DORAVILLE, GA. — Following more than 18 months of negotiations, Orlando, Fla.-based New Broad Street Cos. has reached an agreement with General Motors to purchase and redevelop the automaker's former assembly plant located in the Atlanta suburb of Doraville. Terms of the deal are confidential, but it is expected to close in early summer.
When production at the plant ceased in September 2008, many developers saw the potential of the 165-acre site. The location is ideal. The auto plant sits adjacent to a major highway, Interstate 285; a major thoroughfare into Atlanta, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard; and a train stop on Atlanta's MARTA public transit system.
“This is the best urban infill site in the country for a large transit-oriented development,” said David Pace, president of New Broad Street, in a statement. “It will be clean and green, incorporating environmental remediation of the former industrial site with the best practices for sustainable development.”
New Broad Street has a reputation for large-scale, mixed-use redevelopments. Its most notable project is Baldwin Park, a redevelopment of the former Orlando Naval Training Center into an 1,100-acre community containing more than 4,400 residential units, 1 million square feet of commercial space and 200 acres of parks. The project began in 2001 and is expected to be complete in 2014.
CB Richard Ellis acted as advisor to General Motors in negotiations.
— Coleman Wood