By MICHAEL PEARSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, October 09, 2008

A south Gwinnett business group is proposing to create two tax-funded redevelopment districts to help pay for major projects between Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Steve Reynolds Boulevard.

One of the four major developments mentioned in Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District’s plan has a developer waiting on the approval of tax allocation district funding, that being a big mixed-use project at Jimmy Carter and I-85. The others are envisioned in plans previously developed for the site, according to CID officials.

The tax allocation districts, or TADs, revealed Thursday would raise as much as $1 billion over 25 years by diverting collections from rising property values within the district to a special fund used to pay for redevelopment costs, according projections by Huntley Partners, the CID’s consultant on the project.

“This will give us an advantage over parts of the county that don’t have TADs,” said Emery Morsberger, a developer and member of the CID board. “It kind of levels the playing field for attracting new people”

The most high-profile project envisioned in the plan is redevelopment of the OFS fiber optics plant at Jimmy Carter and I-85. A development company pulled back on plans to request rezoning of the site after a February Supreme Court ruling that rejected the use of school district funds in tax allocation districts.

Georgia voters will decide Nov. 4 whether to overrule that decision with a constitutional amendment.

Other major projects mentioned in the CID’s plan include a mixed-use development on the southwest corner of Jimmy Carter and I-85, across the highway from the OFS site, a mixed-use development centered on what is currently an RV park at Indian Trail-Lilburn Road and another project at I-85 and Steve Reynolds Boulevard.

Together, the projects are projected to create 4 million square feet of retail space, more than 4,000 homes and create or retain nearly 19,000 jobs. The projections call for nearly $4 billion in construction investment, with a total increase in taxable value by the end of the 25-year program of $11.2 billion.

The plans could become more complicated if voters reject the constitutional amendment on TAD funding next month. That would leave the districts with about a third of the funding they would otherwise get. One thing that might mute such an impact would be the approval next year of proposed legislation before the Georgia General Assembly allowing CIDs to pledge their own tax collections to the districts.

CIDs are funded by a property tax collected from owners of non-residential developments within the district’s boundaries.

CID Executive Director Chuck Warbington said that if the TADs are approved, he does not expect to sell bonds to finance construction costs until the credit and development markets settle down and rates are more favorable.

The CID wants to bring the request before a new county redevelopment authority on Nov. 5. Warbington, who also serves on the redevelopment authority board, is hoping for County Commission approval in December.

Two other Gwinnett CIDs, one centered on Gwinnett Place Mall near Duluth and another spanning U.S. 78 between Stone Mountain and Snellville, are also expected to seek county approval for a TAD before year’s end.