Far from being a dead end, Project Jackson — a multiuse North Augusta (Ga.) development that includes a new Augusta GreenJackets (Low Class A; Sally League) ballpark — is still very much alive, as officials visit Fluor Field to see how a ballpark can transform a neighborhood.
The last time the ballpark project was in the news, county officials had rejected a TIF-financing proposal for the project. At the time, the rejection as seen as a death blow for the project.
Funny thing happened: the project is still very much alive. We’re seeing in many cities a TIF is seen sometimes by developers as a pot of easy money, rather than the bridge financing that can make or break a project, as was the original intent of tax-increment financing. The ballpark would be part of a larger development that would include a 200-room hotel, convention center and retail, residential and office space.
North Augusta city leaders last week visited Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive (Low Class A; Sally League), to see first-hand how the ballpark changed the generally run-down West End. From WJBF:
“I asked which came first the chicken or the egg,” [said North Augusta Mayor Lark] Jones. “I asked, ‘Did you build the stadium because this area was being revived or did the stadium revive the area?’ He said the stadium revived the area.”
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