The Smyrna Economic Development presentation at the Smyrna Town Hall meeting was covered by Andrea Hall, Smyrna’s Economic Development Coordinator.
First up, was a discussion of how home prices are fairing. Nationwide homes prices are down 14.3%, but only down 12.1% in metro Atlanta. But if you look at the following home value index change map:
From the map above, you’ll see that the Smyrna area has fared well, all being in the orange (prices up more than 0%) or light green (prices down 0-5%) categories. A big impact on the current amount of distressed properties hitting the market, is related to sub-prime mortgages that were written from 2004-2006.
Ms. Hall pointed out in the following map that Smyrna has been much better insulated against price drops due to a much lower percentage of high risk loans being written in the Smyrna area, as you can see below:
Smyrna is outlined in blue and comparatively speaking, we’re certainly in much better shape and likely to rebound quicker than some areas such as southwest Cobb county. Click here if you’d like to learn more about Atlanta distressed properties.
Next up was a recap of current construction. There are currently 41 Smyrna subdivisions under construction (1,600 lots approved), with only 42% of those lots having been constructed and 72% of those constructed having been sold. Several subdivisions have been developed, but no homes have been built (274 lots).
So if you do the math, that means of the 1,600 approved lots, 672 homes have been built, 484 have sold and 188 are standing inventory.
The net effect is that 13 subdivisions are either under bank ownership or new investors.
Redevelopment goals are still focused on the tax allocation district (TAD). The city is a big believer in using TAD’s due to the “halo effect” it brings to the community and the incremental property taxes that are generated. Ms. Hall pointed out that a great example of the “halo effect” is the $200 million in additional investment that occurred within a 1 mile radius of the Smyrna Market Village within 5 years of it being built.
Within the tax allocation district, Smyrna wants to increase the amount of residentail units, increase average household incomes to attract quality retail, replace sub-standard rental units, provide redevelopment incentives and establish gateway entries to downtown Smyrna at Jonquil Village and Belmont Hills.
I feel like I’m getting long-winded, so you’ll have to come back for the updates on Jonquil Village and Belmont Hills. I promise not to keep you waiting long, but I need to go eat right now.