Developer Plans to Transform GM site into Urban Center

Plans for the former GM plant site in Doraville, Ga. that closed in 2007 would first require brownfield clean up.

A Florida developer, New Broad Street Cos., says DeKalb County, Ga. will partner with the company to convert the old General Motors property in Doraville into an urban center of homes, restaurants, businesses and offices.

The county hopes such a plan will restore some of the 4,000 jobs lost to the plant closing. Plans at this point are only conceptual.

David Pace, president of New Broad Street Cos., envisions a mixed-use project for the site. Some have suggested anchoring the site with a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons and connecting it to rapid transit rail (MARTA).

Most of the residents at a recent meeting, however, rejected the idea of a stadium and expressed their support for the city owning the property, not the county.