The queue of contenders for the title The Next Atlantic Station continues to grow. And of course it takes lawyers to assemble the plans to make it happen.

The latest movement comes on behalf of the city of Hapeville, which formed its first tax-allocation district (TAD) with the assistance of Hunton & Williams partner Doug Selby. The TAD encompasses the former Ford plant, which Hapeville officials and Jacoby Development Inc. want to turn into a mixed-use development. McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Sharon Gay was Jacoby’s counsel.

The TAD will allow Hapeville and Jacoby to convert the 122-acre site into places to live, work and play. The Hapeville site could also include a new public transit station. MARTA has expressed an interest in placing a stop at the Hapeville Ford plant, and the state of Georgia’s long-simmering plans for a commuter rail line south to Griffin could include a stop at the Hapeville site.

In addition to the Hapeville Ford plant, some other sites that developers think could be converted to a large collection of residences, offices and stores include the former GM plant in Doraville; Fort McPherson in south Atlanta, which is being shuttered by the Department of Defense; and Executive Park on North Druid Hills Road in DeKalb County.

Atlantic Station, which was developed by Jacoby, was built on the site of an old steel plant in midtown Atlanta. Among Atlantic Station’s many amenities are IKEA, Target and Publix stores; hotel and condo towers; restaurants and a movie theatre; and office towers that house some of Atlanta’s biggest law firms, including Arnall Golden Gregory and Burr & Forman. A third office tower, 271 17^th Street, is scheduled to open this year, and law firms also populate its tenant list. Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice and labor and employment firm Ford & Harrison plan to move to the new building.

Just thinking out loud: While some of Atlanta’s most-prestigious law firms are keen on leasing space at Atlantic Station, would they lease space in Hapeville or Doraville? If big law firms aren’t interested in office space outside of Midtown, does that leave a big hole in potential tenants for the space?

During its efforts to secure economic incentives for its $1 billion manufacturing plant near Chattanooga, Volkswagen AG steered legal questions to Balch & Bingham partner Alex Leath.

Now the question becomes, what law firm will the German auto giant pick as its regular outside counsel for future matters in the U.S.? Balch is a contender for the prize assignment, Leath said. Chattanooga-based Miller & Martin is also bidding on the VW job, according to attorneys familiar with the law firm's plans.

Additionally, lawyers are also scrambling to represent other local governments in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama that wish to lure suppliers that want to locate near VW’s first U.S.-based manufacturing plant, Leath said.

Leath, who is based in Birmingham, Ala., is not a newcomer to this type of legal work. Leath’s resume includes a stint advising the state of Alabama on negotiating incentives with Mercedes-Benz for a plant in Vance, Ala.; and another project advising Toyota on its plans for an assembly facility in Mississippi. His clients have also included Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Motors.

“Probably no lawyer in the Southeast has benefited from the re-industrialization of the South more than the one you’re talking to,” said Leath [photo, right].

In addition to the winning site in southeastern Tennessee, VW also looked at sites in Alabama and Michigan. Leath advised VW on the site-selection process and has continued advising VW on implementing its economic-incentive package and on negotiating details on construction agreements.

Among the incentives is a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, in which Volkswagen has agreed to pay 29.23 percent of its Hamilton County, Tenn. property taxes between 2010 and 2039, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. After that, VW will pay 100 percent of its property tax bill.

VW’s plant will be located at the 1,300-acre Enterprise South industrial park east of Chattanooga. The 1.9 million-square-foot plant will build mid-sized sedans for the North American market, is expected to employ about 2,000 people, and is projected to begin operations in 2011, according to the Times Free Press.

Leath led a team of about 45 lawyers from Balch in a slew of practice areas, including environmental, real estate, labor and employment, corporate, tax, utilities, and railroad and trucking regulations. The Balch lawyers were spread out among the firm’s offices in Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., and in Jackson, Miss.

Other attorneys who were involved in the economic-benefits package offered to VW, according to Leath, include: Miller & Martin partner Evan Allison in Chattanooga, who advised Hamilton County on real estate issues; Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor; Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development General Counsel Stephanie Tisdale; and Chattanooga City Attorney Randy Nelson.

College football is king in Atlanta and the Southeast. Georgia State University, seeking to capitalize on the region’s passion for football, is starting its first football team. The Panthers’ first game is scheduled for 2010 at the Georgia Dome.

The team will start practicing next year, at a new site just a short walk from Georgia State’s downtown campus. Seyfarth Shaw partner Robert Trusty and Ferguson McManamy partner Kati Heller were the two primary outside counsel on the property sale.

Blood N Fire Ministries-Atlanta Inc., a non-profit group, sold the 3.8-acre parcel to the Georgia State University Foundation for $6.6 million, according to Fulton County Superior Court records. Trusty advised Georgia State and Heller was counsel to Blood N Fire. Georgia State University in-house counsel Neal Bateman III worked on contract issues and due diligence.

The property is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just east of where the street crosses the Downtown Connector. MARTA’s east-west rail line runs along the northern edge of the property. The headquarters of Atlanta businessman Billy Corey’s business sits to the west of the site. Blood N Fire operated a ministerial-outreach program on the property, which includes two older brick-clad industrial warehouses.

Georgia State plans to have two practice fields on the site, along with a training facility and coaches' offices.

The property sale was brokered by Jamie Hargather of Wilson, Hull & Neal, representing Georgia State; and by Larry Culbertson of The C Group LLC, representing Blood N Fire.

The Georgia State Panthers will be coached by former Georgia Tech and Alabama head coach Bill Curry [photo, above].

Although they were forced to drop an earlier redevelopment plan, Linger Longer Development Co. and the Jekyll Island State Park Authority continue to proceed as a partnership to spruce up tourist facilities at the state-owned island on the Georgia coast.

The Jekyll Island authority and the real estate developer turned to lawyers from King & Spalding and Hunter Maclean Exley & Dunn for counsel on their latest agreement.

A revitalization partnering agreement was signed on Monday between Linger Longer of Atlanta and the Jekyll Island authority. Hunter Maclean partner Brooks Stillwell III in Savannah advised the state park authority, along with staff attorneys in the state Department of Law. King & Spalding partner Clay Howell advised Linger Longer.

Linger Longer agreed to build mid-priced and economy hotels, retail buildings, vacation cottages and other amenities, according to the revitalization agreement.

Jekyll’s hotels and convention center pale in comparison to similar facilities at nearby Sea Island and St. Simons Island. State leaders want to make Jekyll more attractive to tourists, in order to boost tax collections on the island.

Some groups weren’t impressed with plans that were formulated by Linger Longer in 2007, after the company was initially chosen by the state as its preferred redevelopment partner. Environmental groups, residents of the island and state Sen. Jeff Chapman, a Republican from Brunswick, earlier this year pressured Linger Longer to scale back its initial plans for Jekyll. Chapman and the other groups argued that Linger Longer’s scheme would have restricted the public's access to a beach on Jekyll Island and would not have provided enough affordable hotel options, as required by state law.

Alston & Bird and Troutman Sanders were on opposite sides of the deal table on the recent sale of a Cobb County office building, according to attorneys at the law firms.

Earlier this month, Cousins Properties Inc. sold a 188,000-square-foot building on Windy Hill Road to Genuine Parts Co. for $12.5 million.

The building was erected in 1984 and is located in Wildwood Office Park, situated in a heavily wooded area along the Chattahoochee River.

Troutman partner John Griffin advised Cousins on the deal, he said. Alston associate Catherine Morgen said she was primary outside counsel to Genuine Parts, along with partner Jay Farris. They worked with Genuine Parts General Counsel Scott C. Smith.

Genuine Parts will occupy some of the building, but it won’t use it as its primary corporate headquarters, Griffin said. Genuine Parts’ headquarters building is located in the nearby Circle 75 Parkway complex. Genuine Parts is the largest member of the National Automotive Parts Association, the namesake of the NAPA Auto Parts retail chain.

With the sale of the property, Cousins has now ended its affiliation with the Wildwood Office Park. Since 2004, Cousins has sold the buildings it owned in the development to multiple buyers, including CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., said Cousins spokesman Matt Gove. Cousins sold its last remaining properties in the development this year.  Additionally, Cousins in March 2007 moved its corporate headquarters out of Wildwood Office Park to the 191 Peachtree tower in downtown Atlanta.

Alston & Bird partners Mark Rusche and Alison Jones were the legal advisers to Prudential Real Estate Investors on the $20.5 million sale of an assisted living home in Dallas, according to Rusche.

Prudential sold the Caruth Haven [photo, right] assisted living facility in the Highland Park neighborhood of Dallas to Cornerstone Growth & Income REIT Inc. Caruth Haven is a 75,000-square-foot property with 91 residential units. It’s located near NorthPark Center, the largest shopping center in northern Texas, according to a news release. Foley & Lardner advised Irvine, Calif.-based Cornerstone.

Jones Day partner Scott Specht is counseling Tivoli Properties Inc. on its plans to develop a Mandarin Oriental hotel in Midtown Atlanta, according to Fulton County court records.

Specht has been outside counsel to Atlanta-based Tivoli on several developments, including its Aqua condominium tower at West Peachtree and 10^th streets, and the Tivoli Tenside luxury apartment building at Northside Drive and 10^th Street.

Tivoli plans to build a 53-story, mixed-use tower on Peachtree Street, between 13^th and 14^th streets. The building will include 198 hotel rooms and 71 residences, according to a Tivoli news release. Both the hotel and condo will be operated by Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. Mandarin operates five hotels in the U.S., in Boston, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington. Thelen partners Kit Choy Loke in San Francisco and Jarrett Fugh in Los Angeles are advising Mandarin, according to court records.

Want to live in an 8-bedroom mansion at Sugarloaf Country Club, once owned by a superstar NFL quarterback, complete with a movie theater and a 4-car garage? It can be yours for $4.1 million.

As part of a plan to sell his assets to pay off debts, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is selling his Sugarloaf mansion. The sale of the Gwinnett County mansion, along with more houses, cars, yachts, sport-fishing boats, horses and more, was part of a reorganization plan filed on Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court by Vick’s lawyers, Crowell & Moring partners Peter R. Ginsberg and Michael Blumenthal.

Vick is serving a 23-month sentence in federal prison in Kansas for bankrolling a dogfighting ring in rural Virginia. He is scheduled to be released July 20. Although Vick remains on the Atlanta Falcons roster, Falcons owner Arthur Blank has said that he expects Vick will return to the NFL, but not with the Falcons.

Among the many disclosures found in the filing made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia:

* In early 2007, before he was indicted, Vick gave his younger brother, former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Marcus Vick, about $450,000 worth of jewelry as a gift. However, the bling, which includes a Breitling watch and diamond stud earrings, may not have been Vick’s to give. It’s unclear whether Vick made payments on the merchandise to Atlanta jeweler Aydin & Co., or whether Aydin gave Vick the jewelry to wear as a promotion for the company.

“There is an issue as to who owns the jewelry,” the Crowell & Moring lawyers wrote in the court filing.

* With his multimillion-dollar contract with the Atlanta Falcons and endorsement contracts with Nike, Rawlings and others, Vick financially supported his mother and siblings, his son, his son’s mother, his fiancée, Kijafa Frink, and the two children he has had with Frink, a 10-month-old and a 3-month-old. Vick allowed his family to live in homes he purchased and drive his cars while he also paid their living expenses.

* Vick’s family and fiancée drove nicer vehicles than he did. Vick gave his brother, Marcus, a 2007 Land Rover. He gave his mother two Cadillacs, and his fiancée a 2007 Infiniti. But Vick himself drove a 2007 Ford F-150 truck.

* Vick paid Sutherland partner Billy Martin $500,000 for defending him against the federal dogfighting charges. Vick paid Atlanta criminal defense lawyer Daniel R. Meachum $200,000, according to Meachum spokeswoman Monica Wood.

* Vick gave his former personal manager, David Talbot, a 2008 Mercedes and $35,000 in cash as part of his compensation. Vick’s bankruptcy attorneys later learned, however, that Talbot had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on three separate occasions, and also had had multiple legal judgments filed against him. Additionally, shortly after Vick filed for bankruptcy protection, New Jersey state officials filed a complaint against Talbot alleging civil securities fraud.

* After he was convicted and sent to federal prison, some of Vick’s memorabilia from his football career was left behind at the Sugarloaf mansion. These items are being held for safekeeping by Vick’s former Falcons teammate Demorrio Williams, now with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Troutman Sanders has been involved with two of the larger real-estate leases inked in metro Atlanta in recent weeks.

Troutman partner Mark Elliott was counsel to landlord Regent Partners LLC on the 46,575-square-foot lease it signed with Spanx Inc. for its 3344 Peachtree building in Buckhead. Jones Day partner Mike Lee was legal counsel for Spanx. Spanx makes tights, fishnets and other types of undergarments for women. Spanx will be moving its corporate headquarters to 3344 Peachtree from its current space just up the street inside the Westin Buckhead hotel. Spanx was founded in in 1998 by Sara Blakely [left].

In an industrial lease, Troutman partner Diane Lidz and associate Damon Goode were legal advisers to landlord James Campbell Co. on the renewal of its lease with government contractor Computer Sciences Corp. The lease is for 453,000 square feet in an industrial building on Southside Industrial Parkway near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Jones Lang LaSalle broker Tal Isbell represented CSC, which relied on in-house legal counsel on the lease.

The financial crisis has postponed, if not canceled altogether, many corporate deals, securities offerings and real estate development projects, economists and attorneys have said.

But a $134 million hotel development near the Georgia International Convention Center and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was just ahead of the storm. The project broke ground on Sept. 12. Bank of America announced it was buying Merrill Lynch on Sept. 15 and Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on the same day.

More than two years in the making, the project, led by Atlanta developer Grove Street Partners LLC, will add two Marriott-branded hotels to a 25-acre site. The hotels will anchor a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development to be called Gateway Center. It will be the only stop on a new automated people mover between the airport’s baggage claim area and its new rental car facility.

Although the financing closed before the Wall Street maelstrom occurred, Sheley & Hall partner Raymond Sheley [right], lead counsel to Grove Street, said the transaction probably would have proceeded even if it had closed later—thanks to how the deal was structured.

He said financing will come from a combination of equity, bond revenue and debt. The group of debt lenders, led by U.S. Bancorp, won’t be required to fulfill its obligations until Grove Street spends all $51 million of the equity and bond proceeds—about nine months from now.

“The debt lenders said that the national economic turmoil would shake out before they will have to put in their own dollars,” Sheley said. “That lag will be our saving grace.”

The first of the two hotels, a 147-room Spring Hill Suites, is expected to open in February 2010. The second, a 403-room Marriott, should open by August 2010.

U.S. Bancorp never considered pulling out of the deal because of national economic conditions, said U.S. Bancorp’s lead counsel, Seyfarth Shaw partner Mark Block.

“U.S. Bancorp is a very conservative lender, and I think that, between the project developers and the other people backing it, they always felt very comfortable” with this deal, Block said.

One of the development’s financing elements will be proceeds from bonds backed by payments in lieu of taxes, also known as PILOT bonds. Since the site is owned by the city of College Park, and therefore exempt from tax, Grove Partners will make scheduled payments to the city instead of paying taxes.

The Grove Street project will be only the third in the state of Georgia to use PILOT bonds, Sheley said.

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