[ad_1]
A year after conflict arose in DeKalb County over a tax break for a Brookhaven project, DeKalb County’s Development Authority has approved a $15 million abatement for the project.
The development authority, Decide DeKalb, approved the incentive on Oct. 13 for a $160 million project called Manor Druid Hills, according to a press release. The project is located at the intersection of Briarcliff and North Druid Hills Roads, and includes 381 apartments with 20% of units to be affordable housing, 55,000 square feet of medical office space, and a 140-room hotel with long term stay suites available for patients at the neighboring Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta campus.
The Brookhaven City Council annexed the 26-acre site for the development in October 2020.
The developer, Related Group LLC, originally approached Decide DeKalb for the abatement in 2021, but withdrew after considerable pushback from county officials and the school district. They later asked the Brookhaven Development Authority for the incentive, but the authority never approved the deal.
“A development of this size is important to our economic ecosystem in DeKalb County,” said
Decide DeKalb Board Chair Don Bolia in the press release. “Related Group has thoughtfully designed Manor Druid Hills to serve the needs of our residents and surrounding businesses, from the hospital, such as the need for more medical offices and a hotel, to the teachers, firefighters and police officers and others who can benefit from having access to more affordable housing.”
Decide DeKalb estimates that taxes paid on the Manor Druid Hills project over 20 years will exceed $25 million, with $13 million going to the school board, $7 million to DeKalb County, and $6.8 million to Brookhaven.
When the project was originally slated to go before Decide DeKalb in 2021, County Commissioner Jeff Rader sent an email calling on residents to speak out against the tax break, and called tax abatements an “attack” on the school system and a “threat to taxable businesses.”
Development authorities have run into conflict with DeKalb County and the school district in the past. Property taxes make up a significant portion of the school district’s revenue, but it does not have a say in how development authorities make decisions on tax breaks.
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver previously filed legislation that would allow for school districts to have more of a say in the abatement process. The bill did not pass, and Oliver did respond to requests for comment or questions about whether she plans to reintroduce the bill.
In an emailed comment, Rader said he was disappointed that the development authority reintroduced and approved the tax break.
“This type of project should not receive incentives. We are not competing with any other location to attract apartments, hotel rooms, and medical offices directly adjacent to a $1 billion dollars plus tax exempt medical center,” he said. “The development is inevitable and won’t go elsewhere, because the market is hyper local. All their analysis that purports to show a ‘net benefit’ depends on the assumption that it wouldn’t happen without the incentive.”
According to the press release, construction is expected to begin in spring of 2023.
[ad_2]
Source link
