Atlanta Braves announce partnership with Comcast for new stadium (Sandy Springs: neighborhoods, construction)

[DawgPark]

Originally Posted by red92s

Does Comcast really need to advertise? It's not like most people here have many competitive alternatives. People either hate them, or tolerate them.

Every business must do branding and marketing . . . and do it well.

In the commercial voice/internet space, Comcast is in a market share battle right now w/ AT&T Uverse . . . and Comcast is absolutely destroying Uverse in service, quality, price, reliability. In my business, we had AT&T service issues weekly, if not daily, for 15+ years. Since switching to Comcast, we have had zero problems in a year and are saving over $1,000/yr in price . . . and have 5-6x the download speeds.

You guys can complain about Comcast residential all you want, but there is a big market in commercial voice/internet and 10-15 years ago, AT&T had probably 90% of it.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Was the amount of tax incentives Cobb County gave Comcast disclosed?

They are probably inline with what the city of Atlanta and other local governments hand out. These "incentives" are very competitive.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by DawgPark

Arjay, I don't know if it's because the Braves are out of south downtown so much, although I'm sure a shiny, new location is a big part of it.



But yes, the project is definitely picking up steam. Plant told a group I was in a month ago about the 1-tenant total office tower lease . . . and he said they've got a 4-star hotel lined up for the 15-16 story hotel next to the Comcast building. That will be the next announcement in a month or 2.

The 4 star hotel may be a Ritz Carlton. Don't laugh. Back in the 1990's, Ritz Carlton was looking at building a hotel on the former Allstate Insurance building property on Northside Parkway where The Church of the Apostles is now located. Later, (After Church of the Apostles bought the property) there was some talk of their building in the Riverwood development off of Cobb Parkway.

There is definitely a market for a high end 4 star hotel in that area. Presently, the Waverly at the Galleria has that market all to itself. The Marriott Atlanta Northwest was built in the 1980's and the Sheraton in front of Cumberland Mall while a quality hotel is not in the same league as the Waverly.

With all of the offices around the Cumberland/Galleria area and the many affluent neighborhoods within a 3 mile radius (Vinings, the western parts of Buckhead and Sandy Springs) a Ritz Carlton should do well.

[arc-lang]

Lets just hope this high speed Internet doesn't go out at the ballpark, cause it will take Comcast 7-10 days to fix it. That's of course after the Braves call an make an appointment.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

They are probably inline with what the city of Atlanta and other local governments hand out. These "incentives" are very competitive.

Yes, but CoA doesn't pay for stadiums with residents property taxes.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yes, but CoA doesn't pay for stadiums with residents property taxes.

No, not directly. Instead, CoA is paying with bonds, funded by hotel taxes, which could instead be used as funding for schools, roads, transit, more police officers, or a whole host of other things. It's still effectively coming out of the pockets of property owners, who still have to pay for the aforementioned items.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by evannole

No, not directly. Instead, CoA is paying with bonds, funded by hotel taxes, which could instead be used as funding for schools, roads, transit, more police officers, or a whole host of other things. It's still effectively coming out of the pockets of property owners, who still have to pay for the aforementioned items.

State legislature passed a bill restraining the projects that could be funded with the CoA hotel tax to stadium/arena improvements. Once again the state is controlling Atlanta by controlling how they spend their tax revenue.

[jsvh]

Braves? executive: It?s ?narrow-minded? to criticize team?s request for tax break - Atlanta Business Chronicle

You guys need to stop being so narrow-minded. Don't you realize that sports teams are such powerful economic engines that hire dozens and dozens of low-wage vendors that they deserve big tax breaks that no one else should get!

Note: Sarcasm. Of course the Braves are a joke and a scam.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by cqholt

State legislature passed a bill restraining the projects that could be funded with the CoA hotel tax to stadium/arena improvements. Once again the state is controlling Atlanta by controlling how they spend their tax revenue.

FWIW, about 28% of tax revenue goes to the City's general fund.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Gulch

FWIW, about 28% of tax revenue goes to the City's general fund.

100% of the tax revenues for hotels in Atlanta should be going to Atlanta.