Fate of Falcons stadium site rests with churches

Oct. 1: Deadline for the Falcons and the GWCCA to settle on a stadium site.

Oct. 31: Deadline for preliminary schematic drawings to be completed.

Mid-2014: Construction is scheduled to begin.

March 2017: Construction is scheduled to be completed.

Where the new $1 billion Atlanta Falcons stadium will be located is now in the hands of two church congregations.

A beaming Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed confirmed at a Friday press conference that offers are in place to purchase Mount Vernon Baptist and Friendship Baptist churches. If the congregations accept the offers, the stadium likely will be built near the Georgia Dome at Martin Luther King and Northside drives. If they don’t, it will be constructed at Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and Northside Drive, on land owned by the state.

The city and Friendship Baptist came to an understanding more than a month ago, but Mount Vernon held out. This week, the Falcons bridged the gap between the $6.2 million that the state said was the highest it could offer and the $14.5 million that Mount Vernon leaders tentatively agreed to after exhaustive negotiations.

Both churches are set to vote on the proposals in coming days.

Mount Vernon officials broke their silence Friday, joining city officials and leaders from Friendship Baptist at a press conference.

“We’ve been in prayer,” said the Rev. Rodney Turner, Mount Vernon’s pastor. “We’re a church, not a business. So we’re under the direction of the Holy Spirit. That’s what makes the difference at the end of the day, and the money is just icing on the cake.”

The months-long path toward this moment has been tumultuous as state officials with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and city officials worked to broker deals with the historic black churches to make way for the behemoth retractable roof stadium.

When talks broke down between Mount Vernon and the GWCCA in late July, city officials scrambled to salvage plans for the site just south of the Georgia Dome.

At that time, the church rejected the offer of $6.2 million and instead asked for $20.4 million, a price that later dropped to $15.5 million before falling again.

Reed announced the city reached a $19.5 million deal with Friendship Baptist on behalf of the Falcons in early August. Reed’s team, led by Chief Operating Officer Duriya Farooqui, and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young then stepped into discussions with Mount Vernon in an effort to keep the south site alive.

Friday’s press conference confirmed the $14.5 million deal with Mount Vernon first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday night.

If either church votes down the deals, “then I will support the Falcons’ decision to move to the north site and we will not revisit the south site again,” Reed declared.

Leaders of the churches expressed support for the offers on the table. Mount Vernon has scheduled a vote for Thursday, while Friendship hasn’t yet scheduled its vote.

“We feel the offer that has been made to us is a fair offer,” Mount Vernon’s Turner said. “We believe that Thursday the right decision will be made and that everybody will be satisfied and happy with the outcome.”

Lloyd Hawk, chairman of Friendship’s board of trustees, said the board is recommending the congregation accept the deal.

“It is truly in their hands,” he said.

Reed and many city officials have long preferred the south site for its proximity to two MARTA stations, a future multi-modal passenger station and the short distance to downtown venues. And they believe that the stadium could be a catalyst for revitalizing the poverty-stricken neighborhoods surrounding it.

Asked Friday about other small parcels of land near the preferred site, Reed declined to specify how they could be obtained. But the mayor said acquiring them may not be necessary.

“We have a path to building the stadium without the six properties you are referencing,” he said to a reporter.

Nodding toward the church leaders standing with him, he added: “We don’t have a path without these gentleman by my side.”

State officials long ago ruled out using eminent domain to acquire the churches, but they have not taken that option off the table for the remaining properties.

Reed said it’s his understanding that the Falcons will drop plans for the north site and build the stadium on the south location if the churches approve the deals. The Falcons declined interview requests Friday, as they have throughout this week of fast-moving stadium developments.

In a statement released by the mayor’s office, Falcons owner Arthur Blank called the tentative agreement with Mount Vernon “a significant step” and said it allows the team and state officials to “proceed with additional necessary work and planning” for a 2017 opening on the south site.

In the statement, Blank thanked city officials for “continuing a dialogue” with Mount Vernon.

The GWCCA praised Reed on reaching the tentative deals with the churches.

“The south site is, and has always been, the preferred location by the Authority,” GWCCA spokeswoman Jennifer LeMaster said. “We congratulate the mayor on his leadership with both churches and recognize this is a significant step forward.”

Some 80 percent of the billion-dollar deal will be funded by the Falcons, the National Football League and personal seat license sales, with Atlanta contributing $200 million from bonds backed by hotel-motel taxes.

The team has also committed $70 million in infrastructure costs and $15 million from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation for community benefits for neighborhoods impacted by the stadium: Vine City, English Avenue and Castleberry Hill.

Reed said Blank supported the south site, but that the Falcons owner was concerned property acquisition issues would delay the construction schedule, which calls for a ground-breaking next year.

“There was a sense within the Falcons organization that this was never going to end,” Reed said.

Reed said city officials are helping the churches find new homes.