Atlanta Stadium Finance Deal Reached

The NFL’s Atlanta Falcons are closer to a new, $1 billion stadium to replace the aging Georgia Dome  with the March 7 announcement by team owner Arthur Blank and local officials that a financing agreement has been reached.

The Falcons will commit another $65 million toward a proposed downtown stadium, most of which will go toward traffic mitigation and infrastructure, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The team’s commitment is now $800 million, and the public’s hotel-tax contribution will be capped at $200 million.

The Arthur Blank Family Foundation would invest $15 million in nearby neighborhood improvement projects, which will be matched by funds from Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency.

The deal is considered a win-win for Atlanta, which keeps its pro football team downtown and gets infrastructure improvements and investment in the surrounding neighborhoods in the bargain.

The new stadium will be built on one of two properties owned by the Georgia World Congress Center. Both sites are near the Georgia Dome, which will be demolished once the new, retractable-roof stadium is built.

A final memorandum of understanding between the Falcons and GWCC, specifying operational, financial and other details has yet to be inked, but the financing agreement is considered a breakthrough.

“It’s been a long journey, and it’s been a very successful journey,” Blanks said at the press conference, which also featured Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “We’re thrilled to be here. We’re thrilled to be a partner. And we’re thrilled to go through the final approvals that we need and actually start the fun part of this, which will be designing and building this stadium, this world-class facility.”