New life for old GM plant moving along as planned
The developer hoping to breathe new life into the shuttered GM plant in Doraville appears on target to close on the property this summer.
That is, it will be if New Broad submits a document known as a corrective action plan to the state Environmental Protection Division by week’s end as expected.
In it the developer will show how much hazardous materials it must clean up from the former factory before it can build restaurants, offices and shops there, said Mark Smith, chief of EPD’s land protection branch.
If the agency accepts the report and enrolls New Broad Street into the state’s brownfields program, it will shield the developer from liability as it goes about the intense process of remaking the 165-acre site into a new downtown Doraville.
“They would want to be in the [brownfields] program before closing in June, so work can begin quickly,” Smith said.
Representatives from New Broad Street declined comment from their Orlando headquarters, citing a confidentiality agreement with General Motors.
The firm announced in January that it was under contract to buy the massive site. A month earlier, the company said it wanted to transform the area into an “urban center” with homes, eateries, businesses and offices.
That would fit into Doraville’s plans for the site, which is bordered by MARTA rail and Interstate 285. City leaders have said they want a mixed-use development – without a long-rumored stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.
News that such a project is moving along was good news for Mayor Ray Jenkins.
“We’ve been holding our own, but we need this,” Jenkins said. “We’ve got some good people moving in there.”
