When the Georgia Building Authority put the old Pratt-Pullman train yards up for sale a few months ago, it was criticized for refusing to designate the century-old railroad buildings on the site as historic. In fact, the state fought off an attempt by the city of Atlanta to allow that designation.
The common wisdom was the state wanted to sell the land in Atlanta's hot Kirkwood neighborhood without encumbrances, therefore squeezing every last buck it could out of the bidding process. Developers are apt to pay more for land if their hands are not tied.
But then the state got squirrely with the process and is now seemingly leaving money on the table. Earlier this month, the Georgia Building Authority (GBA) picked a Hollywood film producer’s bid of $8 million for the 27-acre property, although two local bidders argue they are willing to pay more. Perhaps millions more.
The winning bidder, Atomic Entertainment, is a new company formed by Adam Rosenfelt, who for years has been trying to create a movie studio/learning center development in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Jackson, Miss., although none have gotten off the ground.
Rosenfelt said he got a call last summer from a friend about the Pullman site and “we were blown away. It exceeded all our expectations.”
The old, dilapidated graffiti-covered brick buildings there have become a backdrop for movies, including one of the “Hunger Games” flicks, and are a favorite for photographers needing an edgy urban backdrop. The back of the property has perhaps 10 acres of woods, with a stream and a stand of old trees.
Rosenfelt calls his plan a “re-envisioned mixed-use development,” a term he used more than twice and a sign that the Hollywood producer has caught on to Atlantaspeak. He said the plan would have a sound stage, a movie studio and residential and commercial components.
“Our plan would adhere to what the community has asked for,” he said in an interview Friday. “We’re retaining all the historic buildings; we’re retaining many of the trees. We want to build a vibrant community. I want to have people shooting a movie on this side (of the property), throwing a Frisbee on that side, and shopping on the other side.”
Asked for more specifics, Rosenfelt said he has hired the architectural firm Lord Aeck Sargent to draw up the plans, adding, “We’re refining our bid; we have to. We won the bid.”
Some of the competing developers involved in the process think something odd occurred here because the state quickly closed off the bidding and went against the process mapped out in its own literature.
In information released alongside the bid package, the GBA included a flow chart showing that if the state got multiple bids above the minimum $5.6 million, then there would be a "best and final offer process initiated" by all the interested parties.
There wasn't. The GBA quickly accepted Rosenfelt's $8 million offer, even though his competition argued that three others met the minimum bid requirement and were ready to lay down their cards and show what they really would pay.
Michael Ledford, principal of JoJo Investments from Norcross, said the state misled other developers into fielding low offers, pointing out that three bidders hovered between $5.6 million and $5.7 million.
Asked if he felt the process indicated that the GBA somehow favored Rosenfelt’s company, Ledford said: “I don’t know. The movie industry has a little more sizzle than us.”
He added that if given the chance, he would have shown that his proposal had a movie studio, too.
In a protest letter to the GBA, Ledford called the board members’ action “a clear breach of their fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Georgia to obtain the highest amount of money possible for the sale.”
Interestingly, Rosenfelt offered the building authority $8 million for the property last fall, which might have set a higher benchmark than the $5.6 million minimum. Authority folks had to say “no thanks” to the producer’s offer, saying there had to be a bidding process.
Likewise, local developers Atticus LeBlanc (a great Southern name) and Stan Sugarman made a bid through their company Pratt-Pullman Partners, a group that had the backing of Kirkwood neighbors.
“We had really hoped that the GBA would have been more willing to engage the community and city to pursue an outcome that worked for all parties, something we’ve been working on for years,” LeBlanc said. “We eventually accepted GBA’s unwillingness to do so, but we expected that they would have at least put forward a bid process to generate the highest price for the state.”
In an emailed response to questions, a GBA spokeswoman said the flow chart indicating a second round of bidding was added “for informational purposes” but “as described in the Invitation to Bid, the use of the Best and Final Offer Process is discretionary.”
The GBA said it accepted Rosenfelt’s bid because “there was a large gap between the highest responsive bid and the next highest bid.” The agency has said repeatedly that it wanted to get rid of the property “to be relieved of the maintenance and liability associated with ownership of the property.”
Skateboarders, graffiti artists and the curious often find their way onto the property, and a teen was killed there last year when he climbed to the roof and fell 40 feet through the skylight. The GBA may have been concerned about liability, but the couple of times I visited the site, there was a gap in the gate big enough for a pack of skateboarders to roll through.
Rosenfelt should be closing on the property within a month. And if he has the money, backing and vision he says he has, then the klieg lights should be shining in a year or two.
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