Here's your first look at what the area around Turner Field could become under a redevelopment plan by Georgia State University and the private development team of Atlanta-based Carter and Oakwood Development.
On Tuesday, Georgia State University and the private development team that acquired the former Atlanta Braves stadium near downtown showed off new renderings showing the design concepts of what they hope to build on the 68-acre site. The partners also unveiled more details about what they plan to build and when.
Georgia State University and a private development team closed Thursday on their $30 million purchase of the ballpark and surrounding parking lots, completing the long-simmering deal and marking a new era for The Ted and the neighborhoods around it.
Georgia State, whose football team has spent its first few seasons at the Georgia Dome, plans to play at The Ted this fall. The first phase of stadium renovation is expected to start next month.
A broader overhaul of Turner Field is expected before the Panthers play their second football season in 2018. Georgia State's athletic offices and the school's hospitality program also will be based at the stadium.
A new Georgia State baseball field that will include aspects honoring the legacy of the Atlanta Braves and Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron will be built after Turner Field is finished, Georgia State University President Mark Becker said.
Georgia State athletics will be one focus of the project, but so will residential and commercial development, backers say, bringing a more consistent stream of residents and workers to help support the mixed-use project. The aim is to bring back life to some of the city's oldest neighborhoods.
Among the initial features:
-Carter and its private partners are in the process of acquiring more than four acres and about eight buildings along Georgia Avenue that will be restored starting this year with neighborhood retail, potentially including local restaurants and a coffee shop.
-Also this year, the private development team plans to start construction on a 850-bed private student housing complex along the Downtown Connector near The Ted and a 200-unit apartment project with ground-floor retail at the northeast corner of Georgia Avenue and Hank Aaron Drive. The student housing complex will take two years to build, while the first apartment project will take about 18 months.
-Sections of the site plan envision later phases to include larger office buildings to woo potential corporate expansions and relocations. The development partners also envision space for the region's burgeoning startup scene
Carter President Scott Taylor said his firm wants to have retail and restaurant tenants in the Georgia Avenue buildings starting this fall, and the partners plan events to help bring activity to the site.
His firm and Georgia State will also be heavy advocates for extending light rail to the site from downtown under the recently approved MARTA sales tax initiative. A line that would connect downtown to the Beltline down Hank Aaron Drive is one potential project on the MARTA expansion list.
Each of the design concepts for the project, Taylor said, incorporates elements of a community-driven design process called a Livable Centers Initiative that was steered by the city, the Atlanta Regional Commission and the surrounding neighborhoods.
