Atlanta took another step Wednesday toward selling Turner Field to Georgia State University for a planned $300 million mixed-use development.
The Atlanta City Council’s Finance Committee voted to approve conveyance of about 70 acres of city-owned land around Turner Field to the Atlanta Fulton County Recreational Authority, which is negotiating the sale. The measure will next be considered by the full city council on Monday.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the move was requested by the development team of GSU in partnership with Carter and Oakwood Development, which is conducting its due diligence before buying the land. An attorney for the recreation authority said he is optimistic that the deal will close this fall.
The proposed development of retail, restaurants, student housing, single-family residences and office space, and the conversion of Turner Field into a Panthers football stadium is expected to cost upward of $300 million. A spokesman for Carter Development declined comment.
“What I’m asking council to do is move this because a massive amount of capital investment is tied to it,” Reed said. “This is not a matter that can be dragged out. If anyone believes $250 million will sit around and wait for a protracted process … [they] risk leaving the community with what they have today, which is a bunch of vacant lots.”
Councilwoman Carla Smith, whose District 1 encompasses Turner Field, said the conveyance keeps the sale on track to happen by the end of the year. Why is that important?
“Go Google empty stadiums,” Smith said. “We’ve got a large, respected university [ready to buy], plus a developer that is standing ready for recommendations from the neighbors.”
The council on Monday also will consider a rezoning of the development site that will allow for more density — which neighborhood leaders have said they want and the developers have said is key to success.
Reed said it is likely that Fulton County, which holds title to one-third of the land, will have to take a similar action. He called it a “belt and suspenders approach.”
“We think council should be involved because it will make our title stronger, and it is an assurance that the purchaser wants,” Reed said. “Fulton County will have a vote, and then the authority will have a vote [holding] a title without question.”
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