Judge delays ruling on motion to halt Tyler Perry development
A federal judge on Friday said he wanted to hear more testimony before ruling on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging filmmaker Tyler Perry’s plans to build a massive movie studio at Fort McPherson.
Attorneys for Perry and the Fort McPherson redevelopment authority said the complaint filed by Ubiquitous Entertainment Studios had no merit. Ubiquitous argued that it had been working for three years to develop 85 acres at the fort to build a studio and that its plans were used by Tyler Perry Studios to negotiate Perry’s deal.
District Court Judge Richard W. Story said he wanted to hear more from the Army, which still owns the property.
In June, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the city had been in negotiations with Tyler Perry Studios to buy 330 acres of the property from the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority for $33 million.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that under the terms of the agreement, Perry will build a campus in the center of the post with up to 16 soundstages and bring in up to 8,000 new jobs.
Story did not announce a new court date.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
