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Georgia
EPA Administrator Johnson Calls Atlantic Station ''Model for Rest of the Nation''
Made possible by strong public-private partnership involving the U.S. EPA and several Georgia, Atlanta and local agencies, the $2 billion transformation of the 138-acre former steel-mill site in Midtown Atlanta into one of the region's hottest, pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented ''live-work-play'' addresses has became a prime example of Smart Growth and brownfield redevelopment strategies, with EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson saying at its grand opening preview on October 18, ''The Atlantic Station collaboration is a model for the rest of the nation in providing cleaner air, purer water, better protected land, and a sustainable, competitive economy.''
At the project's outset in 1998, ''the stars were really aligned,'' said its chief developer Jim Jacoby, who brought in American International Group (AIG) Global Real Estate Investment Corp. as the top investor, stressing that without the subsequent ''teamwork among the public, private and investments sides ... Atlantic Station wouldn't have happened.''
One key to breaking ground in 2000, notes Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Stacy Shelton, was federal help in site cleanup and in testing adjacent properties for lead in the soil. The site ''was a lot cleaner'' than expected and underground water monitoring shows no residual problems, observed company senior vice president Scott Condra, with EPA spokesman Carl Terry adding that only about 20 adjacent lots still need clean soil cover.
Another key to the project's success, reports writer David Penderd, was approval of its special tax district by the Atlanta City Council, Fulton County Commission and Atlanta school board. Pointing out that besides cleaning up the site, the developers ''met our affordable housing goals'' and continue to build less costly units, Fulton County Commissioner Emma Darnell said, ''What we gave up in property taxes is more than compensated by what this project has done for all of Fulton County.''
The market has affirmed both private and public investment in Atlantic Station. The writer notes that housing units are sold before construction starts, that Jim Jacoby thinks rising values may drive up Atlantic Station's worth to $4 billion upon completion, and that the site, which paid about $300,000 annually as a steel mill, will pay some $8 million this year and $25 million in 2010, all this before adding new sales taxes from the retail and entertainment district, opening on October 20. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. EPA 10/18/2005
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