The story so far
Previously: Georgia State University and its partners want to build a mix of retail, restaurants and housing, and turn Turner Field into a football stadium once the Braves move out.
The latest: An ordinance was filed to allow high-density development in the area.
What's next: A sale of the property must close before redevelopment can begin.
An Atlanta city councilwoman has introduced an ordinance to rezone Turner Field right now, even before the expected sale of the government-owned land to Georgia State University is complete.
Councilwoman Carla Smith, who represents neighborhoods around the Ted, filed an ordinance Monday that would rezone 67 acres, including the stadium and surrounding parking lots, for a high-density development. Smith also filed an ordinance that would grant a special land use permit to allow dormitories and hotels on the site, although the councilwoman acknowledged that a hotel has not been discussed as part of the proposed development.
Smith said that people in the community hope the development will attract a grocery store and other shopping options that have been absent from the area since the original Atlanta Stadium was built in the 1960s in the middle of once-thriving neighborhoods. The zoning change request would allow for larger retail spaces, such as a grocer.
Kenyatta Mitchell, a longtime Summerhill resident who has been involved in the neighborhood planning effort, said the rezoning is critical to the development moving forward quickly after the Braves finish their last season in Turner Field this year.
“We’d like to bring back some of that infrastructure and some of that feel of a traditional neighborhood, while understanding our location and that we can’t have single family homes,” said Mitchell, a former Summerhill neighborhood association president. “We need something that fits the location but hearkens back to the community that was.
“We also need a development that’s going to be a community amenity, a university amenity and a city amenity,” Mitchell said.
The new zoning would allow the university and its partners, Carter and Oakwood Development, to build their proposed mix of retail, restaurants, student housing, single-family residences and office space, and to convert Turner Field into a Panthers football stadium. The land is currently owned by the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority.
The development could cost upward of $300 million, and Georgia State President Mark Becker has said high levels of activity and community engagement are the keys to success.
Rezoning before the land sale offers benefits for both the recreation authority and would-be buyers. Having the land designated for greater density increases its value and saves time in a process that is expected to take at least four months.
Scott Taylor, president of the Carter firm, called the application “a productive step in the process.”
“We will continue to collaborate with the community and work diligently as a stake holder with the elected officials, neighborhood leaders and others to come up with a plan that we can all be proud of,” he said.
Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms, who also is executive director of the recreation authority, declined to comment for this story because of her dual roles. But in a guest column published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in October, Bottoms wrote that the sale of Turner Field is a “process … that must begin now.
“When I began as executive director of the City of Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority … I was immediately struck by the enormous amount of work that needed to be done quickly to ensure Turner Field had a new tenant by the end of 2016,” Bottoms wrote. “It costs $5.2 million a year to maintain and operate Turner Field as a Major League Baseball stadium. Many of these costs, including maintenance, security and utilities, simply will not go away.
“…One cannot help but wonder the level of public angst if Atlanta and Fulton taxpayers were left to shoulder the cost and responsibility of securing and maintaining a 48,000-seat stadium” after the Braves leave.
A group of neighborhoods around the stadium have asked for a community benefits agreement before the development is planned. They want a walkable street grid, improved policing and a diversity of housing options. The group delivered a petition with 2,000 signatures to Bottoms council office Monday.
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