Sunday, March 3, 2019

[OPPORTUNITY] 40 Acre Site in Southeast Atlanta Being Marketed as "The Sawtell"

A forty acre site in southeast Atlanta is being marketed as a "rare infill opportunity" with the potential to reshape a blighted area.  The property, located at 315 McDonough Boulevard in Chosewood Park in Fulton County, is being marketed as "The Sawtell" by ​JLL’s Land & Development Services team.  The property, formerly home to a General Motors (GM) assembly plant (aka Lakewood Plant), bound by McDonough Boulevard and Sawtell Avenue, has in recent years been used as a location for filming the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, among other projects.

According to the city of Atlanta: "Opened in 1927, the plant grew in size from 30 acres to almost 78 acres spread across the railroad tracks into the surrounding neighborhood of South Atlanta. At its height of production, the plant employed nearly 5,000 workers. Consistent with many urban auto plants, the plant began to downsize as newer larger facilities were built in the surrounding region and in 1990 it ceased operation. Since then the site has operated in various other industrial uses, most recently as a recycling center and tractor trailer holding yard."

The offering indicates there are entitlements that allow for development of dense commercial and a variety of residential products, as well as two existing buildings totaling 166,000 sf of rentable space.

The property also has current income from TV & film production leases allowing for carrying out a phased redevelopment while still generating revenue.  

Also noted in the listing is that the property sits within a Federal Opportunity Zone (Census Tract 64), offering would-be equity investors significant tax benefits.

The site is walking distance to The Atlanta BeltLine's Boulevard Crossing Park, a five acre park created in 2011 featuring two multi-purpose activity fields.  

The property is currently zoned MRC-3-C (Mixed Residential Commercial - Conditional) with all utilities available, with excess capacity.

The listing also mentions "significant development activity in the immediate area" but it's unclear to what exactly that refers.  

The property is less than ten miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport but is also less than one mile from the United States Penitentiary.  
The property's size could interest developers like Fuqua Development and North American Properties, both known for large scale mixed use developments. 

For reference, Fuqua Development's upcoming Madison Yards project in Reynoldstown, a redevelopment of the former Leggett & Platt mattress factory, is 17 acres.

Assembly Yards, the name of the Doraville project on the site of another former General Motors assembly plant, is located adjacent to the Doraville MARTA station and along I-285, both factors in making it attractive to developers.  In all, the 130 acre, 10 million square foot redevelopment will include some 240,000 square feet of restaurants, retail & entertainment space, as well as office, mercantile, loft housing, hotel space, as well as 8 acres of park/green space. The property is already home of Third Rail Studios - Film & Television Production Studio.    

The offering indicates that all offers are due by March 28th, 2019


What would you like to see happen to this huge property?  What developer would you like to see take on this project?  Are you excited for Assembly Yards? 

Please share your thoughts below?  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a pretty interesting time in Atlanta to see all these areas redevelop. I would personally like to see more housing and commercial space to support the neighborhood. New grocery store and casual restaurants would be great.

A new urbanist residential development would be cool. Kind of like the stuff you see in the upper westside.

Unknown said...

Agree. Have lived in Chosewood Park now for 15 year's the time is right. So much happening in our neighborhood. Excited!

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