DeKalb Agrees to Help Rehab GM Plant Site in Doraville

DORAVILLE, GA – DeKalb County will contribute funds to redevelop the site where the General Motors plant once stood in Doraville, the county announced this week.

The plan calls for a partnership with the city of Doraville that would allocate up to $180 million in county funds for infrastructure upgrades around the property.

The GM plant, once a major job creator for the region, shuttered in 2008. The plant was demolished in 2015.

In recent years, the site had been eyed for a mixed-used development featuring office and residential space along with retail and movie studios.

In the DeKalb-Doraville proposal, funds would come from tax revenue in the formation of a tax allocation district (TAD), which includes the old plant property.

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to approve a plan.

“I want to express the full and complete support by the administration for the acceptance of this intergovernmental agreement between Doraville and the county,” DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said in a news release. “We believe that the Assembly project is one that will have a tremendously positive impact, not just in DeKalb County, but throughout the metro Atlanta region.”

TAD funding has been used to great effect inside the perimeter, spurring high-density commercial development, especially downtown around the route of the Atlanta Streetcar.

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Other TAD projects in DeKalb include a covered street leading to the MARTA station, 1,500 parking spaces, a campus square and park furnishings among other things.

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