http://www.bisnow.com/commercial-real-estate/atlanta/new-hotel-tax-for-sports-arena/
New Hotel Tax
for Arena?
The former GoldKist HQ site could become a
sports complex, featuring ALTA-rated
tennis courts,
soccer,
and
lacrosse fields. (Good luck getting the soccer fans to respond to "quiet please' from the tennis refs.) That is, if the Mayor of Dunwoody's
vision comes to fruition.
Dunwoody Mayor
Mike Davis exclusively shared his plan for the GoldKist building at 244 Perimeter Center East with us. He wants to propose
raising the Dunwoody hotel tax to 8% and use the extra proceeds (projected to be more than $1M/year) to
buy the 262k SF empty office building
that sits on more than 15 acres fronting I-285. The city would then
raze it to make way for the sports facility that could house
up to 20 tennis courts,
Mike says: "Every time I drive by that property, I think, 'Boy, it
would be good for the city to own it." The site could be ideal to draw
big tennis events, Mike says, given its proximity to MARTA, surrounding
hotels, retail, and restaurants. (Imagine Roger Federer strolling down
the streets of Dunwoody before a match.) "I don't think we consider it
an
albatross. I think we consider it an
opportunity."
Mike spoke with us
yesterday morning
after participating in a Jones Lang LaSalle panel focused on economic
development and outlook at the St. Regis. The former GoldKist HQ
(above)—which was
vacated by the company last year after its merger with Pilgrim's Pride and placed on the
market with Binswanger—is one of the
last big blocks of contiguous office space
left in Central Perimeter. And as such, it has generated interest from
both potential users and investors, some of whom have eyed it as a
potential multifamily site.
