TARA FIELD'S MIXED-USE PROJECT: A WIN-WIN FOR ALL CONCERNED

May 2, 2008

Besides being a self-made, homegrown entrepreneur managing dozens of metro-area doctors' business affairs and flying small aircraft for both business and pleasure, William (Billy) L. Abbate is still finding time to pursue a major real estate development just south of Atlanta.

So Abbate's perfectly cast as the star of his latest venture -- a proposal to build a $300 million, aviation-driven, hangar, residential and retail complex serving the Clayton County Tara Field Airport, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Henry County. The development is located just 15 miles south of Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport.

He's betting his resources -- and his instincts -- that his idea will soar.

"The economic benefits of this project to the entire region are far greater than anyone ever dreamed," said Abbate, managing member of Big 5 Enterprises, LLC, a suburban McDonough company that is spearheading this innovative project.

State Rep. Steve Davis from Henry County, an executive with MME Construction Group, is a strong supporter of the Tara Field master development plan.

"Mixed-use projects like this one are the exact developments the city of Hampton, Henry County Board of Commissioners and state of Georgia leaders are trying to promote," offered Rep. Davis, who lives in McDonough with his wife and three children.

Rep. Davis stressed the Big 5 project will expand the commercial real estate tax base in Henry County, as well as promote high end development. "I believe this will attract new corporations and management executives in addition to adding numerous job opportunities throughout the county," he concluded.

To that end, Abbate personally organized and led the approval process of the Big 5 Enterprises' planned development, earning the enthusiastic and unanimous approval of the Henry County Zoning Advisory Board and the Board of Commissioners in the fall of 2007.

The development is located on 97 acres contiguous with the Tara Field Airport in the shadow of Atlanta Motor Speedway.   What Abbate proposed, and Henry County approved, is a mixed-use project Abbate believes will bring significant economic value, not only to the airport, but to the entire region. The as yet unnamed project is aimed primarily at corporate clients among others who could, he said, land at Tara Field and proceed via a taxiway to the project's state-of-the-art FBO (or Fixed Base of Operations), aviation hangars and luxury condominiums.

In addition, the planned development will be within walking distance of Atlanta Motor Speedway, a popular fixture on the NASCAR racing circuit and popular venue for car shows, auctions and other special events throughout each year.

This is an ambitious proposal, to be sure. When fully developed it will comprise nearly 900,000 square feet of hangar space for small aircraft and includes 352 condominiums, built on three levels with soundproofing and concrete walls over 7" thick. Condo units will range from 1,200 to 5,000 square feet in size and in price from $400,000 to almost $2 million. The plan also allows for more than 45,000 square feet of retail space designed to accommodate shops, restaurants and commercial offices.

Abbate has already built three hangars on sites leased from Clayton County nearby. He has also pledged to Clayton County and Federal Aviation Administration authorities that Big 5 will build a new, sorely needed FBO (the operational-business nerve center for the airfield) at a cost of $3.5 million, as well as install sewer lines serving the entire airport costing another $1.5 million.  The Big 5 partnership has agreed to lease back the FBO, and will absorb the cost of the sewer line to support projected growth at Tara Field.

Additionally, airport subsidies totaling up to $400,000 have been offered by Big 5 to the airport during the construction phase of the project, in accordance with the existing "through-the-fence" agreement precluding further losses by the airport even during construction.

What's in it for this region where suburban growth abounds and is one of the fastest growing areas of the country? What's in it for Clayton County, which is currently contending with massive educational and budgetary problems? What's in it for Henry County, where some of the Atlanta region's finest residences sit just a tee shot from the posh Eagles Landing Country Club and where the Henry County Commissioners have described Abbate's project as "the gateway to our county for the rest of the world"?

Answer: a shot in the arm to the entire region's economic vitality, and therefore a win-win for all concerned.  Namely, all of Henry County (in which all of Tara Field resides) and neighboring Clayton County (which owns and operates the airfield, under an unusual agreement reached in 1986).

Abbate said he believed taxpayers and others who reside and work in either county can expect to enjoy financial benefits such as: (1) property tax revenue increases in excess of 1,500% for his property to be paid to Henry County and (2) a "stop to the bleeding" at Tara Field, where operational losses said to average as much as $200,000 per year are suffered by Clayton County's taxpayers.

"What we've done," he explained, "is put together a package that protects the airport's economic viability, and therefore, the investment we have made and will continue to make in the facility."
The package, besides the assorted facilities and amenities that Abbate has proposed to construct, also offers benefits from creating still other major economic advantages-- ad valorem taxes generated by resident aircraft owners as well as potential surcharges Clayton County may earn through on-site aircraft fuel sales.

To make it all work, the Big 5 developers have agreed to pay to the airport certain Aircraft Access Fees and Fuel Flow Through Fees that potentially could create seven figure annual revenues for the county that are to be used for maintenance and improvements for the airport exclusively.

" For example, Clayton will receive 25% more money to park an airplane on our site than they will on their own," Abbate explained. These revenues will more than offset the substantial annual losses Clayton County is alleged to have absorbed the past 26 years through Tara Field operations.

Projected annual property taxes for this development, which are paid to Henry County, would rise from $17,000 to more than $3 million, upon completion of Big 5 Enterprises' $300 million aviation-driven mixed-use project.

In spite of Abbate's right to access the airport by virtue of a pre-existing access easement, he has pursued an overriding "through-the-fence" (TTF) agreement directly with Clayton County, granting the county numerous benefits not required by the easement.

The original TTF agreement was approved twice, both in September and December 2006, by a quorum of Clayton County commissioners, and the agreement was signed, forwarded to Abbate and recorded in Henry County. However, a number of Clayton County Commissioners have rescinded their positive support for the agreement to the dismay of Abbate and his development partners. As a result, unless their own commissioners change their stance to favor the TTF agreement, Clayton County will lose potentially millions of dollars of the fiscal advantages described above.

Another issue Abbate wanted to resolve was the Federal Aviation Administration's resistance to Big 5's master plan even though the agency has acknowledged his rights to access established by the pre-existing easement. During a recent meeting, Abbate clearly demonstrated his proposal conforms to all FAA rules and regulations concerning development adjacent to a federally funded airport. He has unequivocally addressed each of the FAA's concerns while proposing financial viability to Tara Field, which neither the FAA or Clayton County has been able to accomplish heretofore.

"All of the money that Clayton County would make from the airport would stay with the airport.  This enables Clayton County to use the money they have budgeted for the airport on their schools, community centers, parks and recreational needs," Abbate concluded regarding his proposal. "What we've agreed to do is protect the economic viability of this airport. That is -- and will be -- our No. 1 priority."