Local

Fort Mac Board Tries To Jump-Start Redevelopment Of Former Army Post

August 27th, 2019

A lack of progress in the redevelopment of Fort McPherson in southwest Atlanta has frustrated many residents in nearby neighborhoods.

Earlier this month, the Atlanta City Council approved spending an additional $1.3 million to help keep the Fort Mac Local Redevelopment Authority going.

And a board meeting Monday for the agency in charge of redeveloping the former Army post even brought input from Atlanta’s mayor.

Keisha Lance Bottoms showed up and talked with board members for an hour behind closed doors.

“I can just say that the mayor wanted to be present here today,” Fort Mac LRA board Chairman Cassius Butts said. “We appreciate her coming here today. It does show that she’s very concerned and supportive of southwest Atlanta and, particularly, this particular community.”

Mayor Bottoms quickly left the meeting without answering questions from the press.

Later in the meeting, the board approved the sale of the former forces command building. It will be the new home for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Atlanta offices.

The board also said, for now, it is still negotiating with developer Stephen Macauley. He had a plan to develop the remaining 144 acres of the site, but the project has stalled.

“As of right now, there have been no changes from our last board meeting to this board meeting. He [Macauley] is still the current developer,” Butts said.

The board did authorize interim Executive Director Alan Ferguson to negotiate a so-called “break up” agreement in the event that Macauley wanted to walk away from the deal.

This meeting could also potentially have been the last for Butts. He submitted his resignation as board chair nearly a month ago but agreed to run Monday’s meeting.