Sandy Springs approves tax abatement for Hillcrest development

This rendering shows Hillcrest a mixed-use growth planned by Trammell Crow for property it is buying from the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church Provided by Sandy Springs Sandy Springs elected and appointed administrators took actions in three meetings on July to enable the construction of a mixed-use rise on property off Sandy Springs Circle being sold by the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church The city council approved a request to abandon a permanent slope easement that the city bought from the church in February for the City Springs Roadway Project Since Trammel Crow plans to build the Hillcrest mixed-use expansion on an -acre property that includes a nearly half-acre easement That removes the need for the slope easement and its maintenance Economic Advancement Director Chris Burnett reported Related story Mixed-use growth planned in Sandy Springs Trammell Crow plans multi-family housing restaurant and retail space and a parking garage for residents and patrons Third Urban is a partner in the project with Trammell Crow The growth will end a parking use agreement that Sandy Springs has maintained with the church for parking spaces on the property The city negotiated with Trammell Crow to get parking spaces within the new parking garage that the company will build for its Hillcrest evolution according to Burnett s overview to the members of the personnel and council members The morning of July began with the Sandy Springs Advance Authority approving a property tax abatement campaign with Trammell Crow to enable the construction of the Hillcrest parking garage Later in the day the Sandy Springs General Facilities Authority approved agreements for the construction and use of the parking spaces It also approved a budget amendment to use million in funds designated for the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Museum for the parking spaces project It s been a sparse years ago when we were in fairly extensive talks with the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust about funding the foreseen building for them With the belief that that initiative has now gone away we still have the million set aside for that project Burnett communicated the Society Facilities Authority With these approvals Sandy Springs was to provide in funds on July with going to the growth authority as fees for the transaction The remaining funds will go to attorneys fees Within days the city will deposit million into a city-controlled escrow account according to Burnett s review to the authority Bulk of this will be for construction costs for the city s parking spaces with a developer fee and a contingency reserve set aside The city will hold in funding for future road improvement and infrastructure projects around the City Springs Area particularly on Sandy Springs Circle and Mount Vernon Highway Examples of a few streetscapes could be we do additional landscaping or we do the landscape strip perhaps coming up Sandy Spring Circle So those things landscape strips tend to slow traffic speed Burnett commented We may consider taking out the southbound lane of Sandy Spring Circle and turning that into parallel parking Sandy Spring s total commitment in the project was capped at million The city will get funds back through the tax abatement activity For the first year that full property taxes are due for Hillcrest after the city issues its certificate of occupancy Trammell Crow s tax bill will be reduced by percent Burnett mentioned that each succeeding year the tax reduction will decline by percent ending the tax abatement after years Trammell Crow will give the city its annual tax savings until the city recovers its front-end outlay of million Sandy Springs will be financially responsible for a portion of the parking garage s maintenance based on the number of its spaces The city will receive the revenue for the parking spaces It can designate specific parking rates for events such as its Stars and Stripes celebrations The post Sandy Springs approves tax abatement for Hillcrest advancement appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta