Atlanta prepares to sell civic center (Hamilton: house, university, cost)

[residinghere2007]

Maybe they will leave the station as Civic Center. Ashby station's name was never changed even though they changed the name of Ashby Street to Joseph E. Lowery. Who knows.

[cqholt]

It costs about $1M to change the name of a station.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by cqholt

It costs about $1M to change the name of a station.

keep it the same then!

[noah]

lol, I found this really funny. I don't even see any expensive signage at Marta stations. Must be the standard Marta markup.

Originally Posted by cqholt

It costs about $1M to change the name of a station.

[tikigod311]

Apparently its extremely expensive to replace signs. The main sign outside the enterance to the College Park MARTA station has been broken for over a year now....

But seriously, its not just the signs themselves, its the maps, pamphlets, and everything else.

[noah]

Of course, but in the real world maps, pamphlets etc don't cost a million dollars. Pamphlets get printed every so often anyways.

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Apparently its extremely expensive to replace signs. The main sign outside the enterance to the College Park MARTA station has been broken for over a year now....

But seriously, its not just the signs themselves, its the maps, pamphlets, and everything else.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Apparently its extremely expensive to replace signs. The main sign outside the enterance to the College Park MARTA station has been broken for over a year now....

But seriously, its not just the signs themselves, its the maps, pamphlets, and everything else.

And verbal announcements on trains and buses.

[HH82]

Anything but frickin' "SoNo." God, that is the most obnoxious faux-neighborhood name ever. It never really caught on, so it needs to be allowed to continue fading out.

[jsvh]

Atlanta chief officer: Civic Center could be sold as early as... | www.ajc.com

...
Under the proposal, Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, would oversee a bid process and request proposals from developers to revitalize the site. The legislation could come before the council for a full vote in coming weeks.

Geisler said the city has already designed the request for proposal, which could be issued in the days following council approval. He described the RFP as broad to allow for “creativity” from prospective buyers, adding the city will consider the finances and economics of the deal and whether it creates jobs.

...

While city officials are open to any number of development possibilities, they’re asking a potential buyer to incorporate enhancements to Renaissance Park, a city property adjacent to the Civic Center’s 16-acres, as part of a proposal.

Atlanta officials have long toyed with selling the aging theatre. Geisler said the time is right on multiple levels. Not only is the economy rebounding, but Atlanta officials want to shed properties that aren’t generating property tax revenue as the city gears up for an expected infrastructure bond referendum in 2015.

A commission is identifying costs-savings for the city — such as selling assets like the Civic Center or Underground Atlanta — to fund debt service on the bonds without raising taxes.

“It makes a tremendous amount of sense, economically, to do it,” he said. “…The benefit is an immediate cash infusion from the sale, and it’s significant, and ongoing financial review assuming it’s on the tax rolls.

...

[waronxmas]

Long overdue