The seventeen year old redevelopment of the “Gulch” in downtown Atlanta has been revinvigorated by the Georgia Department of Transportation. The agency is scheduled to sign a $12.2 million contract for a new master plan with development firms Cousins Properties, The Integral Group and Forest City Properties. The team of developers is tasked with creating a central transportation hub linking MARTA with intercity bus and rail services while also surrounding the hub with commercial development. They will also be tasked with identifying private and public sources of funding. No funding will be provided from Transportation Investment Act funds should voters decide to pass the one-cent sales tax. The development team will have two years to create designs and identify funding for the project. An environmental impact assessment, determination of the impacts of MARTA and freight north/south rail realignment, bus service access, land purchases with the help of the DOT, and hold public hearings of must all be completed by December 2013.
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