Turner Field "is going to be sold" to Atlanta-based real estate firm Carter and Georgia State Univ., according to Leslie & Trubey of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority board will "begin immediately negotiating a sale" of the downtown ballpark and "much of the surrounding parking lots." The announcement "comes just a little more than two months after the agency put the ballpark up for sale through a competitive bid process," and about two years after the Braves "announced their plans to move to a new ballpark in Cobb County." The Carter-Georgia State plan involves a $300M "mix of student housing, apartments, retail and the conversion of Turner Field into a football stadium" (AJC.com, 12/21). CBSSPORTS.com's Robby Kalland noted Georgia State's football team "currently plays at the Georgia Dome and will move into the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium when the Dome gets taken down" after the '16 season. Building an athletics complex closer to campus -- and with an appropriately sized stadium -- "is an important step" for the program. Outside of football at the Georgia Dome, the rest of Georgia State's teams "play at a complex nine miles east of campus that is not easily accessible by many students that live on campus." The new football stadium "would be far smaller than the Georgia Dome" and would be a "more appropriate setting for a fledgling football program" (CBSSPORTS.com, 12/21).
