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Tucker-Northlake business leaders to add walk, bike paths as part of planned renewal of an early suburb

by David Pendered

Business leaders near Tucker and Northlake Mall in north DeKalb County have expanded their effort to strengthen their historic commercial center and make it more friendly for walking and bicycling.

As of last week, more than 67 commercial properties in the Northlake business district formally joined the existing Tucker Community Improvement District. The goal is to uplift the region in ways that are beyond the scope of local government.

“All you have to do is look at Perimeter and Cumberland to see the success of CIDs,” said Ann Rosenthal, president of the newly minted Tucker-Northlake CID.

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Tyler Perry to buy 330 acres of Fort McPherson, Atlanta retains 144 acres

by David Pendered

Filmmaker Tyler Perry will purchase 330 acres for a planned studio and Atlanta will retain 144 acres, some of which will be developed and some of which will be converted to greenspace.

Terms were not disclosed as the deal was announced Friday at the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority. The deal is expected to close Oct. 15, said Chairman Felker Ward.

“I am pleased that we reached an agreement that will help create long-term job creation, business expansion and community investment in Fort McPherson and its surrounding communities,” Mayor Kasim Reed said.

“I want to say [thank you] to everybody for even the opportunity to have this under consideration,” Perry said.
Check back for updates.

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State senator seeks Army secretary’s help to keep a studio out of Fort McPherson, as Tyler Perry proposes

by David Pendered

State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) has asked the secretary of the Army to block the conversion of Fort McPherson into a movie studio, as proposed by filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Fort quickly pivoted to the political side of the debate over the fort’s reuse, after beginning his letter to the secretary with a recount of the public process that ended with the approval of a plan to build a mixed-use community on the grounds of the old fort.

To consider a studio now, without any public review, is, “the old ‘bait and switch’ that has been used for centuries to exclude people of color and the powerless from important economic decisions,” Fort wrote in his letter to Army Secretary John McHugh.

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Fate of Tyler Perry’s plans for Fort McPherson could be decided Friday

by David Pendered

A notice posted today indicates the proposal by filmmaker Tyler Perry to buy most of Fort McPherson could be decided as early as Friday.

The board that oversees the fort’s conversion to civilian use today called a special meeting Friday at 11 a.m. for the purpose of: “Consideration of resolution concerning purchase and sale of real estate.”

The community is not going along quietly. Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) has called a press conference Thursday at 10 a.m. and residents have called a rally for Friday. Meantime, Perry’s lawyers responded July 28 to a lawsuit challenging his purchase of the property.

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Cousins sells $224 million in stock to buy towers in Sandy Springs, Charlotte as expansion continues

by David Pendered

Cousins Properties, Inc. is selling $224 million in common stock to raise cash mainly to close a $215 million deal on the 30-story Fifth Third Center in Charlotte’s central business district.

Also Tuesday, Cousins announced it has placed Northpark Town Center under contract for $348 million. The development, in the Sandy Springs portion of the Perimeter area, offers a total of 1.5 million square feet in three buildings.

These acquisitions represent a shift in Cousins’ investment strategy. In recent years, Cousins has favored Texas as its growth market and, locally, sold its signature Wildwood development in Cobb County in advance of its move into Buckhead and downtown Atlanta.

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Bounced from bid for $22 million airport contract, Atlanta City Hall insider threatens to file lawsuit

by David Pendered

A 40-year insider of Atlanta City Hall has threatened to sue the city if his bid is not reinstated for an airport contract that could be worth $22 million.

Aaron Turpeau is protesting a decision by Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration to dismiss Turpeau’s bid as unresponsive. Turpeau wants to continue his involvement in managing the airport’s consolidated rental car facility.

Turpeau last made local headlines during the 2009 mayoral campaign, when he was associated with a memo that suggested black voters should unite behind Lisa Borders in order to ensure the election of a black mayor. The memo characterized Reed as, “effectively out of the race” for mayor.

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Atlanta audit indicates irregularities in parking contract at ATL airport

by David Pendered

A concessions contract for the largest revenue producer for Atlanta’s airport is up for grabs even as the city auditor has just delivered a critical report on the effectiveness of the current management firm and its city contract.

The parking contract for Atlanta’s airport represents ¼ of the airport’s annual revenue. Parking fees alone bring in $117 million in revenue for fiscal year 2013, according to city Auditor Leslie Ward.

Parking is big business all across the country. The company that now handles the parking decks at Atlanta’s airport, SP Plus Corp., is based in Chicago, has more than 25,000 employees, and manages parking at facilities in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, according to the annual report it filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Gov. Deal announces winners of teaching contest funded by Obama’s education initiative, Race to the Top

by David Pendered

Gov. Nathan Deal announced today a round of state teaching awards, months later than planned and after Deal defeated state school Superintendent John Barge in the Republican gubernatorial primary election.

Georgia created the Innovation in Teaching Competition as part of the state’s implementation of President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, which is to provide $400 million to Georgia through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This fourth round of awards was slated to be announced in spring 2014, according to a state website. Teachers from metro Atlanta school districts dominate the overall winners list.

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MARTA to open bids today for land in Midtown, Stone Mountain Village

by David Pendered

MARTA officials today are slated to open bids for land MARTA intends to sell near the Arts Center Station in Midtown, and an additional property in Stone Mountain.

The minimum prices set by MARTA indicate that a sliver of land in Midtown is significantly more valuable than a parcel in Stone Mountain.

The Midtown site is barely more than a tenth the size of the one in Stone Mountain. The minimum price for this tract is set at about 75 percent of the Stone Mountain parcel, according to bid documents.

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Atlanta installing sustainable storm water system near Turner Field

by David Pendered

In hard-pressed neighborhoods south of Turner Field, Atlanta is quietly installing a sustainable storm water management system.

The planned system is based on a premise 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.

In Peoplestown, one of three neighborhoods in progress, the city’s plan envisions 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.

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Clayton County’s proposed transit partner reports record profits

by David Pendered

The railroad that owns the corridor where the proposed commuter rail line would be built in Clayton County has just posted record profits for the second quarter of 2014.

Norfolk Southern’s financial situation warrants attention as Clayton County voters prepare to vote in November on a proposed 1 percent transit sales tax. Likewise with some of its corporate decisions, such as one last week to sue the state of Maryland to block the public release of information about shipments of crude oil.

The future of commuter rail in Clayton County depends largely on whether Norfolk Southern agrees to share its existing freight corridor, presuming voters approve the proposed 1 percent sales tax.

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For hunters yearning to be “Swamp People,” Georgia sells gator permits

by David Pendered

Georgia has opened applications for hunters who want to experience the alligator hunting adventures seen on “Swamp People.”

There’s as much competition for a Georgia gator permit as there is for the actual lizard-like predator, which is the prey in the History channel’s hit reality TV series “Swamp People.” The show is in a genre similar to “Duck Dynasty.”

Georgia wildlife officials expect more than 10,000 applications for the 850 permits the state intends to issue this year. Hunters have killed 2,095 gators in Georgia since 2003, according to state records.

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Turner Field: Community taps brakes on signs of fast-track redevelopment

by David Pendered

No one should hold their breath in anticipation of what’s to be built at Turner Field after the Braves depart.

Overlooked so far in the heady discussions is the local politics of residents who live in neighborhoods near the ballpark. They have an interest in their neighborhoods’ development, as do community leaders who have an eye on jobs to be created during construction and later.

These interests took shape Wednesday during the first meeting of a task force convened by the Atlanta City Council to figure out what should become of the property. For starters, it turns out that Invest Atlanta could take six months to even hire a planning firm to review the existing community development plans, Atlanta Councilmember Carla Smith said.

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Atlanta funds innovative dormitory that’s to help entrepreneurs succeed

by David Pendered

A dormitory that’s designed to give a leg up to budding entrepreneurs is to be built at Technology Square, in Midtown, with financial aid from Atlanta’s development arm.

Invest Atlanta has agreed to fund up to $70 million in construction costs of a 230-unit building dubbed, “Tech Square Tower (the Entrepreneur Dorm)”. Only three similar dorms exist in the nation, according to Invest Atlanta – at Stanford, Columbia, and New York universities, with one more to open in 2015 at University of Florida.

The concept is to provide turn-key housing for students who hope to develop some sort of innovative idea, as well as for entrepreneurs who have an office at Tech Square. Residents are to mingle and brainstorm and have access to an on-site mentor, according to the presentation to the board of Invest Atlanta.

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Who’s tending the chicken coop? Atlanta activists question sale of public assets to private investors

by David Pendered

The question of who’s tending the public chicken coop is arising as Atlanta moves with all deliberate speed to promote private development around the Falcons stadium and several publicly owned properties in or near downtown Atlanta – including Fort McPherson, the shuttered Army base.

The general public isn’t alone in raising questions. Atlanta City Councilmember Joyce Sheperd made this comment about the potential sale of most of Fort McPherson to filmmaker Tyler Perry: “I’m a little concerned about the fact that I first heard it on the news.”

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Atlanta Streetcar exec says year-old audio message, actual transit service will boost business at nearby shops

by David Pendered

The top executive of the Atlanta Streetcar said an audio message recorded a year ago will be played on the streetcar to advertise shops along the route.

Tim Borchers, the streetcar’s executive director, described the audio message after Atlanta City Councilmember Ivory Lee Young, Jr. asked him how the city can help shopkeepers regain business they claim to have lost during the construction period that started in February 2012.

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Dad’s Garage Theatre to open doors in Old Fourth Ward in late 2016

by David Pendered

Dad’s Garage Theatre is on track to move into a permanent home in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and open its new doors as early as late 2016.

The first of two approvals needed from the Atlanta City Council was tentatively granted Tuesday, by the Community Development Committee. The council’s Zoning Committee is expected to approve the second measure on Wednesday. The full council is to vote on the measures July 21.

Dad’s Garage Theatre plans to purchase, for a price above $2 million, a building that now houses a church and some land that adjoins the church, located at 569 Ezzard Street, Amanda Rhein, who serves on the theatre’s board, said Tuesday.

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Fort McPherson area rich in human rights history, poor in redevelopment

by David Pendered

Juanita Crater knows what she doesn’t want to happen at Fort McPherson – for redevelopment to dawdle so long the federal government decides to use the post to house large numbers of the homeless, or undocumented immigrants.

History both recent and distant underscores the relevance of concerns raised by Crater, a senior citizen of East Point who lives near the fort and is viewed as a local historian. The fort and its surroundings are not thriving; federal law requires the site to house the homeless; the fort has served as a stockade.

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New regional transit trip-planner website growing slowly, as planned

by David Pendered

A new transit website serving metro Atlanta is an example of local agencies responding to an idea many view as sensible, and which results from legislation that wasn’t enacted by the General Assembly.

In the first two weeks after its very soft launch, on July 1, ATLtransit.org has attracted slightly more than 1,000 views.

The website intends to help transit riders plan and pay for trips that involve riding one or more of the region’s transit systems. Four transit systems and ARC decided to build the site even though the Legislature did not vote for the concept brought forward by Sen. Brandon (R-Alpharetta).

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Savannah port to expand trade to imports of South American produce

by David Pendered

Blueberries, grapes and citrus fruits from certain South American countries are to arrive on the docks of Savannah starting Sept. 1 under a pilot program that aims to treat for pests with cold temperatures rather than methods such as fumigation.

The shipments are to begin under a USDA-approved pilot program. The treatment method already is used in states including Florida and California, according to trade publications. In Savannah, the program could bolster the port’s role as a leading way station for food entering and leaving the country.

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