The board of the public authority that’s overseeing the redevelopment of Fort McPherson met Thursday for the first time in four months. Its executive director was not present and board members asked about getting more information before they vote on a milestone plan for 145 acres of reconstruction.
Tag: Fort McPherson
Posted inColumns
The sad saga of Fort Mac continues – same stuff, different day
Something funky is going on at Fort McPherson – again.
This time it involves the 145 acres under the control of the McPherson Implementating Local Redevelopment Authority.
Posted inLatest News
Gov. Deal brings under-powered Fort McPherson board up to full strength
Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed nine members to the under-represented board that oversees the redevelopment of Fort McPherson, including seven new members and two current members whom Deal reappointed. The seven new members include the spouse of an influential state senator, a Fulton County commissioner, a veteran housing executive and the Atlanta mayor’s chief of staff.
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
The New Normal – Niche Organizations Creating Macro Impact
Tiffany LaTrice, Executive Director, TILA StudiosAccording to Forbes, “one of the biggest media trends of 2018 is going to be the growth of niche content…rather than pursuing a traditional strategy.” Just like major brands target small, niche communities, the art community is pivoting to do the same. The truth is that creatives, art historians, critics, […]
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta City Council candidate Q and A: District 12
Atlanta City Council District 12’s incumbent councilwoman faces three challengers in this year’s election to represent an area that runs from Pittsburgh and Fort McPherson all the way south and east to the city limits.
Posted inLatest News
Fort McPherson signs first tenant
Movie mogul Tyler Perry and the veterans’ medical campus at Fort McPherson are getting a new neighbor: the Wolf Idea Group is setting up headquarters and a showroom at the shuttered U.S. Army post in southwest Atlanta.
Posted inStories of Atlanta
First, it kept an eye on the people of Atlanta
For time after the Civil War, Atlantans found themselves living under military occupation. In fact, the government built barracks close to downtown which housed Federal troops for that specific purpose. You probably know the name….
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Atlanta BeltLine seeks ideas to jumpstart redevelopment at Murphy Triangle, next to Westside Trail
Three years after no one offered to buy the old Atlanta Farmers Market, in southwest Atlanta, the Atlanta BeltLine is seeking a full analysis of what will be necessary to kindle redevelopment of the market parcel and adjacent neighborhoods.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Fort McPherson to open Saturday for fall festival, workshop to plan area redevelopment
The second community workshop to discuss the long-range plans for redeveloping Fort McPherson and its surroundings is scheduled for Saturday and is to coincide with a fall festival that’s aimed at building good will with the community.
Posted inMain Slider, Stories of Atlanta
He used his time at Fort McPherson to do something he’d always wanted to do
Leonard Wood was what some people would describe as an overachiever. Born in 1860, he lived for 67 years and, from the evidence of his life, it is clear that he was, at the very least, a motivated man. Wood began his adult life as a Harvard educated surgeon and he put that education to […]
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Tyler Perry met May 4 with Fort McPherson group; sale to him is “imminent”
The sale of most of Fort McPherson to filmmaker Tyler Perry is “imminent,” and Perry met with area residents May 4 to discuss their concerns for how his future complex will relate to the neighborhood.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Fort McPherson wins ARC grant to update area master plan as Tyler Perry studio deal unfolds
As Tyler Perry prepares to purchase most of Fort McPherson, the Atlanta Regional Commission on Wednesday provided a $60,000 grant to update a 2004 master plan for the surrounding area.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Fort McPherson: “No deal is currently imminent,” Army lawyer says
The Army that still owns Fort McPherson and a state authority that wants to buy the fort, and flip most of it to filmmaker Tyler Perry, disagreed Friday in federal court over a critical point: When will the deal close?
The judge seemed to think the date important. A lawyer for the Army said: “No deal is currently imminent.”
The comments in U.S. District Court in Atlanta were the latest contortion in the proposed reuse of a military base whose decommissioning happened to occur at the end of the great recession. After eight years of digging a dry well in search of developers with money to invest, the state authority tasked with crafting a civilian use for the fort is caught between two film studios that see profits in a film industry burgeoning because of state tax incentives.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Tyler Perry hearing involves high flyers of Atlanta’s bar debating rights to build studios at Ft. McPherson
A star-studded group of lawyers is set to appear Friday in federal court in Atlanta to begin the debate over whether Tyler Perry got a sweetheart deal to buy most of Fort McPherson to build a film studio.
Positioned against Perry as the plaintiff’s lawyer is Tony Axam, a noted death penalty attorney who once was called to serve on the defense team of convicted serial killer Wayne Williams – until Williams fired him without explanation at the outset. Axam specializes in complex business litigation, as well as capital and criminal defense.
Leading Perry’s defense is Larry Dingle, a former Atlanta police officer who earned his law degree from Georgia State and rose through the ranks at Atlanta City Hall during the terms of former mayors Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young to the positions of department head and city clerk. Dingle specializes in local government law and land use.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Tyler Perry’s studio plans must connect with federal requirements to serve, house homeless
Tyler Perry’s plans to build film studios at Fort McPherson must coexist with plans to help the homeless that were submitted to the federal government before the great recession and approved in 2011.
The post-recession economy has created challenges to comply with the original homeless plan. Business models that were to pay for the housing may no longer exist. Some service providers and regulatory agencies may have changed their focus.
Consequently, the plan will be implemented in ways that are yet to be determined, according to members of the state authority overseeing the fort’s conversion to civilian use – including the sale of 325 acres to the filmmaker for $30 million.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Board outlines Fort McPherson deal; munitions remediation to affect $10 million of Tyler Perry’s payments
The board overseeing the redevelopment of Fort McPherson offered an olive branch to the residents of the adjacent community Monday. The reception was chilly, at best.
“What is being done really doesn’t pass the smell test,” said West End resident Kay Wallace. “Come on, guys. We deserve better and you’ve got to give us better.”
One issue that was barely mentioned in a long-awaited presentation on the pending deal to sell most of the fort to filmmaker Tyler Perry is the status of fort’s environmental clean-up. A portion of Perry’s payments will be collected based on when the Army remediates the property and turns it over for civilian use, according to a lawyer for the board.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Races for governor, Senate could affect Tyler Perry’s purchase plans
The implications on the races for Georgia’s governor and U.S. senator of the Tyler Perry proposal to buy most of Fort McPherson may be starting to take shape.
The election is less than three weeks after Perry’s tentatively scheduled closing, on Oct. 15, for 330 acres of the fort. If Gov. Nathan Deal loses to Sen. Jason Carter, or if Michelle Nunn wins a Senate seat, there’s a chance that either victor may intervene to slow Perry’s deal.
At least, that’s the thought among some involved with the growing community protest that’s taking shape with an eye to slowing Perry’s project. And that’s why the size of the crowd that attended a forum last week is relevant.
