Since the news about the Atlanta Braves relocation, we all have asked how Cobb County will fund the public share of costs, distribute new tax revenues that the complex will generate, and absorb additional traffic — especially on game days.
These are fair and appropriate questions, and they have solid answers, reflecting the sound business judgment underlying this project. Our county leaders have long been known for their prudent and cautious governance, and this project demonstrates they continue to be careful stewards of our resources. As those who have taken time to study the issues have concluded, the Braves complex will reap dividends for decades and will have a tremendously positive economic impact for Cobb and the region.
I have lived in Cobb for nearly 30 years and want to see positive and thoughtful economic development in the county. I also believe that what is good for Cobb is good for the metro region, and that the reverse also is true: Cobb can thrive best not as an island, but as part of an interconnected region in which the parts serve the whole.
For Cobb citizens, the advantages of the proposed new stadium and amenities far outweigh the costs. The stadium and accompanying entertainment area will result in over $1 billion dollars in new construction, with the Braves and private landowners in the Galleria area contributing the vast majority of this amount. Jobs are an immediate benefit, too, not just in Cobb but also the surrounding area. That is important: Georgia’s unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, higher than the national average.
Building the stadium will generate more than 5,200 jobs with a payroll of $235 million that will benefit Cobb and our region’s workers. After construction, 3,100 ongoing ballpark-related jobs will be created. More than half of those jobs will go to Cobb citizens, while the other roughly 1,500 will go to residents of Fulton, DeKalb, Paulding, Douglas, Forsyth, Cherokee and other counties.
The Braves alone will invest $400 million in a signature mixed-use development adjacent to the stadium. Included in the proposed, privately funded project are nearly 1 million square feet of hotel, retail, restaurant, residential and office space, accounting for 873 more permanent jobs with $25 million annually in payroll. Of these earnings, $9 million dollars will go to Cobb county residents.
Like my neighbors, I share our community’s passion for education, and I would not support the new stadium if it were not a positive for public education. The Braves’ planned entertainment area will generate an additional $6 million annually in property taxes per year — $3 million of which will go each year directly to Cobb schools. These new income streams will come with no property tax increase for Cobb homeowners and will minimize the possibility of any future tax increase.
The concern about traffic is understandable, given the already high volume in the Cumberland area. However, planned transportation improvements include a wider U.S 41 bridge across the Chattahoochee River, and a diverging diamond interchange at Windy Hill Road and I-75, similar to the existing Ashford-Dunwoody Road/I-285 interchange. A walking bridge will connect the stadium site with the Cobb Galleria Centre and allow for off-site parking. These improvements, in combination with 14 access points to and from the stadium, will strengthen infrastructure and help relieve congestion.
In the words of the late local historian Franklin Garrett, the new stadium will serve “Atlanta and environs.” Indeed, the ballpark and development will be a new Atlanta landmark and festive entertainment center, highly accessible for many of the Braves’ most loyal fans, who can rest assured that Cobb County is ready to welcome them in 2017.
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