Weather Channel Seeks Riverwalk-Style Tax Breaks

The potential tax breaks being offered to a planned $100 million development in the Cumberland Community Improvement District have other businesses with expansion plans in a stormy mood.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports that the Weather Channel, which has been in the Cobb County area since 1996, is considering packing up and moving away if they do not receive some sort of tax considerations for a proposed $90 million expansion.

Plans for the expansion include a new parking deck, the hiring of 288 new employees making $75,000 a year on average, and improved office and TV studio space.

However, Weather Channel financial officials want to get some of the same deals that Greenstone Properties, the developer of record for Riverwalk, could be getting from Cobb County.

E-mails obtained by the MDJ between executives at The Weather Channel and the Cobb Chamber of Commerce revealed that The Weather Channel is looking for "compelling incentives" to stay in the county, especially with respects to the new parking deck. The Weather Channel feels that a tax abatement similar to the one proposed for Riverwalk would be cost-prohibitive.

Cobb County Chairman Tim Lee has admitted that The Weather Channel faces challenges if they want to stay in the county, but said discussions between the channel and the government have been in progress for over a month.