The Mark criticized for rejecting inclusion in ADDA boundaries
Athens-Clarke County commissioners on Tuesday approved a proposed extension of the boundaries for the Athens Downtown Development Authority, but not before some of them criticized the management of Landmark Properties for not including their nine-acre mixed-use development The Mark, located between East Broad and Oconee streets, within those expanded boundaries.
Expanding the boundaries of the Athens Downtown Development Authority will allow the authority, which works on economic development and other initiatives in the downtown area, to bring in additional revenue from a special 1-mill property tax levy on business properties within its assigned area. In return, businesses within the ADDA’s area gain access to low-interest, long-term loans, have a liaison with the county government, and can take advantage of initiatives such as a facade grant program that provides funding for storefront improvements.
Because the ADDA, which is governed by a seven-member board appointed by the county commission, was created by state legislation, any changes to its boundaries require action from the Georgia General Assembly. Such issues are handled in the legislature as strictly local matters, and are routinely approved with little controversy. The local delegation to the legislature, which will be shepherding the boundary extension request through the General Assembly, has an informal rule that it must be in unanimous agreement before placing local issues in the legislative process.
In advance of setting its new proposed boundaries — which generally stretch from east to west from Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway along the North Oconee River to Barber Street, and south to north from the Oak Street area to the area of Willow Street and Cleveland Avenue — the ADDA sent letters to property owners within the area in which it wanted to expand to gauge interest in the proposal.
Other than The Mark, only a handful of other properties — a half-acre commercial/office property on Ware Street, two College Avenue townhomes, and a couple of residential properties off Finley Street — opted out of inclusion in the expanded ADDA boundaries.
The Mark, now under construction in the eastern end of downtown, will bring apartments with more than 900 student-oriented beds into the downtown area, along with other retail, commercial and restaurant space. Wes Rogers, president and CEO of Athens-based Landmark Properties, which will be moving its corporate offices into The Mark, has not returned repeated telephone calls to his office seeking comment on the decision not to be included within the ADDA boundaries.
Commissioner Melissa Link, whose district includes most of the downtown Athens area, was among the commissioners who were critical Tuesday of Landmark’s decision not to become part of the ADDA area.
“They’re certainly marketing themselves as the ultimate in downtown living,” Link chided. The Mark’s website does note that its apartments “will be just steps from downtown Athens … and some of Athens’ best nightlife.”
Commissioner Kelly Girtz called Landmark’s decision “a disappointment,” while Commissioner Jerry NeSmith noted that The Mark and its residents will have an impact on the downtown area.
“They’ll be wearing down downtown,” NeSmith said, adding that he hoped Landmark Properties “would take another look” at inclusion within ADDA boundaries.
Mayor Nancy Denson countered criticism of Landmark Properties, telling commissioners and the audience at Tuesday’s commission meeting in City Hall that it was “disturbing to me to hear criticism of a business that’s increasing our tax base significantly.”
Denson went on to say that she has spoken with “one of the principals” at Landmark about inclusion in the ADDA boundaries, and “he has not said ‘no,’ he has said, ‘no, not now.”
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