Doraville Assembly Site Needs TAD
We all know that the future of our society always rests in the hands of our children.
We have done good things and bad things up to this point. It will be up to the children and young adults behind us to continue good work, create new ideas, and in some cases fix some wrongs we have done.
The key to this success is that kids have a good, great, fantastic enviornment in which to learn. That enviornment comes with excellent school facilities, lead by fantastic teachers.
Yet the future development of the Doraville Assembly site seems to rest on the very people that are "somewhat" in charge of that success....the Dekalb County School Board.
There seems to be this continued notion that to support a tax allocation district (TAD) will take money away from the school system and the very children it is supposed to educate and grow!
Can we just call hog wash....hog wash?
A TAD is funded by the incremental tax REVENUE that comes from the redevelopment of a property. In this case, 140 some acres, sitting ever so close, yet so far away from the Doraville MARTA station.
Do that math. 140 VACANT acres produce how much tax revenue?
Do the math. 140 DEVELOPED acres with office, residential, retail and more produce how much tax revenue?
And where do a majority of those tax revenues in either case go? To the schools. To the kids. To our future and theirs.
Opponents keep throwing out "there is no development plan for Assembly Doraville." Nothing could be further from the truth. Zoning has been put in place, along with a street grid. Housing will go where allowed. Office buildings will go where allowed. Is a 24-story, 800,000 sq.ft. building planned for the corner of street "A" and street "B?" No. And this is exactly what makes the Assembly Doraville site a crown jewel in the eyes of developers and corporate tenants alike.
They are not being FORCED into that 24-story building. Maybe then need two 12-story buildings with an open space between them for a employee think-tank colerbation space. But they can't create that in a space that already has a 24-story building there. This makes the blank canvas, if you will, of the Assembly Site the perfect opportunity to get it right. In every sense of the development world. To be connected to a MARTA station on the outlying edges of the City of Atlanta. A straight line transit ride from Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. For those that must still rely on their automobile (the transit debate, or lack thereof is for another time and place) can reach the area via I-85 and I-285.
The second busiest airport in the state of Georgia, Dekalb-Peachtree Airport is just a few miles away...making the accessibility of busy executives that much easier.
References are made to Atlantic Station and that it had a "plan" for office buildings, etc. Well, again, kinda hog wash. Might I remind you, two of the "holes" where buildings can be built sat vacant, and one IS STILL a hole. (The photo on the left is BEFORE The Atlantic Condominiums was built, and the BB&T building is under construction. Remaining hole is to left of construction crane!) So, they have a bit of blank canvas too....although that hole will dictate the footprint of that building and what can be built there. By the way, have you bothered to look at the VACANT land at Atlantic Station that has yet to be developed? It might be in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, but we all know what the Downtown Connector can look like. Imagine many of those cars not making it past I-285 as they head to new corporate centers at Assembly Doraville.
We all know that the future of our society always rests in the hands of our children.
In this case, no.
The future of our children's education in DeKalb County rests on the shoulders of the DeKalb County School Board.
Let's see how well the guide and protect it.
Here are links to recent stories related to the Development:
Doraville GM Site Development Awaits Final Yes
Clarifying Misconceptions about the Assembly TAD - Mayor Donna Pittman - City of Doraville
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