The Brookhaven Reporter reports that DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader called Sembler’s request for a 20-year, $52 million tax abatement of its Town Brookhaven project “effectively dead” at a July 15th meeting.

So what happens now?  Rader predicts that Sembler “should be breaking ground very soon on the rest of their project to the degree that the market will support it.  I think we are going to see that fully redeveloped, because that is an attractive place for people to be.”

h/t: Clairmont Heights Civic Association

AJC Photo

Think these 200 folks turned out to cheer on Sembler’s request for a 20 year tax abatement on the Brookhaven project?

Think again.

Lots of in-depth articles in this Sunday’s AJC, including a look at the influence of Georgia’s largest road builder on State transportation legislation and a closer look at Georgia’s generous movie tax credit.

But none left me as unsettled as Ty Tagami’s report about Sembler’s request that DeKalb County fork over $52 million to help them “finish” the 54 acre mixed-use project near the Brookhaven MARTA station.

Why unsettled?

Because on the one hand, I have serious issues with Sember’s prior perversions of “mixed-use”, not to mention watching a cash-strapped county hand over a briefcase or six full of 100s to said developer (that’s how it works right?) Also, as Burrell Ellis has stated, it sets a bad precedent in the dark world of money-starved developers.

But at the same time, it’s mixed-use near a MARTA station.  Can the project survive if Sembler walks away from the project and leaves a big hole in the ground?  Will someone else pick it up? Also, how is it different from the federal government borrowing up to its ears to provide a cushion of employment during an economic squeeze?

I wasn’t born yesterday.  I recognize that there has always been a special back-scratching relationship between government and developers.  In this specific case though, I think there are enough concrete reasons to justify my unstated desire to watch Sembler squirm.

So, for right now…I’m coming down in favor of the hole.  Once the recession ends, let another developer, who doesn’t want $54 million, have a go.

As for the county, we’ll see what they decide next month.

The AJC reports that residents at the Gables owned property at N. Driud/Briarcliff have received a letter saying that the “sale of the property will no longer occur as intended.”  Most take that to mean that the once controversial “Town Briarcliff” project is now dead.

Good riddance.

As many of you may know, Sembler’s big-box meets mixed use – with a smattering of poorly designed parking and traffic flow – projects have never been my cup o’ tea.

Maybe Sembler now is just pooling its resources to develop some mega-mixed-use up at the old GM Doraville plant.

Omnivore Atlanta has the official statement announcing that Five Seasons’ battle with Sembler over their Prado location is officially over and everything is now peachy keen between the two companies.  (At least as well as things can be after you claim that your counterpart thinks you’re worth more “dead than alive”.)

I guess raising a public stink really paid off for Five Seasons.

h/t: Inside the Sprawl

I highly recommend traveling outside the city limits for the moment and reading this Creative Loafing article by Scott Freeman about how the clumsy, amoral monster that is the Sembler Company has nearly put 5 Seasons Brewhouse out of business due to their clash at the Prado location in Sandy Springs.

The money quote from 5 Seasons owner Dennis Lange, “Simply put, Five Seasons is worth more to Sembler ‘dead than alive’ because Five Seasons is ‘in the way’ of Sembler maximizing its profits at The Prado.”

Not only do they propagate a perverted version of smart growth around Atlanta, but they also kill local business in the process! What efficiency!

CL’s Scott Henry did some digging yesterday and unearthed two Sembler donations to the Burrell Ellis’ CEO campaign.  $1,300 each from both Mel and son Brent Sembler.

Now I’m not trying to stir up any conspiracy theories.  It’s perfectly legal.  And certainly less shady than giving $20,000 to Lakeside’s nonexistent cheerleading squad with a Elaine Boyer connection.  And as I pointed out in response to a previous comment, I think it says more about Sembler’s future intentions than Ellis’.

But its good to know.  Perhaps Merry Hills residents opposed to the now much smaller Briarcliff/North Druid project want to make a similar donation to the Ellis campaign.  One dollar is worth the same declining amount as the next!

At this morning’s school board meeting, DeKalb school officials voted unanimously against selling some 30+ acres of land to the Sembler Company to build its much-criticized mini-city.

It’s an important victory for local residents that have opposed the development’s insanely grand scale at an already congested intersection, though Sembler still has plans to build a scaled-down version of “Town Briarcliff” on the 70 acres it already owns at the corner of Briarcliff and N. Druid.

Town Briarcliff? Is that like City Decatur? Nothing institutionalizes community like “Town [Insert Road Name Here]“!

Hmm…I wonder what the school board thinks about letting their tax dollars go towards the TAD. Yeah, not so much.

UPDATE: Fresh Loaf’s Scott Henry also reports from the meeting and gives the story a bit more context.

Sembler is still planning to develop another 70 acres on Briarcliff Road that it has under contract from the county housing authority, but the loss of the school property means no frontage on North Druid Hills Road. That, in turn, means plans for a grand boulevard linking the two roads will likely be scrapped.

In other words, it’s back to the drawing board for all concerned.

(Photo courtesy of the AJC)

Regardless of whether its due to the stagnant real estate market or the impending uphill battle against the DeKalb school board, the AJC is reporting that Sembler has told Commissioner Jeff Rader that they will be presenting a scaled back version of its plans for its mini-city at Briarcliff/N. Druid Hills Road to the school board this Friday.

Perhaps the real estate market, coupled with angry residents and an seemingly unwilling school board were a bit too much for the mighty Sembler.  We’ll have to wait ’til after the school board meeting tomorrow at 10:30a to see just how far they’ve scaled back the plan.

Ah…there’s nothing quite like the sweet smell of slightly less congestion.

Guess what Creative Loafing’s Thomas Wheatley and everyone else in attendance at last night’s DeKalb County Commission meeting saw? Cheerleaders.And not just any cheerleaders. Commissioner Elaine Boyer’s Lakeside High School Cheerleaders!

Are these the same cheerleaders that are supported by the booster club that received $20k from Sembler a few months back? Yes!

Did Boyer vote for the TAD on the Sembler project? Nope.