An upstart developer won preliminary backing for an ambitious high-rise project near downtown Atlanta despite questions raised by the group's track record and financial wherewithal. Forge Atlanta Asset Management has proposed transforming 10 acres between downtown Atlanta and Castleberry Hill into a $756 million district filled with hundreds of luxury condominiums, a hotel, offices, shops and green space.
The Development Authority of Fulton County board voted to approve the first of two required votes to green-light a nearly $10 million tax break, with two board members dissenting over concerns about public education impacts and the expected selling price of the project's 600 condos — which would range from $750,000 to $2.5 million.
Questions have emerged about the new proposal and its backers. Forge Atlanta Asset Management is an entity founded last year and is majority-owned by Webstar Technology Group, a publicly traded company whose stock was priced at only about 4 cents per share. Webstar also warned investors there was "substantial doubt" about the company's ability to remain in business for more than a year, according to an SEC filing, and reported no revenue as of June 30 with less than $6,000 in cash on hand.
The site along Ted Turner Drive and Whitehall Street has twice seen proposals fall through, with the most recent ending in a foreclosure in March 2023. The tax break considered by DAFC applies to Forge Atlanta's first phase — a 300-room hotel, meeting space, condos and 60,500 square feet of retail and entertainment space — providing $9.7 million in savings over a decade. After accounting for the tax break, Phase 1 is estimated to generate about $25 million in additional taxes during the abatement period, with the project projected to create 900 full-time jobs when complete.
Webstar and Urbantec are under contract to buy the project site for $33 million in a sale scheduled to close in November. Attorney Ceasar Mitchell Jr., representing the development team, said the tax break is needed to help close projected funding gaps and that without it, "the project would likely not be feasible as currently designed."
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution