Beltline planners shut out project's only developer
Former governor is careful not to criticize Mayor Shirley Franklin, but 'would like to know what happened and who caused it to happen. We have a right to know.'
Daily Report
Philippa Maister, Staff Reporter
Beltline planners shut out project's
only developer
September 29, 2006
For article click here.
Next Stop: Franklin
"Atlanta's mayor needs to step in
and find a way to reach accord with
Mason, make Beltline work"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 27, 2006
@issue, Our Opinions (editorial)
by Lyle K. Harris, for the editorial board
For article click here.
Call Mason a visionary,
not a villain
Former congressman and U.S.
Attorney Bob Barr writes of Mason's
vision and the obstacles that led to
his withdrawal. He calls for Mayor
Franklin to "work tirelessly to ensure
that Mason's Beltline proposal
is revived."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 27, 2006
@issue, (op ed)
by Bob Barr, former congressman and U.S. Attorney
For article click here.
Atlanta, June 2 - "We are moving the Beltline dream of green space, transit and trails, housing choices and economic development one step closer to reality," said Gwinnett real estate investor Wayne Mason, Managing Owner of the Northeast Atlanta Beltline Group. The Northeast Atlanta Beltline Group (www.NEAtlantaBeltline.com) filed its zoning plans with the City of Atlanta June 2.
Articles about NEAB
"The Beltline vision can be reality
(Going Postal, "Don't get dense
over the beltline," Aug. 3). That
vision, held by neighbors,
developers and the city, and
reflected in NE Atlanta Beltline
proposals, is an emerald necklace
encircling intown neighborhoods.
Differences in the vision lie in
qualifying features: transit type, new
development height and character.
"The city asked neighborhoods to
study NE Atlanta Beltline proposals and recommend appropriate development character. In more than 50 neighborhood meetings, Wayne Mason and the NE Atlanta Beltline team have given every neighborhood the opportunity to do just that."
- Creative Loafing
Going Postal (Letters)
Alycen Whiddon
"Tightening the Beltline"
August 24-30, 2006
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"Urban influence: As consumer demands evolve, a proliferation of mixed-use, high-rise developments blossoms outside the city center."
"People are beginning to understand that you are going to grow out or you are going to grow up. And now we are beginning to understand the consequences of ever growing out in terms of traffic congestion, time spent away from our families and productivity on our jobs," said Jim Durrett, executive director of the Livable Communities Coalition in Atlanta. The coalition advocates for denser and more varied housing and better land planning."
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
CHRISTOPHER QUINN
"Rising Outside the Perimeter - Big city suburbs"
07/25/06
Read the Article
seems my last column--in which I did not depict developer
Wayne Mason with horns and pitchfork--jerked some strings. I
was even accused by an irate reader of having a 'pro-developer
slant...appropriate for Fox News.' Ouch."
Another Beltline supporter groused that I adroitly manipulated
words to influence 'uneducated' readers--implying that Atlanta
Regional Commission and Georgia Regional Transportation
Authority staffers, among others, must be ignoramuses for
failing to turn thumbs down on Mason's plans."
-
Creative Loafing,
JOHN SUGG
"The once and future city-- Atlanta must use history and vision to define the Beltline"
07/19/06
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who has made millions, lost millions and made them again, is
sitting in his son Keith’s law office on the 53rd floor of SunTrust
Plaze. He jerks his head over his shoulder, his snow-white
mane jutting toward Atlanta’s northeast neighborhoods, and growls, ‘That’s it, right over there.’"
"He really does growl, with a rural Georgia twang, especially
when the subject is neighborhood activists who don’t like Mason
or his plans for "it," 72 acres stretched thin along 4.6 miles of old
railroad track from DeKalb Avenue to I-85."
-
Creative Loafing,
JOHN SUGG
"Towering Ambition"
07/12/06
Read the Article
commented on recent major announcements regarding the
Atlanta Beltline. Two of the announcements dealt with the Atlanta
Regional Commission and Georgia Regional Transportation
Authority approvals of the Northeast Atlanta Beltline’s
development plans. Schaffner concluded in his comments:
"Mason has proposed from the start he would donate to the city
over half of his 80 acres for green space, trails and Beltline
transit right-of-way. He says his developments will use no Tax
Allocation District funds and that his planned development will
produce $100 million in new tax revenues that can be used by
the city elsewhere along the Beltline for projects. That is hard to
totally ignore."
- The Story,
JOHN SCHAFFNER
"1 week, 3 major Beltline announcements"
Editor’s Notes
07/06/06
Read the Article
shopping districts along a five-mile corridor of Atlanta’s Beltline
was approved Wednesday by the Georgia Regional
Transportation Authority
- Atlanta Journal Constitution,
DAVID PENDERED
"Developer’s proposal awaits council nod"
06/29/06
Read the Article
a plan that envisions two condo towers next to Piedmont Park,
has been approved by the Atlanta Regional Commission and is
on track to be considered by the Atlanta City Council in October.
- Atlanta Journal Constitution,
DAVID PENDERED
"Panel OK’s Towers on Beltline"
06/28/06
Read the Article
October or he will withdraw his rezoning application. That
proposal includes the donation of 46 acres to the city.
- Atlanta Business Chronicle,
JILL LERNER
"Blocked on the Beltline"
06/09-15/06
Read the Article
Wayne Mason, head of Madison Ventures Ltd., was among the
Atlanta Business Chronicle’s top 100 "Who’s Who in
Commercial Real Estate 2006" published June 2, 2006.
Among his career highlights listed was his purchase of the
five-mile corridor in the City of Atlanta for the Atlanta Beltline
project. Also listed were his accomplishments in county
improvements and services as Gwinnett County Commission
chair. Mason was recognized by the Council for Quality Growth
with the Button Gwinnett Award for lifetime public and
professional contributions.
ADA’s exclusion of Wayne Mason’s proposals from the Beltline
planning process."
- The Story, JOHN SCHAFFNER
"Views on Beltline planning”, 06/08/06
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the city have refused to consider his offer to donate land."
- The Story, JOHN SCHAFFNER
"Mason perplexed by omission from Beltline planning”, 06/08/06
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"Mason's developments will ultimately include approximately 3,000 residential units nestled into live-work-play communities -- and be affordable not just for CEOs but for the middle class."
- Gwinnett Business Journal, "Mason moves forward on Atlanta Beltline”, 06/06
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"Report says the taxes generated on proposed projects would pay for the design and construction of the entire 22-mile trail system."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED "Beltline projects worth millions in taxes”, 05/23/06
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"A developer and former county official who had a hand in Gwinnett¹s early building boom outlined his legacy, and it ain¹t suburbia."
- Gwinnett Daily Post, BRYAN BROOKS "Ex-chairman aims for urban legacy”, 05/04/06
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"The Northeast Atlanta Beltline Group commissioned nationally ranked transit experts and a local transit and engineering firm to produce a report on the feasibility of transit in the 80-acre, five mile corridor."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, HELEN TAPP "A streetcar is one desire”, 04/10/06
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"The Beltline can create continuity and connectivity for 55 neighborhoods that loop around the city; it can provide us with more green space, bike paths, trails and transit."
- JAMES Magazine, The JAMES Interview "Bob Barr Talks to Developer Wayne Mason About His Take-It-or-Leave-It Proposal for Transforming Atlanta”, 03/06
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"Governor Barnes, a long-time political and legal advocate for open government, brings to the team a track record of experience."
- The Story, "Former Gov. Roy Barnes joins team of NorthEast Atlanta Beltline Group", 03/23/06
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"Former Gov. Roy Barnes is working with the Gwinnett County investor who owns five miles of Atlanta¹s Beltline"
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED "Ex-governor to represent Beltline investor”, 03/21/06
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"Atlanta residents now make more money than folks who live in the rest of the metro area."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “Newcomers willing to pay for city living”, 03/05/06
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"The Amsterdam Walk shopping area in Midtown, a renovated warehouse complex with an eclectic array of small shops, is slated to undergo a major renovation,…"
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “Amsterdam awakens”, 02/06/06
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"The site will be large enough to accommodate 'a number of housing types and a variety of price points' but no condominium or residential developer has been chosen yet…"
- Atlanta Business Chronicle, LISA R. SCHOOLCRAFT, "Halpern, Mason hatch mixed-use plans for Beltline", 01/17/06
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"'The deal came together largely because of Gwinnett County real estate investor Wayne Mason,' said Satish Lathi, a principal with Southeast Capital Partners."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “‘Elegant’
deal saves 101-year-old mill”, 01/27/06
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"Wayne Mason is now offering the City of Atlanta two-thirds of the 80 acres he owns along the Northeast section of the Beltline corridor."
- 90.1FM WABE, KATE SWEENEY, 12/01/05
Listen to the story
"Giving back is a big deal and I want to be know as a giver, not a taker."
- Gwinnett Business Journal, CHERYL RHODES, "Loosening the Beltline", 12/05
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"The sweetened offer comes on the heels of a transit study…that found it will take 46 feet in most places to fulfill the Beltline's vision of running trains or buses alongside walking and bicycle trails."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, PAUL DONSKY “Developer offers Beltline land as swap for rezoning”, 11/30/05
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"Whatever the national political picture, the story in most of Georgia is the economy. We have become a most audacious state. For every rock, there is a roll and we grow."
- Atlanta Business Chronicle, DICK WILLIAMS, "Atlanta the audacious", 11/25/05
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"Vision-Inspired Process by an older and maybe bolder visionary developer…"
- www.thestorygroup.com, JOHN SCHAFFNER "Wayne Mason’s vision: Set tone for the Beltline", 11/10/05
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"Let me reiterate my wholehearted support for Mayor Shirley Franklin¹s vision for the Beltline economic development, transit, trails and greenspace. With public-private partnerships, we can help achieve that vision…"
- Atlanta Business Chronicle, WAYNE MASON, Letter to the Editor, 11/04/05
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"When I first heard Atlanta Mayor Shirley Frankin's vision of the proposed Atlanta Beltline, I knew I had to be a part…"
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WAYNE MASON “Beltline bandwagon needs to get moving”, 10/04/05
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"For Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason, the Beltline project is 'a chance to create an urban lifestyle, pedestrian-oriented environment, with low impact street-level transit, mixed use retail and housing choices.' "
- Georgia Trend, VINCENT COPPOLA “In the Driver's Seat”, 10/05
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"The plan to develop Atlanta’s proposed Beltline was created without any input from a company that owns five miles of the Beltline corridor…"
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “Land donor snubbed in Beltline plan”, 09/27/05
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"Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason has hired a team of transit experts to explore the best options for his five-mile section of the 22-mile Beltline around intown Atlanta."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, MARIA SAPORTA “Transit experts will explore Beltline options”, 09/20/05
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"Atlanta, after years of population decline and falling tax revenues, is making a comeback. That's partly because people have begun making different lifestyle choices… mainly, they're emancipating themselves from the "car slavery”…"
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, STAFF Editorial “Try compromise on condo plan”, 09/19/05
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"Real estate investor wants meeting with city's Beltline group."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “Ahead of the Curve”, 09/12/05
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"The AJC identified these five individuals as the leaders who will have the most influence on how metro Atlanta shapes its landscape in the future."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, STAFF “Guiding Our Growth: Five Who Will Lead”, 09/11/05
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"Gwinnett developer Wayne Mason urged residents to keep an open mind about the plans for the 5-mile portion of the Belt Line that he owns and said he wanted to hear from residents during a presentation for those in Neighborhood Planning Unit E."
- www.thestorygroup.com, MICHELLE MENDIETA MITCHELL "Mason group outlines Belt Line development plans", 6/30/05
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"I can't imagine anything better for the health of Atlanta and its
residents than the Beltline. The sprawl that so profoundly characterizes Atlanta has the potential to be reigned in with the sort of "smart growth" envisioned by the project."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, TOM SALYERS Editorial
"Beltline a beeline into future", 06/21/05
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"With Mason's investment, the city has a substantial leg up on getting federal funding for that part of the Beltline. City officials also hope to create a special taxing district to raise funds for it. But without Mason's investment, the Beltline will remain a dream."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CYNTHIA TUCKER Editorial
"High rises help in a way garage can't", 06/08/05
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"As a Beltline investor, developer Wayne Mason isn't razing his roofs; he's moving Atlanta forward."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, STAFF Editorial
"Blueprint for change", 06/03/05
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"Mason's plan is crucial to the Beltline's future, if only because he owns the one piece likely to be developed soon."
"City leaders have a strong incentive to approve Mason's rezoning request. Mason said he would donate all needed rights-of-way for the transit and pathways in his section of the Beltline."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED and JULIE B. HAIRSTON Article "Developer reveals Beltline proposal", 06/03/05
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"It was his most recent deal that perhaps provides the biggest shot in the arm for one of the most significant intown ideas to come along in many a year."
- Atlanta Business Chronicle, LEE HALL, "Gwinnett legend making Beltline project a reality", 03/04/05
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"The Gwinnett County real estate investor who is buying a crucial piece of land along the proposed Belt Line in Atlanta said he is ready to hear development proposals and make quick decisions..."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “Belt Line wheels get grease”, 11/17/04
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"Today, Mason is banking on the central part of Atlanta, buying 67 acres of land stretching over 4.6 miles..."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, MARIA SAPORTA “A career of spinning dirt into gold”, 11/15/04
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"Atlanta is taking a fresh look at its old railroad lines, those arteries of commerce that breathed life into the city in its infancy and now are potential sites of redevelopment."
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DAVID PENDERED “Railroad corridors a focus of the future”, 11/08/04
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"His visions and successes have been a major driving force behind Gwinnett’s strong infrastructure and phenomenal growth over the last decade."
- Gwinnett Magazine, KELLY MARRIOTT, "The Man Who Grew Gwinnett: A Profile of Wayne Mason", 2000
Read the article
Related Articles
6/6/05 – Horizon article on Portland pages E-1 & E-6
Read the article at -www.ajc.com
NEAB Press Releases
6/2/05 (PDF)
