who work there won’t have a chance to live there.”
Wiegert said making any of the units more affordable would hinder the feasibility of the project.
“Because of the site location, it’s a very hard project to make feasible for that,” Wiegert said.
Nelson Geter, the authority’s director, said a fiscal impact study shows the project will have a positive impact on the county and the school system’s tax digests.
Credit: Tim Tucker/AJC
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