Clifton council advances first reading to sell 552.72 acres for proposed sports complex

Clifton — The Clifton City Council voted unanimously at a special called meeting to advance the first reading of Ordinance 202500600005, which would authorize sale of 552.72 acres identified as Tracts B and C of the Whitman Center property to a private developer who outlined plans for a large sports and hospitality complex.

Developer John Sudter, who led the presentation, described the project as a destination sports campus modeled on Lake Point in Emerson, Georgia, saying, "We're going to have a minimum of 13 fields" and that all fields would be turf and "state of the art." Sudter told council the development would include hotels, restaurants, retail space and a small residential subdivision intended to complement the complex.

The proposal calls for at least three hotels — including one full-service property with conference facilities — retail along the frontage and roughly 28 residential lots targeted at roughly $450,000–$475,000 per home. Sudter said the engineering phase should take about seven months and, with approvals and funding, the developer hopes to break ground in about 15–18 months; he also said he would ask the city to allow up to 24 months in the purchase/contract terms to cover unforeseen permitting or cemetery discoveries.

Chad, a travel-baseball organizer who spoke with the developer, outlined the tournament demand the complex seeks to attract and the visitor math behind the pitch. He cited associations such as Prospect Select, Perfect Game and PBR and said centralized turf fields allow organizers to schedule hundreds of teams across many weekends. Sudter and Chad estimated the complex could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors annually; Sudter called a conservative estimate of annual visitors "about 300,000" over the course of the tournament season.

Council members asked about impacts on city services, including police, fire and sanitation. Sudter cited conversations with an assistant city manager in Emerson, Georgia, saying that operation there had only a "very minimal" impact on emergency services and that event operators typically hire parking and security staff; he added that operators could reimburse the city for officers if weekend coverage were required.

Members also raised local concerns about traffic access and cultural resources. Sudter said the project team would attempt to avoid routing large volumes through Old Colony Road and said the team had begun field checks for graves or cemeteries; he said state records showed no cemetery on file but that any remains found would be treated respectfully and, if necessary, relocated.

During the meeting a council speaker described the city's proposed price as "a steal" at $2,500 per acre; Sudter said the total private investment would likely exceed $100 million in time but emphasized that substantial upfront engineering and permitting costs would be borne by the developer before major private funding arrived.

The council motion to advance the ordinance was moved and seconded (mover and seconder identified in the meeting as Mr. Kirkindall and Mr. Cook) and carried by unanimous voice vote. Council members and the developer said they expected contract fine-tuning to continue with the city's attorney and the developer's counsel before the next formal readings.

Next steps: council members directed staff to include the negotiated contract language in the next meeting packet for continued consideration; no final sale or site plan approval was recorded at the special meeting.