The Atlanta Braves stadium project has been a hotbed of activity over the past month, with several new developments in the ongoing effort to build the facilities needed to support the team’s move to Cobb County next year.
The most recent development was the approval of a $9 million – at current estimates – bridge to link SunTrust Park, the Braves’ new stadium, to the 60-acre mixed-use development planned nearby. Unanimously approved by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners on July 28, the preliminary design of the bridge shows a 1,100-foot, single-decker structure stretching across 285, from Circle 75 to Cobb Galleria Centre. It includes a lane for pedestrians, a single lane for a shuttle bus, and possibly a bike lane. A wall would separate the pedestrian and shuttle lanes.
Still Some Unknowns
While Cobb County Commissioner Tim Lee has said that he expects the bridge’s estimated $6-9 million cost to remain unchanged, the definitive cost will not be known until the design is finalized in the fourth quarter of 2015. Moreover, who will pay for the bridge is still undecided. The county is seeking state and federal funding for the project, and Cobb is hoping that a federal grant will pay for most of the cost, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.
The bridge’s cost and who will bear it are not the only unknowns swirling around the project. The bridge is not likely to be complete until September 2017—five months after baseball season begins. How the Braves and Cobb County will manage game-day traffic without it – in an already congested area – is unclear, although a Braves official has assured the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that contingency plans are underway. Sold-out games are expected to draw an additional 25,000 cars to the area around the stadium, and about 16,000 people will need to cross Cobb Parkway to get to the site, the AJC reports.
Other Projects
On a brighter note, July brought two more Braves-related announcements: the baseball team is partnering with concert promoter Live Nation to revive Atlanta’s iconic Roxy Theater, and a new, 28-home subdivision has been approved for construction on a 4.2-acre tract off Cumberland Parkway near Interstate 285, 3 miles south of SunTrust Park.
Before its demolition in the 1970s, the original Roxy was a movie theater on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. The new Roxy will be located outside the gates of SunTrust Park and will accommodate as many as 4,000 people. Live Nation will operate and book the theater, which is expected to host about 40 shows a year. Plans for the venue have raised congestion concerns again, but Derek Schiller of the Braves is confident that upcoming improvements to nearby intersections, the widening of Cobb Parkway, and managed lanes on I-75 will adequately address any congestion issues, WSB TV reports.
Construction of the new 28-home subdivision is scheduled to begin later this year, according to a spokesman for Atlanta developer Pulte Home Corporation. The project is expected to be complete within 12 to 18 months. The two-story townhomes will be 2,500 square feet or larger with two-car garages. Prices will start at $300,000.
Starting to Get Real
With these projects and others announced earlier this year—most notably the Omni hotel and the office tower for Comcast—the mixed-use development surrounding the stadium is truly starting to take shape. Announced in April, the 260-room, 16-story Omni Northwest Atlanta Hotel will provide 12,500 square feet of meeting space, a signature restaurant, an elevated pool deck and a bar overlooking the plaza and ballpark, says the Atlanta Business Chronicle. It is slated to break ground later this year.
The April revelation about the Omni came just a month after the Braves announced their multi-year partnership with cable provider Comcast, which will anchor a new, nine-story office tower at SunTrust Park. The tower will house about 1,000 employees. Through the partnership agreement, Comcast will provide video, voice, and high-speed Internet connectivity throughout the 60-acre mixed-use project.
As all of these projects get underway, what once sounded like a sweeping, perhaps overly ambitious plan seems to be turning into a reality. If congestion problems can be solved, Cobb County may yet realize the transformation long promised by the county officials who negotiated the Braves deal.
Blog contributed by Billy Hobbs, Managing Principal of Cresa Atlanta. Billy has focused 27 years of his career on tenant advocacy. He is not only a resident of Cobb County but also an expert in the Northwest Cumberland office submarket. For more information, contact Billy at bhobbs@cresa.com or 404-446-1579.