Fort McPherson, a 488-acre military facility located in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia, became the first permanent Army installation in the Southeast on May 4, 1889. It is named in honor of Major General James Birdseye McPherson, a Union army general killed near the post during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Throughout its century of service to the country, the post was used as a general hospital during World Wars I and II, a prisoner of war camp, a training area for the Civilian Conservation Corps and a separation center. Today, historic Fort McPherson is home to Headquarters, U.S. Army Forces Command, Third U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Reserve Command. The historic district of the post sits on 33 acres of land. The 40 buildings that comprise the historic district are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The property has 95 acres dedicated to administrative use, 36 acres of housing and an 18-hole golf course. Two Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stations serve the property; Oakland City and Lakewood/Ft. McPherson. The base has 2,209,558 square feet of building space including 102 family units. Utilities serving the property are not privatized. Fort McPherson has the required communications infrastructure to support a major communications hub for the Department of Defense. The local Defense Information Systems Network Video Service Global Hub provides support for over 10,000 annual video teleconferences around the world.
Fort McPherson is being closed under the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 2005. According to the Base Redevelopment and Realignment Manual published March 1, 2006 by the Department of Defense (DoD), the base closure and redevelopment process is affected by many federal real property and environmental laws and regulations, along with volumes of implementing guidance. Although the process includes a seemingly sequential series of events, it is actually a series of concurrent activities that can be subdivided into three activities: The first consists of the community’s redevelopment planning, environmental impact analysis activities, natural and cultural resources determinations and consultations, identification of uncontaminated property, the Military Department’s development of an Installation Summary Report that considers all property assets, market conditions, and potential disposal options, and many environmental restoration and compliance activities. The second consists of activities associated with the Military Department’s surplus property disposal decision-making and the third consists of the parcel-by-parcel disposal of the property.
The McPherson Planning Local Redevelopment Authority, a non-profit corporation, serves as the primary link between the DoD, the installation, the community, and Federal and State agencies for all base closure matters. The MPLRA is “the single entity responsible for identifying local redevelopment needs and preparing a redevelopment plan for the Military Department to consider in the disposal of installation property. In this context, the term “redevelopment plan” means a plan that represents local consensus on the redevelopment with respect to the installation and provides for redevelopment of the property that becomes available because of the installation closure or realignment.”
Effective November 9, 2005, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to close Fort McPherson. Before the end of 2006, Army officials must complete closure planning, conduct inventories, and assess potential reuse strategies. The Army standing-down process must begin within two years and be completed within six years of the November 9 beginning date.
REGIONAL IMPACT
Fort McPherson is the seventh largest employer in Atlanta. An economic impact report published annually by the Fort McPherson Public Affairs Office in 2004 lists 1,329 active duty, 878 Army Reserve, and 2,064 civilians that work at Fort McPherson. Including Army Retirees, family members, and retirees from other services – Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem affect over 136,000 people. The total active duty payroll for Fort McPherson as of 2004 was $106.8 million.
AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The affairs of the McPherson Planning Local Redevelopment Authority are managed by a Board of Directors consisting of eleven (11) members, of whom eight (8) are appointed by the Mayor of the City of Atlanta and of whom three (3), the Mayor of the City of Atlanta, the Mayor of the City of East Point, and the Chairman of the Fulton County Commission serve ex officio. Current board members are: Felker Ward, Jr., Chairman of the MPLRA, The Honorable Shirley Franklin, Mayor of the City of Atlanta, The Honorable Joe Macon, Mayor of the City of East Point, The Honorable Karen Handel, Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Michael Beatty, Commissioner, Department of Community Affairs, Lisa Gordon, Kenneth DeLeon, Mark Hennessy, Ayesha Khanna, Richard Holmes and Bill Linginfelter.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES
The MPLRA Bylaws establish three advisory committees: the Healthy Community and Quality of Life Subcommittee, the Reuse and Design Subcommittee and the Finance and Economic Development Subcommittee. An early phase of the planning process will be the formulation of a “vision” by the advisory committees with input from and interaction with the communities for the reuse of the property that will be communicated to the reuse planners.
AUTHORITY STAFF
Jack C. Sprott, Executive Director, (404) 614-8333 sprott@mcphersonredevelopment.com
Yvonne M. Spencer, Assistant to the Executive Director, (404) 614-8318 spencer@mcphersonredevelopment.com
THE PROCESS
November 9, 2005 – Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) became law and McPherson was officially marked for closure. This date marks the beginning of the process.
January 9, 2006 – Federal Agencies submitted their “Expressions of Interest (EOI’s) for Fort McPherson property. This is called the “federal screening” process. Five acres and five buildings were requested by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
May 9, 2006 – The Military Department issued a “determination of surplus” to the LRA. The MPLRA requests EOI’s from local charitable agencies and state or local governments and conducts outreach to homeless organizations. This date also marks the deadline for federal screening decisions. The “visioning process” should also be active at this point.
September 25, 2006 – The MPLRA finalizes its state and local screening and homeless outreach. Over the next 9 months, the focus will be on interacting with the communities in the outreach process and finalizing the reuse and redevelopment plan.
June 22, 2007 – The Reuse and Redevelopment Plan is submitted to HUD for approval of the community outreach plan and then to DoD for purposes of environmental remediation and property transfer.
NOTE: JUNE 1, 2007 - THE MCPHERSON PLANNING LRA REQUESTED A 90 DAY DEADLINE EXTENSION UNTIL SEPTEMBER 22, 2007 TO SUBMIT THE REUSE PLAN AND APPLICATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR THE 2005 BASE CLOSURE AND REALIGNMENT FOR THE FORT MCPHERSON FACILITY IN ATLANTA, GA.
December 31, 2007 – At this point the work of the MPLRA should be complete and an Implementation LRA will be formed to administer the transfer and redevelopment of the property.
September 14, 2011 - BRAC 2005 completed. The U. S. Army must cease operations and vacate the base by this date.
