Official questions Braves’ role in project seeking tax break

ATLANTA (AP) — A development authority official in metro Atlanta says he feels misled by real estate developers seeking a tax break for a mixed-use complex near the Atlanta Braves stadium because they never mentioned the team has a stake in the project.

The Braves’ organization had previously pledged not to ask for tax incentives to help pay for its development projects outside the Truist Park stadium after the team received $300 million in subsidies to help fund its construction.

Now the baseball team’s development arm, the Braves Development Co., is part owner of nearby property on which developers plan a two-building luxury apartment, hotel and retail complex, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. It will be named The Henry after Braves legend Hank Aaron.

The project has been promoted on social media citing the Braves Development Co. as a partner, the newspaper reported, and property records show the company owns a portion of the land being developed. Yet the team’s development arm wasn’t part of a November presentation in which the Development Authority of Cobb County was asked to consider a tax break for the project.

“It was not presented as a joint project at all,” said J.C. Bradbury, a board member of the development authority.

Bradbury said representatives for Goldenrod Cos., one of the project’s partners, told the authority they plan to purchase the Braves’ portion of the land. Bradbury said he felt misled that the company didn’t disclose any partnership with the team.

“The representatives speaking before the DACC were not completely forthright in their presentation,” he said, adding that any partnership with the Braves “should have been acknowledged.”

Goldenrod Cos. is seeking tax breaks only on hotel and retail elements of the project, a $160 million portion of the cost, said Zac Marquess, the company’s investments director.

A spokesperson for the Braves, Beth Marshall, did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the newspaper reported. Marshall did not immediately reply to an email message from The Associated Press seeking comment Monday.

Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in early 2023, when the development authority is also expected to cast a final vote on any tax breaks. The authority’s board previously voted 4-3 to continue talks on the request, with Bradbury among those opposed.