Mayor Reed Ups Offer to Church Located on Proposed Site for New Stadium

One of the historic churches has turned down the city’s initial offer of $13.5 million for its land. Friendship Baptist Church – located just south of the current Georgia Dome – is countering with a $24.5 million asking price.

Mayor Kasim Reed says the city has since bumped up its offer to $15.5 million. Reed says he’s “65-70 percent” confident a deal will be reached in the next few weeks.

Reed and the Falcons have said they prefer the south site, but maintain a back-up site on the north side of the Georgia Dome will be used if a deal can’t be reached.

“It’s a complex negotiation with a substantial amount of money for a historic institution and I made a commitment very early on to be respectful, that I wasn’t going to be heavy-handed that I was going to give the congregation time and space to make their own conclusion.”

Both churches on the south site – Friendship and Mt. Vernon Baptist Church – could not be reached for this story.

Meanwhile, the Falcons have secured public funds to cover about 20 percent of the cost of the new stadium and recently approved a conceptual design for the facility.