DeKalb will vote on GM plant Tues. (Doraville: Home Depot, neighborhoods)

[tonygeorgia]

After a two-hour closed-door meeting with the Doraville mayor and City Council, DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis and his staff said they would agree to Doraville's offer on a deal to redevelop the GM plant site.

"DeKalb County is finally coming around to Doraville's way of thinking to how this project will work, said Green. The City Council must still approve the agreement and the city wants to see the outcome of the DeKalb County Commission vote on the issue Tuesday.

If the commission approves, it will raise property taxes by an average of $2-$5 annually over the next 30 years to turn the GM plant into an Atlantic Station-like development.

DeKalb will vote on GM plant Tues. *| ajc.com

[Iconographer]

Here's the developer's website. Looks like they've done some cool things in Florida. At least I get a better impression than I have from Sembler Corp.

New Broad Street Companies

[tonygeorgia]

I hope the vote pass today

[sjuraud]

Yeah, I hope it passes too. Vacant buildings aren't all that great for surrounding neighborhoods.

[gtcorndog]

I think it has potential, but note the high unoccupancy rates in the article. For every business that moves in there, they will likely leave another building empty. To me this is like when Wal-Mart or Home Depot builds a new store a few blocks from the 'old store' which sits empty for years. In the right economic times, this could be a great deal and the MARTA tie-in is great, but... there is a lot of risk involved. Perhaps they can do a slow phased development to dedevelop the site without adding too much office and retail space at once. We'll see...

[arjay57]

It's hardly a perfect plan but DeKalb will be missing a huge opportunity if they don't do this.

[tonygeorgia]

Dekalb Kills GM Project

DeKalb kills GM project *| ajc.com

[Eunomia]

Here is a good statement about this issue written by Representative Mike Jacobs and posted before the vote took place:

Taxpayers Shouldn’t Become Developer’s ATM « Representative Mike Jacobs

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Eunomia

Here is a good statement about this issue written by Representative Mike Jacobs and posted before the vote took place:

Taxpayers Shouldn’t Become Developer’s ATM « Representative Mike Jacobs

Thanks for the link and I felt this tidbit from the above was poignant:

The county’s elected officials are considering using a special allocation of $36 million in federal stimulus bonds on the 165-acre GM site with visions of creating another Atlantic Station. These bonds come with a high price tag to the taxpayers. DeKalb officials would use the stimulus bonds as a $36 million “gift” to an out-of-state developer, New Broad Street of Florida.

Worse yet, county taxpayers would have to pay the principal and a majority of the interest on these bonds. It’s very likely that means higher property taxes for you and me because the county doesn’t otherwise have the money to make the payments.

Why in the world would anyone think it was a good idea to make the homeowners in the rest of the Dekalb county essentially pay to redevelop 165 acres for private use?

It appears that even the Great Recession has not made developers put down the crack pipe.


EDIT

I should say however that I believe the GM site should be redeveloped, especially before it becomes a rusted out eyesore, with a development similar to what New Broad Street proposed. Just not this way.

[tonygeorgia]

^^^

I would be willing to pay $2-$5 a year for 30 years for it