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Stadium District to help Atlanta Braves gain fans

By
Real Estate Agent with Path & Post Real Estate
As a life long Braves fan, I will always support my home team. However, the Braves don't always get the fan support they deserve from the City of Atlanta.

The Braves won 14 straight division titles, a feat that will likely never be matched by any professional sport team...ever, and yet the national media mocks the Braves fan base. The Braves have fielded at least 5 future Hall of Famers over the last 15 years, and still the City of Atlanta gets criticized for not supporting the Braves. The Braves have had multiple MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, ERA Title, Saves Title, and Home Run Title award winners, and the stadium is still rarely packed full. Why doesn't a city of 4 Million+ people better support a super-succesful team?

Chicago Cubs sell out every game and they can't win anything. The Boston Red Sox are the hottest ticket in town and they had a 90+ year curse on their team. The Braves win and win with superstars, but the city rearely rallies around them.

The reason for is...because the stadium has always been located on an island. There is no vibrant district surrounding the stadium to enjoy before or after the game. Our public transportation (MARTA) does not even have trains that run to the stadium and parking is a nightmare. If there were shops, bars and things to do around the stadium, then going to the Braves game becomes and event, not an effort. (see Chicago and Boston for how to create a great stadium district)

All of the past problems could change with the announcement of a possible Stadium District by the City of Atlanta. The district would cover nearly 400 acres and is expected to be devleoped with projects worth more than $1 billion.

The AJC reports..

City envisions neighborhood to replace stadium parking

The parking lots around Turner Field could be redeveloped into a destination themselves, a mix of retail, office and residential development, if Atlanta officials are successful in their plan to create a special district to lure investment.

The proposal envisions nearly 400 acres around Turner Field being turned into a new town center, in part using the vast surface parking lots now used by Braves fans. Those 43 acres that now accommodate nearly 9,000 vehicles could be covered with residences, shops, office buildings and maybe a hotel. About 10,000 spaces would be provided in new parking decks.

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"The strategy is to take the surface parking and concentrate those spaces in parking decks, and free up the rest of the land for quality development," said Greg Giornelli, president of the Atlanta Development Authority, the city's development arm.


To help develop the parking lots and other property around Turner Field, the city wants to create a tax allocation district similar to one that helped pay for Atlantic Station and one that is to help build the trails, transit and parks along the Beltline.

The city would sell bonds to build the parking decks. The new open space is expected to attract developers whose projects would increase the amount of property taxes collected in the area. The additional taxes would pay off the bonds. City taxpayers are not on the hook to repay the bonds if development fails to generate enough taxes to cover the payments —- but the investors who bought the bonds would be out of luck.

Giornelli said there were no specific plans for what would be built, and where, around Turner Field.

The stadium redevelopment plan is part of Atlanta's broader renewal program for more than 3,600 acres in blighted neighborhoods. Atlanta intends to create three special tax districts to restore portions of Metropolitan Parkway, Campbellton Road and a corridor flanked by Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The Atlanta City Council is expected to approve the four districts Monday.


The state limits local governments to putting no more than 10 percent of their tax digest into special tax districts.

Atlanta is so close to that limit that 2006 may be the last year to create additional tax districts, according to the Atlanta Development Authority.

Comments (1)

Leigh Brown
Leigh Brown & Associates, RE/MAX Executive - Charlotte, NC
CEO, Dream Maker - Charlotte, NC
i hope this doesn't kill the hotdog vendors in the parking lots outside the stadium selling dogs for 'discounts before you get inside'! =)
Nov 21, 2006 01:43 AM