DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The latest update in the Blackhall Studios land swap deal with DeKalb County is moving from an effort to reverse the swap to a buyback.
According to DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry, a resolution introduced Tuesday would have the county buy back the 40 acres of green space they traded to Blackhall in 2021.
Instead, they will vote on whether or not the county will buy the land back in a bid to add it to the current Intrenchment Creek Park greenspace.
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In the initial land swap, DeKalb County traded their 40 acres for 53 acres so that the movie studio could expand from the grounds they’d already built on.
However, Channel 2 Action News reported in July the county was considering a swap reversal after alleging Blackhall, formerly owned by Ryan Millsap, had not met its side of the bargain, which included public redevelopment and other restorative efforts.
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Details from the new resolution, submitted by Terry, show that if the county votes to buy back the land, they would also work to restore the park, original trailhead and wetlands and remove invasive species.
In a petition by those supporting a buy back, and claiming the effort will also prevent the land from being turned into a data center, petitioners said the land swap was a multi-million dollar loss for the county.
The DeKalb County Tax Assessor reported the 40 acres of land initially traded to Millsap was worth $4.07 million in the latest assessment.
The land DeKalb County traded for is currently worth $136,600, as of the latest assessment.
So far, more than 1,300 people have signed the petition urging the county to buy back the land.
Terry told Channel 2 Action News that the agenda item was deferred an additional 60 days at the Tuesday meeting.
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