What to Do With DeVry?
Decatur Metro | August 8, 2008The AJC reports on a meeting next Monday from 7p-8p on the DeVry campus to determine what to do with the massive property now that DeVry has decided to downsize to One West Courthouse Square.
Though the campus isn’t in incorporated Decatur, the property borders our Decatur Heights neighborhood. And from what I’ve heard, it was a big deal for the neighborhood when DeVry went in.
I can’t imagine what will be proposed to replace it. Maybe a Six Flags? According to the article its currently zoned industrial, but the university hasn’t yet asked to have the property rezoned. If you’re directly affected or interested in this potential development, now is the time to get involved.
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So ALL of Devry is moving into One West Courthouse Sq? That seems like a huge downsizing. Will it be even viable at that size? Just wondering….
The DeVry model has changed dramatically since they constructed their campus on DeKalb Industrial in the 1980s. As DeVry representatives explained it to us, most classes are now taught on-line with only one in-class session required each week. Their current campus was underutilized and was the only one they owned. They wanted to downsize, get out of the real estate business and get closer to a MARTA station to allow students easier access to transit.
The property has been on the market for about a year. Although there has been a lot of interest, no developers have been able to produce a concept that is marketable or financable. The site is kind of in “no man’s land.” What does the community want here housing, retail, office, industrial, a golf course, a church, a water park? Will the market support what the community wants and let DeVry sell the property for a “respectable price”?
It would be a great spot for a miniature golf course.
I vote retail. Perhaps a development with offerings like Trader Joes, Costco, Marshall’s, etc.
I think its transition to retail would not be wise. Let’s remake North DeKalb Mall into something worthwhile. Costco has already looked that the mall property and would likely love to get into the market – especially since they have no inside the Perimeter presence and Sam’s Club is just a bit away at Clairmont and 85. Our local streets would definitely not support more housing of that quantity – this property is HUGE!
for the neighbors who live over there retail would be a nightmare. they bought over there when it was a college, so it should either go with the medical theme of the area, or residential. if it goes retail then that neighborhood would have to block off the streets to their community, as traffic would increase way too much and decrease their home values.
Enough large retail already. How much cheap Ikea/Costco garbage can people realistically continue to stuff into thier homes? How about a sustainable medical research community, or biomedical community, or even better.. a holistic health center/holistic research community?
This site, IMHO, would make a great corp. campus. It would be nice to see one of the corp HQs now located in Gwinnett or Alpha-land move intown. It could likely make alot of their employees very happy.
Please no more retail!
[likely make a lot of their employees very happy]
That is, if the employees lived ITP. Many employees of the outlying corporate developements also live out there, so they wouldn’t be happy campers. These are the same folks who never venture ITP for any reason for fear of the crime, etc.
That’s not a retail location. Visability is not good enough. It is a little too far to walk to MARTA, so condos and apartments are unlikely. IMO medical offices, and senior housing are best options. Land values for senior housing are much lower than for typical mixed-use condos and apartments.
I wonder if Agnes Scott needs classrooms, or any other educational institution?
I really like runswithdog’s idea [up three from me]. I really really don’t need more retail. Besides, just across the bridge there’ll be a Publix in a year in Avondale — and I’ve heard that the Salvation Army’s lease wasn’t renewed and that a Trader Joe’s is going in that spot.
Did anybody go to the DeVry meeting? Could you summarize for us?
Who is that parcel’s county commish? I think it would be in Stephany Stuckey’s state house district.
I know how quickly TJ’s rumors get outta hand so I’ll just say that we heard that exact same rumor on this site about 4 months ago and haven’t received any confirmation either way. As was pointed out then…that space is much smaller than the average Trader Joe’s. They may be “alternative”, but from what we’ve heard they still love there square footage and parking.
Therefore, its a really difficult rumor to have much faith in.
In regards to the DeVry Meeting…it looks like David over at InDecatur attended…here’s his post
For what it’s worth, I imagine it is Mary Margaret’s district
How about combining senior housing and modernized section 8 from downtown, freeing up that hugely valuable space for development and
some tax revenue? By relocating the Section 8, they would still have easy access to Dekalb General, shopping, MARTA, schools, etc.
Then Decatur would join other smaller cities with a Convention Center/Performing Arts Center to not only decrease the tax load on citizens, but also bring some CULTURE to our city?
WIn -Win!
What about a hotel/conference center with shuttle service to the square? Decatur could steal a little conference business from Atlanta. With the Holiday Inn as our crown jewel of hotels in Decatur, it is just a thought.
22 acres? How about the next great urban park, and recreational facility with a smattering of multi-purpose public building? DeKalb is not full of big sized parks as it is and we’re about to “lose” Brookrun to Dunwoody. Cost? Sure, it would be high but it would also be a generational bequest of a priceless nature.
Public uses requires public funds. Good ideas, maybe. But is there enough political will to create new taxes for the price Devry is entiled to? They are a for-profit company. Obviously, it will not be granted free of charge regardless of the proposed merit of the public use.
Naturally it will cost big $$$ – I’m a big fan of government investment in real assets like land. Want to fund a new county program to promote “Green living,” count me out. Want to actually buy 22 industrial acres and re-hab it into public green space reserve and recreational uses, count me in.
If you think it is expensive to acquire that 22 acres now, just wait a generation and let’s see what the County (us!) can afford to purchase and re-purpose.
It would be great to turn that area into parkland as Kim suggests…a lovely greenbelt on the edge of our city. It could be immensely beautiful. But I, like everyone else, naturally assumes that land has to be commerically developed as this land is owned by the Devry Corporation. And while we need Corporations as structures for work in order to make money to survive and evolve as a society, and while many good people work as part of Corporations that allows some expression of a certain culture and shared values, ultimately the Corporations key driver over everything else is survival by making as much of a profit as possible. So ultimately the Corporation, though often puts on a smiling face, is a sociopathic entity. It would never lower its asking price to the degree that funding could be raised for a park. Lets face reality.
it’s an industrial zoned site. the by-right uses include th lovely options of open storage, a cement factory, auto repair, and an auto dealer (preferably one with an inflatable gorilla and those beautiful flags). while we’re potificating over public park space and public financing of land speculation, the market will take care of the use, whether the community likes it or not – it’s the land owner’s right within the industrial zoning entitlements. we might want to think of a market-based solution to the site and endorse that zoning change. if it’s not market-based, it’s not gonna happen.
Has anyone seen an estimated value or price tag for the property?
I agree with Kim and hope at least part of the land is used to create a park–even a small park for the nearby residents. Sycamore Ridge and Decatur Heights don’t have any nearby park space for kids to play in. We have to walk over a mile to Glendale Park, so most kids play in a church parking lot alongside Sycamore drive where commuters often zip by.
In regards to its present zoning, I imagine the property could be rezoned to prevent a use which is now inconsistent with the surrounding property. And while the market will determine the price tag for that property, I think the buy-in of the city and neighbors is necessary. So I don’t imagine DeVry is marketing the property to cement factories and auto dealers. Let’s hope so, anyways.