Envisioning something the size of 19 million square feet is hard for anyone to picture.
That’s nearly 15 times the amount of floor space contained within Bank of America Plaza, the city’s tallest building. Or 12 Lenox Square malls. Or about four Atlantic Stations. Something of that scope is a massive development even when compared to Atlanta’s most notable landmarks.
In documents filed Thursday with the state, a development team outlined a planned 19 million-square-foot, mixed-use industrial park in rural Lamar County — about an hour south of Atlanta — called Legacy 75 Trade Center.
Doug Adams, a Henry County developer, estimates the new project’s worth at nearly $1.4 billion, which could present transformative change for the rural county of fewer than 20,000 residents.
The new project is slated for land a few miles south of a 20 million-square-foot project that Adams’ company is developing called the River Park E-commerce Center in neighboring Butts County.
Warehouses dot the landscape between the world’s busiest airport and Macon. About 7.4% of metro Atlanta’s industrial space was vacant at the end of June, according to real estate services CBRE. In contrast, the metro’s office market has roughly triple the vacancy.
Many warehousing complexes are north of the Legacy 75 site in Henry County, which has seen resident-led pushback against distribution centers and the truck traffic they generate.
Tim Abney of KW Commercial handles real estate sales for both River Park and Legacy 75. He said the latest project represents the massive amount of industrial demand between Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Georgia’s ports.
“We feel like it’s well-positioned to help accommodate any growth that comes to this corridor,” Abney said “I believe we can replicate what we’ve done at River Park here (in Lamar County). It’ll be very similar.”
The project was detailed in a development of regional impact filing, which is a required state infrastructure report for large projects that could impact multiple jurisdictions. Legacy 75′s master plan includes more than 1,900 acres along I-75 between exits 198 and 201, most of which is in Lamar County.
In addition to the proposed industrial space, the plan includes up to 500,000 square feet of commercial space, up to 900 high-density residential units and 18 acres of agricultural space as a buffer along High Falls Lake. A potential 350-acre rock quarry is also part of the proposal, with the developer pursuing a special-use land permit.
Much of the property in Lamar County will need to be rezoned, while about 450 acres of additional property in neighboring Monroe County is already zoned for commercial use and is slated to be developed as part of Legacy 75.
Anita Buice, Lamar County’s planning and community development director, said Legacy 75 alone could nearly triple the area’s tax revenue collections. The DRI estimates Legacy 75 could generate more than $21 million in annual local tax revenues — the county currently receives less than $8 million.
“If what they are proposing actually builds out to that much (value), it’s a good deal more than our total county budget,” Buice said. “We’re a very small county … this is huge.”
The River Park project in Butts County has seen a rush of interest from industrial companies searching for space south of Atlanta, according to Abney. Proctor & Gamble operates a 2.2 million-square-foot distribution center at River Park, and Abney said 12 of 16 planned industrial development pads have already been purchased.
Credit: Courtesy KW Commercial
Credit: Courtesy KW Commercial
River Park’s industrial aspects are effectively delivered, but the project’s zoning allows for 1 million square feet of commercial space along Ga. 16. The AJC previously reported that a 100-bed hospital could also be built adjacent to River Park on land owned by Bill Jones, the father of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Butts and Lamar counties, which have seen their populations grow at slower rates than the statewide average, are poised for rapid growth along with the other outer cusps of metro Atlanta. Available industrial land close to Atlanta has become sparse. Longtime industrial corridors like those along Clayton and Henry counties have also started to generate pushback from residents and elected officials, some of whom are considering moratoriums.
Abney said Legacy 75 presents a unique opportunity for Lamar, because it has the potential to generate so much tax revenue while only using a tiny fraction of the county’s rural land. He said the project sits on less than 1% of the county but could bolster its tax rolls.
“That will allow them to use less than 1% of the county (for major development) and keep the rest rural,” Abney said.
Rezoning effort
The Lamar County portion of Legacy 75 Trade Center will need to be rezoned for the development plan to proceed as proposed. The region’s joint planning commission has a tentatively scheduled meeting Oct. 3 to discuss the project. County leaders said Oct. 15 is the soonest the Lamar County Board of Commissioners could hear and potentially vote on the rezoning.
More information is available at the county’s planning and community development office at 790 Veterans Pkwy, Barnesville, or by calling 770-358-5364.
About the Author
