One of the more talked-about large developments in Atlanta has been sold before any significant work on it was completed.
Urban Creek Partners — former Atlanta Braves baseball player Mark Teixeira is a principal — sold 70 acres slated to become the Quarry Yards mixed-use development on the Westside for $127 million to West Atlanta Acquisitions.
It was an offer Urban Creek Partners could not turn down, Teixeira said. He knows the buyers, but part of the deal is that Urban Creek Partners not reveal the names behind West Atlanta Acquisitions. The company will do that later.
“It’s not our announcement to make, but it’s going to be great for the city,” Teixeira said by phone.
He has not seen the new owners' plans for the property, located at the confluence of three of the city’s most heralded green spaces under development: the Beltline, the 250-acre Bellwood Quarry Park and the Proctor Creek Greenway.
The land is in what has been poor and Black neighborhoods, and speculative land buying in the area has pushed up home prices and concerns among neighbors. There were reports in recent months of rents doubling and real estate taxes rising dramatically, forcing longtime “legacy” Atlanta residents out of their homes.
Teixeira and his partners already had done some demolition, environmental remediation and light grading for the 27-acre, $400 million first phase of development that would have included 850 residences, a 300-room hotel, retail, restaurants and more than a half-million square feet of office space.
Long-term plans called for a total of 1,700 housing units, including affordable housing, and more than 2 million square feet of office and retail space.
Neighborhood concerns erupted publicly in July 2019 when marketing material renderings promoting the development showed nearly all white people in it. That spilled over into politics, and by early March of 2020, the city of Atlanta had put in place a moratorium on new building permits and plans in nearby neighborhoods to deal with gentrification.
Teixeira said the buyers know that including affordable housing is in the requirements. He said he expects the new owners will go above and beyond to resolve issues.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contacted the city for a response but did not receive a reply by publication time.
Teixeira said the two sides came to an agreement in March, but getting due diligence done took until last week, when they signed off on the purchase.
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