The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Tuesday agreed to sell 38 acres to the City of Lilburn for a massive athletic complex.
Commissioners voted unanimously to sell the property – a former water treatment facility at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Indian Trail Road – to the Lilburn Downtown Development Authority’s for $1.31 million, its appraised value.
Lilburn Mayor Johnny Crist said the move means the privately funded athletic complex could open by June 2013. He said the project will be “an economic engine that sits at the very heart of our community.”
Lilburn City Councilman Thomas Wight questioned the city’s decision to buy the property and its involvement in the athletic facility.
“Now I’m going to get on my knees and pray it works,” Wight said after the County Commission approved the sale.
In 2010 Lilburn announced plans for a baseball, softball and soccer venue on the property. It would host Little League baseball, adult softball tournaments, athletic camps, concerts and weddings.
City officials are working with California-based Big League Dreams Sports Parks to develop the project with private money.
The site is a Gwinnett County water treatment facility that closed last year. It includes several buildings, water tanks and related facilities.
An appraisal done by the firm Carr, Lawson, Cantrell & Associates valued the property at $1.31 million in its current condition. If Gwinnett demolished the treatment plant and performed a needed environmental cleanup – work estimated to cost $690,000 – the firm concluded it would be worth $2 million.
The Lilburn Downtown Development Authority offered to pay $1.31 million for the property as-is. On Tuesday commissioners approved the deal. Crist said the city now will recoup the purchase price from the private developer.
County Commissioner Lynette Howard said the county no longer needs the land and has a chance to put it back on the tax rolls.
Wight said the county’s appraisal might be legitimate but sounds “very, very low,” given the property’s prime location on a major highway.
County Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash defended the private appraisal, which was based on sales of comparable properties. She noted that 15 percent of the property is in a flood plain, which would limit its development potential.
“No one just pulled a figure out of the air,” she said.
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