by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City has reached an agreement with the Plaza at Berkman’s Phase 2 developers that should have the Northbank Riverwalk fronting the development open in time for the Super Bowl, according to the City’s deputy director of Public Works.
Ed Hall said the City will pay about $215,000 to fix 115 feet of the bulkhead supporting the Riverwalk. Once those repairs are made, developer DB Holdings, LLC will pay to build the Riverwalk.
Hall said the City is preparing to accept bids on the bulkhead project’s design. He said the bulkhead must be ready by mid–April if the Riverwalk is to be open by the early February 2005 Super Bowl.
“It’s a little tight; we have to bid, design, permit and construct the project,” said Hall. “But we’ll do what it takes to get it done and turned over to Berkman by the end of April. Then they should be able to do it well within the January time frame.”
In e–mails to City Policy Chief Steve Diebenow, Hall said April 21, would be the deadline for the project. Diebenow asked, “if we want to hold out any hope, to have any chance, for the bulkhead and Northbank Riverwalk being completed in front of Berkman Plaza before the Super Bowl, this is our trigger date.”
Hall later told Assistant General Counsel John Germany that 150 days would be a “realistic time frame” for DB Holdings to build the Riverwalk extension.
The City envisions a continuous Riverwalk from the Landing to Alltel Stadium as a key feature of its Super Bowl environment. The Berkman section currently represents a 430 foot break in the Riverwalk.
The City and the developer agreed to “cooperate with each other and use their best efforts to complete the Riverwalk Extension by Jan.15, 2005.”
The City and DB Holdings have engaged in about five months of negotiations to decide who will pay for what along the Berkman Riverwalk. The Atlanta developer agreed to build the Riverwalk in return for incentives. The City sold the riverfront property for $1 and agreed to pay the developer $2.5 million to build the Riverwalk.
That deal was held up when one of the developer’s engineers discovered sediment from the bulkhead leaking into the river. DB Holdings estimated a $1.3 million fix at the time, which the developer requested the City pay.
The City used divers to conduct its own estimate. Hall said the bulkhead’s “middle 324 feet” was OK. He said the City would have to replace 41 feet at the east end and 75 feet at the west end.
Hall said the damage was not severe but said it was “better to go ahead and replace it,” because the bulkhead will serve as a foundation for the Riverwalk.
“If it were to fail, you’d probably have some settlement for the improvements [the Riverwalk]. We thought it would be better to take care of it now,” said Hall.
According to the Nov. 7 agreement with DB Holdings, the City will pay for damage to the Phase 2 Riverwalk resulting from damage to the bulkhead.