From "Red" to Green Space

The nonprofit group “Red Fields to Green Fields Atlanta” (R2GA) www.redfieldstogreenfields.org seeks to establish a $5 billion pilot program to buy distressed commercial properties, convert them to parks and later offer incentives for developing projects around these open-space cores.

A preliminary study by the Georgia Tech Research Institute finds the Atlanta region with 24 million sq. ft. of vacant office space and vacant lots selling for 25 cents on the dollar. The study projects the metropolitan region could gain 6,000 acres of park space and 780 miles of trails by acquiring selected properties; that such a park initiative could generate $20 billion in economic development, 175,000 temporary construction jobs and 100,000 permanent jobs.

R2GA, which includes corporate and government leaders, local parks and planning organizations, is exploring financing options, including sourcing federal money the Fed has allotted to help resolve the commercial real estate crisis. R2GA has thus far amassed$400,000 from metro-Atlanta community improvement districts (CIDs). R2GA is courting CIDs for financial help in applying for federal stimulus money to buy distressed tracts, turn them into green space, then sell portions later as the commercial market improves. A portion of the original tract, 25-30 percent, would remain parkland, and developers who purchased the adjacent properties would be obliged to maintain the green space.

 

The Red Fields to Green Fields Atlanta initiative proposes to raze vacant commercial properties and build parks in their place and allow developers to purchase the adjacent properties. This auto mechanic shop that reverted to the bank could be just such a candidate.

Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, reports many of the CIDs have pledged funds contingent on receiving a proportionate return on their investments. He also said the program may become a joint venture between nonprofit and for-profit interests. Under that model, nonprofits would raise 25 percent of the funding (to cover the cost of the parks), while investor groups would supply the balance for the remainder of the land. The idea is to build the parks, then "wait on the market,” according to Leithead.

Leithead contends that with commercial property perhaps in the worst straits since the Great Depression and the FDIC fast becoming the largest owner of real estate in the country, Red Fields to Green Fields would allow the FDIC to maximize the value of those assets.

Atlanta seems ideally suited for R2GA, as Georgia leads the nation in bank failures. Atlanta was the number one market for single-family home construction in the first half of the decade and is now one of the most overbuilt commercial real estate markets in the country. The city???s has lost 27,800 jobs in construction and the building services.