Two Proposals for Fort McPherson Development

ATLANTA BUSINESS NEWS,  Tuesday, January 10, 2012

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two groups of developers submitted packages Tuesday outlining their qualifications and visions for developing a 104-acre segment of the now-closed Fort McPherson in south Fulton County. One team includes Cousins Properties, The Integral Group and Forest City Enterprises and the other a paring of Atlanta developers Carter and H. J. Russell & Co.

Next week the McPherson Redevelopment Authority will name a committee that will decide which group will develop the first segment of the entire 488-acre tract that was home of the the U.S. Army Forces Command and the headquarters of the Army Reserve Command. The garrison was closed in September.

The plan for the 104 acres includes a Veterans Administration medical clinic that is already in place and a proposed bio-science research and development center. The overall vision for the property is to preserve 40 existing historic structures, add residential units and build a 30-acre event-festival space.

The final plan must meet the Army’s requirements. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development gave its approval in September. And the state has already designated the property an “opportunity zone,” which provides for tax credits for five years for each job created.

Last year, the Cousins-Integral-Forest City team was selected to design a major transportation hub on the largest undeveloped tract of land in downtown Atlanta, an area known as the “gulch.”

H. J. Russell is one of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses and Carter is an Atlanta-based firm that focuses on urban mixed-use and multifamily projects.