The city of Brookhaven has finalized an agreement to build its new City Hall at the Brookhaven/Oglethorpe MARTA Station.
At a June 14 meeting, the Brookhaven City Council approved a ground lease agreement with MARTA. The MARTA board voted to approve the ground lease at a June 9 meeting. According to the agreement, the city will pay about $2.9 million to MARTA over the next 50 years for the property.
“We’ve had so many discussions through the years about the City Centre, and where the community sees City Hall,” said Councilmember Madeline Simmons. “So many times, folks have said, ‘Why can’t we put City Hall at MARTA? Wouldn’t that be great?’ So the fact that … the city administration was able to make that happen is such favorable news to the city. It’s just fantastic.”
Brookhaven’s current City Hall is a rental space at 4362 Peachtree Road NE. Finding a new location for City Hall is one of the aspects of the city’s “City Centre Master Plan,” which is meant to create a framework for a possible downtown area and guide future development in the commercial area along Peachtree Road.
“MARTA is excited to partner with Brookhaven to establish a transit-supportive City Hall, one of only a few in this country located at a rail station,” said MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood in a press release. “This project will inspire future development around the station, increase ridership, and improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, and makes a powerful statement about the centrality of transit.”
According to the press release, a timeline for construction is still in the works.
Update: This article has been updated with the cost of the lease.