City Officials: 'PVC Farm' Purchase Could Help With Redevelopment of Georgetown

The hundreds of blue PVC pipes sticking out of the ground off of Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Georgetown could soon be gone.

Thursday, the city of Dunwoody announced is has finished negotiations to buy the 16.18-acre property at 4000 Dunwoody Park for a purchase price of $5 million.

It was welcome news to some neighbors of the ‘Pipe Farm.’

“I walk out here every day with my dog,” said Lauren Anderson, who was walking her dog Jackson along the property’s vacant streets Thursday.

Anderson lives in an apartment building nearby and said many people in the neighborhood use it for recreation. Thursday, there were people out exercising on the roads, walking dogs and even playing basketball at a hoop that was put up by people in the neighborhood.

Anderson said she’d love to see another city dog park, but said she’d be happy with just about any kind of change.

 “It looks like a disaster for sure, so pretty much anything would be an improvement,” she said.

The property, which was originally slated to be a multi-family residential area, has sat empty for the last several years. The remnants of what was to be the development – several paved streets with curbs, a sewer system and dozens and dozens of aqua blue PVC pipes sticking out of the ground – helped to give the property its nickname.

Adrian Bonser, the councilwoman representing that district said she was ecstatic to hear negotiations, which had been going on for the last few weeks, were complete.

“I was so thrilled,” she said. “It happened so quickly. I’m so excited.”

Bonser said she’s been a proponent of buying the property since the city was formed, and has been advocating its purchase as a councilmember.

“I’ve really worked hard and been pushing this,” she said. “I feel like purchasing that property is key to the redevelopment of the Georgetown area.”

Bonser said it will pair nicely with the plans set to roll out in that area, with the redevelopment and expansion of Kroger and possibly renovation of the Georgetown Shopping Center.

“Georgetown hasn’t had any new development, really, in 20 years,” she said. “Its time for the Georgetown area. It’s just the cycle of things.”

Councilman Robert Wittenstein agrees.

“It’s a perfect location, an opportunity for us to do something in an area of Dunwoody that we’d like to see some redevelopment,” he said. “And it allows us to ensure that we don’t’ get 280 more apartments.”

The property was to have been townhomes, and later, apartments, and had been zoned for that development.

According to DeKalb County property tax records, the property went into foreclosure in 2009 under the former developer Dunwoody Park Development and the loan was bought by Wells Fargo. The land was valued then at $10 million. Wittenstein said it had been on the market for $11 million two years ago.

Bonser pointed out that the purchase price of $5 million is less than $300,000 per acre.

“We’ve reached an agreement that’s very reasonable,” she said, saying she was happy with the negotiations with Wells Fargo.

Monday night, the council will vote whether to give the mayor the authority to go into contract, Wittenstein said. The city would then hold two public hearings on the property purchase. Once a contract is signed, the city has 45 days, within which to do due diligence on the property, and 60 days to complete the purchase.

Jake Thomas, 17, and John Flinch, 16, were out walking in the property Thursday.

Both said they’d like to see a real basketball court when the place is redeveloped. The current makeshift court has one basket and is positioned on asphalt in what would have been a cul-de-sac.

“A full court would be nice,” Thomas said. “Everybody would be out here hooping.”

The two said they’d like to see tennis courts or any other active recreation areas.

Bonser said she’d love to see a mix of a gathering place, with possibly a bandshell of amphitheater would be great. But she also thinks it would be a good property to put a new city hall.

“I’d love to see a municipal complex there,” she said.

According to the city’s press release on the possible purchase, the majority of the land would likely be used for park space, but municipal facilities could also be put on the site.

The city currently has 3.23 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, while national guidelines for cities call for 6.25 - 10.5 acres per 1,000 residents, according to the press release.

Chris Camp, President of Lose & Associates, Inc., the firm that is putting together the City of Dunwoody’s Parks Master Plan, said the purchase is a great idea.

“We were definitely recommending to the city that they buy additional land,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing.”

Camp said his firm is incorporating the property into its master plan, which is likely to be presented to the council on March 14.

“With 16 acres you can do a lot,” he said. “That’s large enough to do active recreation or passive recreation. You could have both.”

Camp said, from the input his firm has been gathering, that sports fields or courts would probably be a good fit.

“The city is short in all of those areas,” he said, but he added that open green space that allows for pick up games and that can be used as a gathering place is also missing from the city’s parks.