Sandy Springs authority approves memorandum to fund 111 parking spaces, 10‑year tax abatement for Mount Vernon mixed‑use project

The Sandy Springs Development Authority on a voice vote authorized a memorandum agreement that ties a 10‑year tax abatement to payments that will help fund 111 parking spaces in a 646‑space parking garage and set aside streetscape funds for a new mixed‑use development on an 8.1‑acre site formerly owned by Sandy Springs United Methodist Church.

The development authority approved the memorandum during its June 2025 meeting as the city prepares to close a contract of sale with a joint venture led by Trammell Crow Company and Third & Urban for a mixed‑use project the authority says will include about 386 residential units (356 stacked‑flat apartments and 30 townhomes) and roughly 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Why it matters: the agreement is structured so the tax abatement — a 10‑year schedule that begins with a 50% reduction in property tax in year one and phases down by 5 percentage points each year — generates payments in lieu of taxes that the developer will direct to the city and the development authority to offset the city’s up‑front investment in the parking and public improvements.

Key terms and money flow

City purchase and escrow: the public facilities authority will acquire an easement for 111 spaces under a 50‑year term; the transaction contemplates a purchase price in the city’s budget of $3,312,000 for those 111 spaces (about $30,000 per space). The authority will place roughly $3.6 million ("approximately or a little bit less," per staff) into an…