Gov. Nathan Deal wants to spend about $28 million to help bring new life to Fort McPherson, but there are few details on how the money will be used and what future investments the state will make.
The recently vacated, 488-acre Army post is about four miles south of downtown Atlanta and has been hailed as a strong candidate for redevelopment, although few concrete plans have been advanced so far. While some say the state will be making a smart investment if Deal’s 2013 fiscal year budget is approved, others question why taxpayer money is being spent on property that should be left to private developers.
The complex’s future has been an open question since it was included in a 2005 Pentagon base closure plan. Ultimately, it will become a mixed-use property with residential areas, private businesses, and some government buildings and programs, said Rogers Wade, a member of the board overseeing the post’s transition.
In addition to the state’s interest, Atlanta also is looking at parts of the property that could be used for things such as police and firefighter training, he said.
“No one sees the state as the savior for this, but it can provide the bait to bring in people and business,” said Wade, who was chairman of Deal’s transition team. “I don’t think anyone will come until they see some traffic on the site, and the state can get that traffic started.”
In his budget, Deal proposed spending $24.4 million to buy the Reserve Command Building, a four-story 218,000-square-foot office building that has the potential to house about 1,000 employees, said Jack Sprott, executive director of the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority.
Another $4 million would go toward renovating the former U.S. Forces Command building, or FORSCOM, a high-tech facility, he said. The 371,000-square-foot building has been eyed as the home of a planned public-private Georgia Institute for Global Health, which would house research efforts in vaccines, neurosciences, infectious diseases and other areas. Additional money will be spent on the facility, but Sprott said it may not come from the state.
Questions remain over exactly how the state will use these investments and whether they would lead to deeper involvement in Fort Mac redevelopment. Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said lawmakers won’t have answers until much of the work is done.
“I don’t think any of us knows all the details,” Powell said. “Until we see all the details, we’ll have to take a leap of faith, and I have an enormous amount of faith in this governor.”
Lawmakers will be called on to approve this and other parts of the bond package when they vote on Deal’s spending plan within the next several weeks.
Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, said he has questions about the proposal.
“When the government buys a building like that, it comes off the tax rolls, and we don’t need our tax digests to take any more of hit,” said Spencer, who is active in the tea party. “It would be better for it to be in private hands.”
The state owns more than 15,000 buildings, including 13 million square feet of office space, according to a report auditors released last month. About 140 buildings are vacant, auditors wrote.
However, Steve Stancil, the state property officer, said the vacancies include cabins and storage sheds along with possible office space. Stancil said there are ideas on how the state could use the Reserve Command Building, but that “it would be premature to say who or what might go there.”
Stancil said it could house agencies whose buildings are in need of repair, noting that 36 buildings around the Capitol are on average more than 50 years old. Normally the state would move agencies into temporary locations during renovations, but Stancil said some could go to Fort McPherson and then departments working out of rented space would move into the remodeled property.
Auditors found Stancil’s agency spends about $117 million in annual rent, utilities and janitorial expenses.
Development of Fort McPherson will take about 20 years to complete, Sprott said. The Army vacated the property this past fall, and the authority is negotiating how to transfer ownership, he said.
Fort McPherson was established in 1885, and some of its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The redevelopment authority is expected to select a master developer later this month to focus on about 100 acres on the site, Sprott said.
Also, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs earlier announced plans to spend about $40 million on about 10 acres to create a health care campus that would expand services for veterans.
“I’d like to see more investment by the state as this goes forward,” Sprott said. “The intent is for this to be mainly privately developed, but this won’t work if they don’t see strong state and city support.”
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