IN-DEPTH COVERAGE
Since negotiations for a new Falcons stadium started more than two years ago, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been committed to closely following the proposal for our readers. Our reporters covered the shifting funding plan and its effect on taxpayers, debate over the need for a new stadium and its potential location, and the political maneuvering involved in moving the project forward. Most recently the AJC examined the financial plan in detail, revealing for readers a projection that the ultimate cost in hotel-motel tax dollars dedicated to financing, maintaining and operating the stadium could approach $900 million over the next three decades, far more than the $200 million committed to construction.
What’s next in stadium saga
The city of Atlanta’s development authority — Invest Atlanta, which would issue the bonds to fund the public portion of the construction cost — is expected to vote soon on the deal. That is the last vote needed for the project to move forward. If the transaction is approved by Invest Atlanta:
By April 30: The Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority plan to hire a lead architect.
By May 31: The Falcons plan to hire a general contractor.
By Aug. 1: The Falcons and the GWCCA plan to determine if the preferred site immediately south of the Georgia Dome is feasible and the needed property can be acquired. If the south site isn't confirmed by this date, the plan is to shift to a backup spot 1/2 mile north of the Dome.
By Oct. 31: Preliminary schematic drawings are to be completed.
Ground-breaking: Probably mid-2014 or shortly thereafter, given the planned 2017 opening.
The proposed Atlanta Falcons stadium isn’t slated to open for more than four years, but already team officials are closely watching the calendar.
If the board of Invest Atlanta – the city’s development authority — follows the Atlanta City Council and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority in approving the transaction, Falcons officials plan to quickly turn their attention to designing the $1 billion retractable-roof stadium.
“First thing we’d do, if we were fortunate enough to get that vote, is re-engage the architectural process,” Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay said. “Because, from a timeline perspective, we’re behind and we need to catch up.”
The Falcons and the GWCCA solicited applications from architectural firms late last year, with the goal of choosing the stadium’s designer by Feb. 15. A field of 10 applicants was reduced to five finalists in January. But that process was put on hold when state legislators signaled their opposition to the public financing of the stadium, and Gov. Nathan Deal punted the project to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
A reworked deal, which calls for Invest Atlanta rather than the state to issue the bonds that would pay for $200 million of the construction cost, was approved by the GWCCA board on March 15 and the City Council on Monday. Invest Atlanta’s board is expected to vote soon, although the timing is uncertain.
McKay said the Falcons remain “very confident” the stadium will still open in 2017 as planned.
“We need to hurry up to do that, because we need to get the architect selected and the general contractor selected in quick order to get back on track. We’re a few months off,” McKay said. “We built a lot of months in because we really felt like, to be smart for this project and to get the best design we could get and to try to build it for the real cost we estimated, we needed to have those months. So we’ll have to get some of those back.”
If Invest Atlanta’s board approves the deal, Falcons and GWCCA officials would hold interviews shortly thereafter with the five architectural finalists, all of whom have experience on high-profile sports and entertainment projects: Philadelphia-based EwingCole, Dallas-based HKS, Kansas City-based Populous, Atlanta-based tvsdesign (in partnership with Heery International and Gensler) and Kansas City-based 360 Architecture. The firms have been asked to prepare presentations including conceptual designs.
The Falcons and the GWCCA, who would jointly select the lead architect, now hope to make that hire by April 30.
A major decision that will affect the design is site selection. The Falcons, the GWCCA and the city prefer a site just south of the Georgia Dome, a location that requires purchasing two churches. An Aug. 1 deadline has been set for resolving issues with the south site, after which attention would turn to an alternate location half a mile north of the Dome if necessary.
McKay has estimated it should take a year to design the stadium and up to three years to build it. The construction bonds would be issued by July 2014, according to documents. No target date is specified for the start of construction, but it likely would be shortly after the bonds are issued. The Falcons’ goal is to complete construction a few months before the start of the 2017 NFL season.
“We’re going to build a terrific stadium,” Reed said after the City Council vote. “It’s going to be world-class.”
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