Sports Atlanta’s Economic Engine?
Georgia State’s $300 million plan for Turner Field adds yet another sports-related economic development to metro Atlanta’s lineup.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that Georgia State wants to buy the Turner Field property being vacated by the Braves to build a 30,000-seat football stadium, a baseball stadium, academic buildings, dorms and an adjoining housing and business development. The GSU plan would be developed in conjunction with Carter and Columbia Residential, the AJC said.
The Georgia State plan would join the Braves’ construction of a new stadium and mixed-use development in Cobb County and the Falcons’ new stadium in downtown Atlanta.
Despite rosy projections of sports-teams owners and city officials that stadiums boost local economies, economists say that such sports projects bring more strikeouts than home runs.
The area surrounding the Ted never received the economic boost projected when the Braves stadium was converted from the 1996 Olympics stadium.
The Georgia State plan for the Turner Field site along with the Braves plans for the Cumberland Mall area change the equation. Unlike many stadium plans, such as the Falcons’, Georgia State and the Braves will take control of development in the surrounding area, not depending on market forces. The Braves purchased property surrounding the Cobb stadium and will develop its own mixed-use development, as will Georgia State.
In contrast, the NFL Falcons aren’t planning to develop property surrounding its sleek new stadium, which will replace the Georgia Dome, although Falcons owner Arthur Blank is donating millions to community development. Instead, the surrounding economically depressed area will have to depend on the not-always-so-reliable marketplace.
A compact stadium will likely prove beneficial for Georgia State’s young football program, which struggled to attract fans to the cavernous Georgia Dome. A move to the new Falcons stadium held even less appeal.
The plan for a 30,000-seat stadium will allow the program to slowly develop a fan base, particularly if the Panthers can start winning. Still, Georgia State will compete with the long-established Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, along with a new Kennesaw State football team. The brutal fight for fans’ dollars also includes the Braves, Falcons and the Hawks, along with a new major league soccer team.
The proposal for Georgia State to buy Turner Field from the city would take away the lingering sting from Mayor Kasim Reed’s failure to keep the Braves in the city.
But is Atlanta over-engorging on mixed-use developments? As AJC writer Kyle Wingfield suggested in a recent series of columns, the metro area could be overextended on such plans.
Sam Nunn Shoots for Michelle
Sen. Sam Nunn has stayed away from politics since leaving the Senate. But he recently appeared in a commercial for his daughter, Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn.
The commercial drolly noted Sam Nunn’s basketball stardom at Perry High School rather than his reputation as a foreign policy and nuclear-arms intellectual. Once international expertise mattered more in Senate campaigns. Michelle’s basketball past, not as stellar as Sam’s, is also highlighted in the spot, introduced by former Hawks shot-blocker Dikembe Mutombo.
Meanwhile, Michelle Nunn’s centrist campaign is costing her the support of the Democrats’ most liberal wing. With her approval of the XL Pipeline to transport oil from Canada, Michelle Nunn failed to land the endorsement of Atlanta Progressive News, which instead tapped Steen Mills. The APN did endorse Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter, Jimmy’s grandson, although Jason in the State Senate voted for legislation allowing possession of guns in Georgia’s bars and schools.
