Panacea or Fools' Gold? Reinventing Downtown Atlanta After the Olympics David Versel Atlanta has long been a city that placed more emphasis on boosting its image than on confronting its day-to-day concerns. Beginning in the early 1980s with then-Mayor Andrew Young's efforts to transform Adanta into an internadonal city, Adantans have worked to construct the necessary improvements and facilities to achieve Young's goal. These efforts culminated with their hosung of the Olympics in 1996. David Versel wrote an There is no doubt that, as a result of the Olympics, the city of Adanta expanded version of this paper as his is now known worldwide. However, now that the Olympics are over, the "Option Paper" while "boosters" who were so instrumental in culdvadng an internadonal image of earning his Masters Adanta have begun to acknowledge that developing that image was only the Degree in City Planning first step in the process of Adanta's emergence as a worldwide hub. As trom the Georgia Georgia State University President Carl Patton observed, "To be a truly Institute of Technology international city, roll its at in 1997. He is now Adanta cannot up sidewalks sundown." With emploved as an concerns like Patton's in mind, the most pressing planning issue facing post- associate consultant Olympic Adanta has become the transformation of its downtown from an wnth Haddow & office and hotel district into a 24-hour environment in which people reside, Company, an Atlanta work, and play. real estate consulting this firm, where he helped The centerpiece of transformation into a 24-hour community is create a housing action Centennial Olympic Park. Although Centennial Olympic Park was plan for COPA, Inc. envisioned for this purpose during the pre-Olympic period, few permanent developments were realized at that time. Today, the only permanent Editors' Note: In our Olympic-inspired projects downtown are either small loft and/or retail Spring, 1996, issue, developments in existing buildings or larger apartment developments further Atlanta's Commissioner away from the Park. Although these projects are demonstrating signs of of Planning and generating around-the-clock activity downtown, the area surrounding the Development Leon S. Eplan wrote that the Park is still largely undeveloped. then-impending Since the end of the Olympics, there have been a variety of proposals Olympics had for developments direcdy adjacent to Centennial Park. The projects under motivated the city to consideration include at least two large-scale housing/ retail developments, an prepare for its future expansive business park, a new hotel to serve the Georgia World Congress through planning. In Center, an entertainment district a sports arena. this article, Versel and adjacent to new Of considers downtown these, only two projects are under way at this time: the construction of the Atlanta's progress since sports arena, which began in the summer of 1997, and the Doubletree Hotel, the Olympics. which broke ground in early 1998. A considerable amount of pressure is CAROLINA PLANNING • SUMMER 1998 Fig. 1 Legend Empowerment Zone Ramps -fc MARTA Stations Central Streets <= Interstates A Points of Interest Atlanta — Railroads — MARTA Tracks GEORGIA K TECH MIDTOWN Miles .05 .1 .15 .2 .25 .3 I Source: Base map from U.S. Census TIGER files A is: PANACEA OR FOOLS' GOLD? being placed on the new arena to transform the attributes necessary to generate more the area since it will be the first large, revenue (Forsyth 1995:13C). The cornerstone permanent, post-Olympic project to be attribute of the new, "economically correct" realized in the immediate environs of sports facility is the corporate skybox, which Centennial Olympic Park. commands a sizable annual fee from its tenant. This article is an evaluation of the In addition, food and beverage services at sports prospects for Atlanta's new downtown facilities have evolved from fast-food operations sports arena in light of the city's goals for to full-service food kiosks with diverse and high- around-the-clock life in the Centennial quality menus. Similarly, T-shirt stands have Olympic Park area. Following an been transformed into retail stores complete examination of historic development with full lines of clothing and memorabilia. patterns around the arena site, this article Nearly all new stadia and arenas constructed in assesses the potential for success of the the 1990s contain these features. arena project in light of the issues that With such profit-inducing amenities in confront downtown development. It mind, cities like Cleveland, St. Louis, and specifically discusses four areas of concern Washington, D.C., have replaced their outdated for urban planners: development (and in these three cases, suburban) arenas with economics, politics, equity, and urban new, state-of-the-art facilities. Even Miami is design. The ultimate goal of the analysis is constructing a new arena, since the existing to determine whether or not this project Miami Arena (which was built in the mid-1980s) can fulfill the promise of its image. lacks many amenities now considered standard in new facilities. The Laws of Stadium Economics It is generally accepted that sports arenas and stadia do not usually have significant effects Ostensibly, there are two reasons for on local economies, since they create only building a new sports arena in downtown modest increases in jobs and tax revenue. As a Adanta: first, to prevent the Adanta Hawks result, a city looking to build a new facility must basketball team from moving to the consider whether or not it is worthwhile to suburbs or to another city; second, to spend money on an investment that will likely provide an attractive home for Adanta's generate only a small direct return. Economist Nadonal Hockey League expansion Mark Rosentraub suggests that it is a choice that franchise, the Thrashers. Although the must be made by each city as a reflection of its Omni Coliseum served adequately as the values (26). Atlanta has already demonstrated its home of the Hawks, and was the home of willingness to spend money in the short term in the Knights and Flames hockey teams, it order to improve the city's stock of sports could never generate the same revenue that facilities, although these are expected to be a newer facility would. In order for entirely financed in the long term through gate professional indoor sports to continue to revenues and the rental car tax. thrive in Adanta, the teams needed a venue Clearly, Adantans believe, in the words of that obeyed the laws of "stadium economist Roger Noll, that "Our psychic economics." investment in sports is disproportionate to its Stadium economics is the primary economic importance to a city" (Forsyth force behind the nationwide spurt of new 1995:13C). Thus, in their efforts to maintain sports facilities construction in recent years. Adanta's status as an international center for The guiding principle of stadium sports, and, more important, to continue the economics is this: if a stadium or arena is flow of investment into the city's professional not making enough money, it should be sports industry, residents demonstrated their replaced by a modern facility that contains belief that their city needed to bow to the laws of CAROLINA PLANNING • SUMMER 1998 II T DAVID \ ERSEL stadium economics and replace its 25-year- Dome/Georgia World Congress Center old arena. (GWCC) complex from Five Points and Underground Adanta (see Figure 1) Striking a Deal These two sites were considered mostly due to the fact that Turner Broadcasting When the Hawks first announced Systems, Inc., which owns both the Hawks and their desire to vacate the Omni in 1994, Thrashers, had a strong interest in building the there was public speculation that instead of new arena immediately adjacent to its offices in waiting for the City of Adanta to build a the CNN Center. However, Turner and Norfolk new downtown facility, they would move Southern Corp., the owner of the railroad gulch, to a site in the suburbs. In this debate, the failed to reach an agreement on the land price of city found itself at a disadvantage from the the gulch. In November of 1996, Turner and the beginning, as the Hawks declared that they City of Atlanta agreed to build the new arena on would be willing to construct a privately- the site of the Omni Coliseum. The Omni was financed arena in the suburbs, but they demolished in the summer of 1997, and the new would only stay downtown only if their arena will open on its former site in the fall of new home was publicly financed. 1999. A downtown arena would come under the jurisdiction of the Adanta-Fulton Great Expectations County Recreadon Authority, which draws its tax base from both the city and county. The new arena has generated a high level Fulton County made it clear from the of excitement among downtown supporters. outset that it would not support the project Their expectations have put tremendous if any additional burden was placed on its pressure on the project to kick-start the process taxpayers. Thus, if the Hawks were to of turning the area surrounding Centennial Park remain downtown, not only would they from a blighted wasteland into a booming urban require public financing, they would need a neighborhood. Unfortunately, there are a deal which guaranteed no public debt to number of factors which suggest that the new the taxpayers of Adanta and Fulton stadium will not be able to achieve this purpose County. In 1995, an agreement was reached single-handedly. First among these is the fact among the Hawks, the city of Adanta, that there already had been an arena downtown. Fulton County, and the Recreation The new arena will be slightly larger than the Authority to construct a new downtown Omni, but it will still only draw crowds for the arena and a variety of surrounding public same events that previously occurred at the improvements.