The Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition has rallied and rabble-roused for more than two years, attempting to secure a binding contract to shield neighbors from the side effects of Georgia State University’s stadium area redevelopment. But, the group’s vision of a signed benefits agreement might be just a pipe dream.





Since the school and its development partners first announced plans to reimagine the Atlanta Braves’ former stadium and surrounding parking lots, the coalition — comprised of Turner Field neighbors, advocacy groups and students — has fought for a commitment from developers to protect longtime residents from displacement and to ensure education and job opportunities for people living nearby.

But, considering GSU and development partner Carter wrapped up the $30 million deal on Jan. 5, it seems it’s too late to squeeze the coalition’s “anti-gentrification contract” into the paperwork.





Carter President Scott Taylor tells Creative Loafing the real estate group has never signed a community benefits agreement and never had any intention of doing so this time. But Taylor says many of the community activists' demands align with the company’s goals, noting the corporation has a track record of hiring local designers and construction workers.





“With all of the private development, we have a goal for all of our design and construction work, that 28 percent of all of that be executed by minority businesses,” he says. “We are very open to exploring ways in which the community has significant participation in not only work, but also hopefully local businesses are part of what we’re doing; local retailers and shops and restaurants. A jobs training aspect could come into this.”





Still, on Jan. 17, coalition members flooded a City Council meeting to slam elected officials for turning a blind eye to what they believe is economic and racial injustice. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, supporters remembered the civil rights icon's commitment to racial and income equality and shamed Atlanta leaders for forgetting his goals.





Some residents worry The Ted’s area revamp, which will entail more than $100 million in residential, restaurant, and retail developments — not to mention another baseball stadium — will boost property values and taxes in affected neighborhoods Summerhill, Mechanicsville, Peoplestown and Pittsburgh. In turn, activists say, stadium neighbors and minority-run businesses could be priced out of the area.





Jane Ridley, TFCBC member and president of the Mechanicsville Civic Association, says the City Council doesn’t want to listen to the coalition’s concerns. She says Carla Smith, the councilwoman representing District 1, which houses Turner Field, doesn’t care about her constituents. “We don’t want people who don’t listen to us,” Ridley says. “We don’t want people with their own agenda.”





Smith declined to comment for this story, but some councilmembers say the coalition will need to ditch the CBA-centered fight and focus on a more legislative approach.





Felicia Moore is the only councilmember to have shown a semblance of support for the benefits agreement, according to TFCBC leader Tim Franzen. But Moore and her colleagues don’t quite know how the city could help the group achieve its goal, especially without Smith’s backing. To satisfy the demands of the coalition’s benefits agreement, Moore says, “they would need, at a minimum, a resolution from the Council stating the things that they would like to see happen. ... But if the councilmember from the district is not supportive of it, the likelihood of it passing is probably low.”





Franzen says cash from the stadium sale paid to the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority could pay to accomplish the goals of the CBA; however, the AFCRA isn’t capable of funneling money into community programs, and almost half of the $30 million is already slated to help fund Philips Arena’s $192.5 million renovation. But after reviewing Carter’s latest renderings of the property plans — a mixed use development bearing aesthetic resemblance to the Ponce City and Krog Street Markets — 25-year Peoplestown resident Sherise Brown says she’s scared for the future.





“Seeing the new renderings scared me because it just looks like gentrification slapping us in the face, and I don’t see how we fit into that project,” she says. “How are we gonna benefit from that? I see homeowner’s insurance going up. I can see minority businesses being shut out. It’s a pretty picture, but it’s empty as far as we’re concerned.”





Franzen says coalition members are prepared to disrupt construction and even spend time in jail for the cause. Construction kicks off in February.