Members of the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority board:
Felker Ward (chairman), Joe Macon (former East Point Mayor), Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves, Kenneth Deleon, Richard Holmes, Chandra Houston, T. Rogers Wade, John Akin, Brian McGowan and Tom Weyandt
NEW: Meredith Lilly and Aaron Watson (former Atlanta City Councilman)
REPLACED: Ayesha Khanna
According to its bylaws, the MILRA board can have between 11 and 15 members, with members nominated by leaders from Atlanta, Fulton County and East Point.
A deal to sell most of dormant Fort McPherson to Tyler Perry appeared to gain new life Tuesday, following a sudden move by Gov. Nathan Deal to shake up the civilian board that is negotiating with the filmmaker.
At Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s request, Deal removed a longtime member who is critical of Perry’s plans to build a movie studio on the 488-acre former Army post near East Point. The governor added two Reed allies to the board, including the mayor’s campaign manager and former Atlanta City Councilman Aaron Watson.
The shuffle sent a clear signal to remaining board members to fall in line with the Perry plan that Reed brokered earlier this year. That deal hit the rocks in recent days after the filmmaker was said to have grown frustrated with the pace of talks with the board.
Hours after Deal’s action, and with the two new members in place, the board voted to enter a joint development agreement with the filmmaker and set the boundaries for Perry’s land on the closed post.
Perry and his representatives did not immediately comment. But the board released a map laying out the proposed boundaries with permission from Perry’s attorneys, an indication the filmmaker is still in active talks with the authority.
Until Tuesday the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority (MILRA) board had not outlined exactly what land Perry would control. MILRA executive director Brian Hooker said the boundaries had long been “in flux.”
Perry was persuaded months ago by Reed that the former post could be a good site for his studio operations. Reed badly wants a viable, marquee tenant for the old post on the city’s southern edge, but has said there is scant private sector interest. The mayor also wants to keep Perry, who owns land in Douglas County, inside city limits.
Talks between Perry and the MILRA board started in August but no final deal has been reached.
After Tuesday’s vote, MILRA Chairman Felker Ward said he believes an agreement could happen as soon as January.
Ward said Perry never officially told the board he was backing out. “We understood there was a letter coming to that effect, but we never received it,” Ward said.
The board member removed by Deal was Ayesha Khanna, who was first nominated as an authority director by former Mayor Shirley Franklin more than eight years ago, when the Army began considering Fort McPherson’s closure.
Her term had expired in 2013 but she said Ward asked her to keep serving. She said she learned of her removal from a reporter late Monday.
Khanna said she believes the move could stem from her criticism of plans to sell Perry 330 acres of the Army post for $30 million. Khanna cast the only dissenting vote when MILRA in August signed a memorandum of understanding.
“If the consequences of speaking out in opposition to the deal with Tyler Perry is to lose this position, then so be it,” she said late Monday.
Melissa Mullinax, Reed’s senior adviser, said the mayor nominated new board members last Thursday, the same day The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the filmmaker was threatening to walk from the deal.
In addition to Watson, Reed nominated attorney Meredith Lilly, his campaign manager, to the authority, which can have as many as 15 members but only had 11 before Monday’s shuffle. The city of Atlanta holds the majority of seats on the board.
Deal said Tuesday that the appointments were handled by Reed and the governor’s staff, and that he signed off.
Dissenters ‘welcome’
Mullinax dismissed the idea that Khanna was ousted because of her criticism of the plan, noting Khanna’s vote wasn’t likely critical.
“Ms. Khanna, and anyone else who is opposed to the plan on the table, is welcome to attend the meetings and make their opinions known,” Mullinax said in a statement to The AJC. “What does concern the mayor are board members who remained wedded to an outdated plan that never demonstrated any verifiable signs of progress.”
Khanna showed up for Tuesday’s board meeting anyway, thanking the board for the chance to serve. Khanna also repeated her concerns that the Perry proposal fails to meet economic development and job creation goals.
East Point resident Glenda Knight, a member of MILRA’s community engagement subcommittee, said she is disappointed Khanna is no longer on the board and thinks the panel needs more local voices.
“She was the only one who voted on the community’s side,” she said.
State Sen. Vincent Fort, a critic of the Perry deal, said the board changes turn the authority into “a nod-squad” for Reed.
Reed’s legacy
A successful deal with Perry is critical to Reed’s budding legacy of tackling several notable real estate challenges.
This year he has announced a number of transactions, including putting Underground Atlanta and the Civic Center up for sale. The mayor is also seeking a future use for Turner Field, a 77-acre parcel that will be vacant once the Atlanta Braves leave after the 2016 season for a new stadium in Cobb County.
Reed and MILRA leaders maintain Fort McPherson has no credible redevelopment prospects other than the Perry project. Others have said the property hasn’t been properly marketed and that other possibilities could exist.
Under the joint development deal announced Tuesday, Perry would acquire about 330 acres that include historic parade grounds and officers’ quarters, the fort’s former golf course and the former U.S. Army Reserve command building.
Civilian authorities would acquire the developed around around the Lee Street gate and much of northern and eastern perimeters of the post, totalling about 144 acres. The remainder would be reserved for the Veterans Administration.
Hooker said that, under the deal now on the table, Perry would have first dibs to buy any additonal land MILRA sells, while the authority would have the same on any land Perry decided to sell after the original deal closes.
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