MDJ Online.com
By: MDJ Staff
Cumberland-based Pope & Land Real Estate announced that it has acquired 150 acres in the City of Emerson in Bartow County.
Phase I is proposed to be a mixed-use development featuring a 65,000 square-foot retail village, two hotels, several restaurants, 150,000 square feet of office and 300 multi-family units. The property is just north of the Cobb County line and marks the firm’s first acquisition in Bartow County.
Phase II will be approximately 60 acres for corporate offices aimed at attracting sports-related and international firms to Bartow County.
Pope & Land formed a venture with SSG Strategic Land Partners to acquire the land, which is at the intersection of Red Top Mountain Road and Interstate 75. It features approximately one mile of frontage on I-75. It is also directly across I-75 from the 1,300-acre LakePoint Sporting Community.
SSG Strategic and its affiliated companies were responsible for virtually all of the land transactions related to the LakePoint Sporting Community.
“We have developed more than one million square feet of office and medical space in Town Center and we have been one of the most active developers in the Cumberland area, so we are quite comfortable developing in the I-75 corridor,” said Mason Zimmerman, senior managing development partner for Pope & Land. “We have been very impressed with the leadership in Bartow County and the City of Emerson and that’s one of the reasons that we chose to invest there. We believe there is an opportunity for this area to become a new Regional Activity Center on the I-75 corridor.”
“We are excited that Pope & Land is bringing new private capital to this important part of Bartow County,” said Steve Taylor, chairman of Bartow County.
“Pope & Land has had a major influence in the metro Atlanta area and we are glad that they have made a major investment here,” said City of Emerson Mayor Al Pallone.
While several development groups that make up the LakePoint sports complex recently filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan, LakePoint will continue to operate and will receive additional capital from its new owner, Rimrock Capital Management.
“LakePoint has done a tremendous job establishing its brand and creating world-class facilities,” Zimmerman said. “We believe it has a bright future. We expected the Chapter 11 reorganization would occur and we are confident LakePoint will emerge with a stronger capital structure and more opportunities for growth.”
Pope & Land Real Estate is a 40 year-old private company with roots in Atlanta and Cobb County. It is responsible for developing some of the defining office buildings and developments in Atlanta, including Atlantic Center Plaza, 3630 Peachtree and numerous office buildings in the Cumberland area including One Ballpark Center, the new home of Comcast at The Battery Atlanta.
The company specializes in raising private capital and developing mixed-use real estate projects. Pope & Land also has projects in Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville and Charleston, South Carolina; and Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida.