Pledging to “prove” he was right for not spending upwards of $250 million to keep the Atlanta Braves downtown, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced the city has already received multiple offers on Turner Field.
“We can sell Turner Field right now,” Reed said in a sit-down with local reporters Thursday morning. Reed called the meeting to discuss his recent trip to Brazil, but chatted about a range of topics, including The Ted.
Atlanta has received two to four offers on the 77-acre property, he said, declining to give specifics. He acknowledged, however, that he’s been in conversation with Georgia State University officials and said the nearby school “has some interest” in the land.
Though Reed declined to give specifics about the types of developers interested in the property, he said each has the financial resources to develop the land.
“All of the parties we have had conversations with about Turner Field have the kinds of resources necessary to fully build out the parcel in a way that would be an improvement over the current site,” he said. “…The only impediment to it is the Braves making a firm exit decision that is irretrievable.”
Complicating a development deal is timing. Although the Braves have announced publicly that they will vacate the stadium after the 2016 season, the lease allows the team until Jan. 1, 2016, to officially give notice to the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority of whether it will exercise its first five-year option.
The Braves’ Turner Field lease expires Dec. 31, 2016. Beyond that, the lease gives the Braves options to extend for four successive five-year periods.
Reed said when the time is right, he’ll make an announcement about the future development from his executive chambers, the same place he stood last November following the Braves’ bombshell announcement.
He expressed confidence that “Turner Field is going to be more attractive than it’s ever been.” And said no matter what development occurs, the city plans to preserve the monument to Hank Aaron’s historic 715th home run, he added.
The mayor said he’ll be able to “prove” the decision not to fund improvements to the stadium “without a revenue stream to support it” was the right choice for Atlanta.
Turner Field is among the most visible redevelopment sites in the region, along with the neighborhoods around the new Falcons stadium, Fort McPherson, the General Motors site in Doraville and Fort Gillem on the Southside.
The Braves wanted control of about 55 acres surrounding Turner Field for a mixed-use development, but couldn’t come to terms with the city before striking a deal to move to Cobb County.
Though it’s centrally located at the junction of the Downtown Connector and I-20 and passed by hundreds of thousands of motorists each day, Turner Field is also cut off from downtown by a sea parking lots and the car-choked freeways.
Even with the guaranteed flow of thousands of fans to area at least 81 home dates per year, the stadium district saw little development in the nearly 50 years the Braves called the area its home – first at the former Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and now at Turner Field.
When the Braves announced their departure last fall, Reed pledged to find a developer, tear down The Ted after the team leaves and “create one of the largest developments for middle-class people that the city has ever had.”
Georgia State has long been seen as a potential suitor – students and staff park in the stadium’s lots – and the downtown university is in a constant state of expansion. University officials declined to comment Thursday. Georgia State President Mark Becker told 11Alive recently that the school might be interested in the site.
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