ATL Airport Seeking Developers To Build On 200 Acres Nearby

Atlanta is home to the busiest airport in the world, and it is accepting bids to build on 200 acres of prime land nearby.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, owned by the city of Atlanta and operated by its Department of Aviation, is seeking private developers and investors to transform four tracts of land around the airport into a mix of uses, including retail, office and industrial.

Hartsfield-Jackson officials released requests for proposals Jan. 6 on the properties, including the largest parcel: 145 acres at the southern side of Godby Road at its intersection with Clipper Drive in College Park, just south of Interstate 85 and the airport. Officials called that offering "ideal for a mixed commercial/residential development,” according to the RFP filed with the city's procurement office.

The other three pieces of land are smaller:

• Eight acres along Loop Road, between Delta Air Lines' headquarters and the headquarters for Porsche North America, which is being targeted toward “a number of different, market-driven types of development.”
• Seventeen acres along the northern quadrants of Riverdale Road and Phoenix Boulevard “ideal for a branded casual dining restaurant and travel plaza in order to serve the area and the surrounding hotels,” city officials said in documents.
• Thirteen acres along Clark Howell Highway targeted by officials for warehouses.

Airport officials didn't respond to a request for comment as of press time. It was also uncertain whether any of these parcels — part of the overall Aerotropolis development efforts — were the same being marketed toward casino operators in the event the state legalizes table gaming.

But the push for new development around the airport — especially in College Park — has long been a goal among local officials. In July, College Park Economic Development Director Artie Jones told a Bisnow audience the area needed more housing in order to lure new office and retail tenants.

“College Park for some time has been a pass-through," Jones said at the time. "It has been a pass-through to get to the airport. We're trying to change that. We're trying to capture a percentage of those travelers to spend time in College Park."

City officials have scheduled a pre-bidding meeting for developers for Jan. 14 at the airport's tech campus. The city expects to award the ground leases by July 8.