Mayor Bottoms To Present New Gulch Redevelopment Plan

ATLANTA— Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will present an amended Gulch proposal to the Atlanta City Council that will eliminate the planned 10-year extension of the Westside Tax Allocation District (TAD). The mayor's office made the announcement Monday morning in a press release. Bottoms has been trying to get city leaders' approval for months on her plans to develop the massive piece of downtown property that is between State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“After several months of negotiations, recent public statements by Atlanta Public Schools have reflected their unwillingness to reasonably partner with the city on the Gulch. Thus, the administration has worked with CIM to remove the extension of the Westside TAD as a part of our agreement,” said Bottoms.

“The independent firm referred by the Georgia Municipal Association, Springsted, has provided an assessment based upon this scenario," she said. "Springsted concluded that the assumptions, analysis and results presented in the various documents they reviewed were reasonable, even where they would have utilized different assumptions. While their assumptions are based upon an even more conservative assumption and analysis than anticipated by the city, their findings confirm that the administration has negotiated a sound agreement on behalf of Atlanta. I trust this assessment will address concerns about the thoughtful work and recommendations already provided by our internal and external team of experts.”

Last week, Bottoms tabled her administration's plans for developing the Gulch so the city council can further study her plans. Bottoms announced the city had reached a proposed agreement with CIM Spring St. for the Gulch's development, which would have required approval from the city council. The agreement includes both the exchange of real property and numerous public purpose initiatives that support the city's goals with regard to affordable housing, public safety and economic development.

The mayor is arguing the proposed agreement with CIM represents "an historic and unprecedented opportunity to bring much needed investment and redevelopment to the heart of downtown Atlanta. The project would not only increase the city's tax base and create thousands of permanent jobs, it would also reserve up to 30-percent of the units for affordable housing," her office said.

"It would also allocate tens of millions of dollars from the developer for affordability and other initiatives citywide."

CIM Group has pitched a $1 billion concept for redeveloping 27 acres downtown into a mix of offices, stores, restaurants and residential units. The development would be in and around The Gulch, a spot now dominated by parking lots near Philips Arena, CNN Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The development would include private streets like those metro Atlanta residents would recognize from Atlantic Station in Midtown. It would include more than 9 million square feet of office space, 1 million square feet of retail and restaurants, 1,000 residential units and 1,500 hotel rooms

More Gulch coverage from Patch

• Atlanta Mayor Rallying Support For Massive Gulch
• Massive Downtown ATL Development Would Work For Amazon
• Atlanta Mayor Delays Redevelopment Of The Gulch

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