CIM Group angling for three more acres of downtown Gulch property

Downtown’s massive bummer of a parking lot pit—better known as the Gulch—appears to be inching toward a long-sought transformation.

Last week, a mysterious bidder reportedly lobbed a $15 million offer to buy almost 10 acres of Gulch property.

Hours later, the masked suitor was revealed to be Los Angeles-based developer CIM Group, which has long touted plans to give the depressing area a makeover to the tune of $1 billion.

Now, it seems, the insatiable CIM Group is angling for more Gulch land.

The developer and City of Atlanta officials are weighing a land-swap deal that would put another almost three acres under the company’s control, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Photos: Curbed Atlanta

CIM Group is eyeing a piece of Gulch land on the east side of the pit—next to the largest portion of the state-owned property.

During a city council meeting Monday, an ordinance proposal was introduced which, according to the paper, “will facilitate the redevelopment of the Gulch by CIM and provide the city with additional office space and parking for departmental operations or other uses.”

The piece of the Gulch in question—owned by the city—houses a parking lot and production and warehouse buildings sandwiched between Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Fairlie Street, as well as more parking on Fairlie and Forsyth streets, the ABC reports.

Should the trade deal go through, the City of Atlanta would procure a chunk of the former Norfolk Southern headquarters property, which neighbors the Gulch to the southeast.

CIM Group bought the old railroad operations property last fall for $25 million and has plans to turn the historic white structures—the Norfolk Southern Building(s)—into a residential complex.

The city, however, would not take any piece of those historic structures on Spring Street. Instead, it would acquire a few brick buildings and parking lots along Ted Turner Drive, on the south side of the Gulch.

This deal, as well as CIM Group’s impending purchase of the 9.3-acre swath, would put the developer ever closer to the 27-acre Gulch overhaul it’s been teasing since last summer.

• City of Atlanta, CIM Group consider land swap for Gulch property [Atlanta Business Chronicle]