Turner Field Redevelopment RFP Going Out Next Month (Atlanta: neighborhood, live in) - Georgia (GA) - Page 6 - City-Data Forum

fourthwarden · 12-21-2015, 05:31 PM

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Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

What a natural progression since Turner parking lots are already use for GSU parking. I'm glad Turner field will be repurpose for A GSU Stadium. I wonder if light rail could connect with Garnett Station. Go Panthers!

Two streetcar totes are planned to intersect practically in the middle of the development.

cqholt · 12-22-2015, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

What a natural progression since Turner parking lots are already use for GSU parking. I'm glad Turner field will be repurpose for A GSU Stadium. I wonder if light rail could connect with Garnett Station. Go Panthers!

The proposal had 2 streetcar routes running along RDA and Capital.

cqholt · 12-22-2015, 06:39 AM

GSU team named to redevelop Turner Field, jumpstart neighborhood revitalization - SaportaReport

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By David Pendered
A consortium that includes Georgia State University was named Monday as the preferred bidder to redevelop Turner Field and about 70 surrounding acres. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed heralded the decision.
“I am pleased with the Atlanta/Fulton County Recreation Authority’s unanimous decision to sell Turner Field to Georgia State University and Carter,” Reed said in a statement.
The consortium includes Georgia State, Carter, and Oakwood LLC. This bid prevailed over two others, submitted by Mercury Youth Organization Inc. and Rita World Pearl Kingdom LLC. GSU has always been the presumptive favorite, given its role since 2000 in rejuvenating the central business district.
Carter has developed a niche in the realm of student housing. Its projects in cities including Ann Arbor, Mi., Oxford, Miss., San Antonio, Tx., and Boise, Id. illustrate that modern student living quarters are following the model of mixed use developments.
One selling point was the notion that the consortium plans to complete the redevelopment in five years, according to Keisha Lance Bottoms, executive director of AFCRA, the authority that oversees Turner Field.
This is a fairly aggressive schedule, given the history of the area.
The Braves baseball team reportedly tried for years to get a transit rail line built to Turner Field from MARTA’s Georgia State Station. But the reported price tag, somewhere close to $370 million, evidently was a deal breaker.
Fanplex, a youth-oriented recreation center, never gained traction.
Turner Field is flanked by streets lined with crepe myrtle, such as Crew Street just south of the ballfield. The surrounding neighborhoods have not benefited from the back-to-the-city redevelopment cycle. File/Credit: Donita Pendered
Turner Field is flanked by streets lined with crepe myrtle, such as Crew Street just south of the ballfield. The surrounding neighborhoods have not benefited from the back-to-the-city redevelopment cycle. File/Credit: Donita Pendered
Atlanta’s development arm, Invest Atlanta, created an economic stimulus in the area in 2006 to spur development. But on the eve of the Great Recession, no major developers took the bait. Invest Atlanta had created a tax allocation district that was to improve the neighborhood by steering all property taxes generated by new development to improving the roads, streets, sidewalks and parks in the tax district.
Meantime, Atlanta has been working to address inadequate sewerage in the area that results in periodic flooding, much like has occurred west of the future Falcons stadium. These downtown neighborhoods have a history of flooding during heavy rains.
Atlanta is implementing a sewer system that’s similar to the one that resulted in the water feature at the Old Fourth Ward Park, along the Atlanta BeltLine. As with the park pond fed by Clear Creek, the idea is to detain and filter runoff rather than direct it into the city’s sewage system.
The project hit a bump this summer when some residents resisted selling their homes, an issue that crystallized around 93-year-old Peoplestown resident Mattie Jackson. After weeks of protests, Reed announced Jackson would not have to move and that the city would examine alternative measures to resolve flooding.
Atlanta plans a storm water management system that will use permeable pavers, bio-swales, detention ponds and storage vaults to capture from 10 million to 30 million gallons of storm water in specific areas near Turner Field.
Carter has demonstrated its capacity to provide mixed use projects that combine retail with student livingLofts, including
Carter has demonstrated its capacity to provide mixed use projects that combine retail with student livingLofts, including
Statements issued by Reed’s administration and the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority portray the selection of a vendor as a final decision. However, quotes attributed to the chair and to the executive director of the AFCRA board indicate negotiations continue.
“After a through review of all the proposals, including in person presentations, the board of the City of Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority has a preferred bidder and will commence negotiations immediately,” William K. Whitner, chair of the AFCRA board, said in a statement. “We will move forward expeditiously to ensure that we make meaningful progress toward determining the future of this historic neighborhood.
“Several details have yet to be mapped out,” Bottoms said in a statement. “However, I, along with our board chair, will now lead negotiations to finalize an agreement. As we enter this phase, we will continue to work with the surrounding community and partners in the city and county to ensure that they continue to play a vital role in this process.
“Our most important objective is that the future redevelopment of this area is one that we can all be proud of. We believe that we have the right match for Turner Field and the surrounding communities,” Bottoms said in the statement.
The selection was based on factors including the consortium’s capability to renovate or replace Turner Field with a major facility; to provide housing, retail and employment opportunities for existing and future residents, to incorporate Atlanta’s sports history into redevelopment proposals and to complete development within five years, Bottoms said.

cqholt · 12-22-2015, 10:24 AM

Turner Field Will be Sold to Georgia State University & Carter - Stadiumwire - Curbed Atlanta

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In an announcement that could be the least shocking development news of 2015, Georgia State University and Carter have officially been named the future owners of Turner Field and the acres of parking surrounding the stadium. The development team was selected from three proposals — the other two were mildly dubious — submitted to the city last month, according to the AJC. Schematic plans released last year show a $300 million complex that will include an athletic village for the university and a massive mixed-use development to bring an array of housing, dormitory and retail space to the 67-acre site. While the proposal represents the biggest investment in the neighborhood since a sports legacy was foisted upon Summerhill, neighbors are still upset that the sale is going through without neighborhood input.
For many, news of redevelopment may seem like a blessing for downtrodden neighborhoods around the stadium, but for some the sale is a sore point. After all, the past 50 years have been no walk in the (ball-)park, with promised "redevelopment" initiatives bringing nothing but heartache — a la the 2015 Braves season. Nonetheless, the city has moved forward swiftly with the stadium and surrounding site's sale to avoid costly liability when the Braves vacate for Cobb at the end of the year, all the while requiring that any new owner seek neighborhood input.

The good news is GSU has done wonders in revitalizing downtown and will hopefully be able to continue that trend southward. With solid planning in place and good design, this could finally be a positive new chapter in the area's history.