An Orlando company’s plans to redevelop the shuttered General Motors plant in Doraville into a thriving retail park fell through Monday night, city officials said.
New Broad Street, a well-known development company, contacted Doraville officials and told them GM had not granted the company an extension on a June 1 deadline to finalize its purchase of the 165-acre site that has been vacant since September 2008.
The county was considering a plan to jumpstart the massive, mixed-use redevelopment by issuing more than $30 million in tax-free bonds, paid back with taxpayer dollars through a property or sales tax increase. The city also could have been on the hook for as much as $10 million – about as much as the city’s yearly budget.
“I think it’s just a bad time right now to be asking jurisdictions for money,” said Luke Howe, assistant to city Mayor Ray Jenkins. “Just like the county, the city is financially strapped.”
The city had been scheduled to meet with New Broad Street to discuss details of the projects financing, but that meeting was canceled, he said. The developer has money invested in the project and intends to continue pursuing it, he said. New Broad Street officials, however, did not immediately return a call for comment.
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