Gulch redevelopment incentives could climb to $1 billion or more

Incentives pitched for Los Angeles-based CIM Group to revitalize the Gulch could end up making the $700 million in public funding used to build Mercedes-Benz Stadium look like small potatoes.

This week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed it had come across a document signaling that, if CIM Group can promise to develop $3.5 billion worth of office buildings, hotels, apartments, and retail in the downtown concrete desert, $900 million of public financing could be at the company’s disposal.

But, the paper reported, those incentives might even break the $1 billion mark.

If CIM Group, which has been working to buy big swaths of the Gulch, can create a full $5 billion worth of development, the public financing might spike to some $1.75 billion.

With those kind of figures teasing Atlanta, the Amazon HQ2 rumor mill is swirling faster and faster.

And even if the e-commerce behemoth doesn’t pick Atlanta, the Gulch’s redevelopment could one day create tens of thousands of new jobs and send tens of millions of tax dollars to the city, county, and Atlanta Public Schools, as officials point out.

Neither Atlanta, Fulton County, nor the school system have hosted public hearings about the fate of the Gulch, according to the AJC. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms reportedly wants to bring the project to council vote as soon as Aug. 20.

Some city councilmembers, the paper said, feel the project is being rushed, and that they’ll likely delay the vote until September.

• Amazon HQ2: Incentives for Atlanta’s Gulch project could top $1 billion [AJC]