This December, the General Services Administration (GSA), which provides real estate services to federal agencies such as the CDC, will begin accepting public comments on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that is currently being prepared.
George Chandler, technical services team leader for GSA's Portfolio Management Division, said at an Aug. 1 public hearing that the EIS will examine the short- and long-term impacts from a CDC proposal to build 632,000 square feet of office and laboratory space at the Clifton Road campus. In a letter to Emory Executive Vice President John Temple dated June 1, Chandler wrote, "The EIS will examine the short-and long-term impacts on the natural and built environments of developing and operating a mix of laboratory, office and support space at the proposed West Campus. Potential impact assessment areas include but are not limited to air, water, public facilities and infrastructure, plant and animal life, transportation systems, parking, and community and economic issues." Chandler said at the public hearing that hydrologic impacts resulting from changing the topography of the site also will be examined.
If all the proposed space is built over the next 10 to 20 years as proposed, the size of the CDC's current 884,000-square-foot facility would increase by more than 70 percent. Part of the new construction would occur on the CDC's current campus, from the eastern leg of Michael Street westward to Clifton Way. A large portion of the new construction, however, would occur on the tract of land west of Clifton Way over to the western leg of Michael Street near the Human Resources building. That tract is currently held by a number of property owners, including Emory, and is being referred to in the CDC proposal as the West Campus.
Of the 632,000 square feet of construction proposed, 320,000 square feet are currently under construction or have been approved for design and construction on sites east of Clifton Way on the existing CDC campus. A 150,000-square-foot world headquarters building is under construction at the corner of Clifton Road and Clifton Way. The building will be occupied in early 1996 and house approximately 400 employees. Although 110 of those employees will come from other CDC sites around Atlanta, Chandler said the net increase in the staff population will be minimal because of an administrative reorganization currently under way.
Design and construction of an Infectious Disease Laboratory was approved in July by Congress and President Clinton. The 170,000-square-foot facility will house National Center for Infectious Disease research activities and will be adjacent to the existing HIV lab. The building is scheduled to be occupied by early 2000.
Chandler said that none of the remaining 312,000 square feet of proposed construction has received congressional approval or funding, and a CDC purchase of the West Campus block could not occur before October 1997. He said that if all the space is funded and constructed, the result could be as many as 1,000 additional employees and 900 more parking spaces.
"Purchasing this entire block will allow CDC to limit development along the Clifton Road portion of the site," said Chandler, "and will allow GSA far greater latitude in developing the site as a unified campus. For example, Clifton Way and Michael Street could be closed to the public and realigned for better internal site circulation and security. Also, the additional space would provide a visual and landscape buffer between CDC and other activities in the Clifton Road corridor."
While the effect of CDC's plans on the child care center and fire station is unclear, Emory Vice President for Business Bobby Williams has informed the CDC and GSA of the Universities need to keep both facilities where they are. "The Clifton Child Care Center is important to employees of Emory University, Egleston Hospital and the CDC," Williams wrote in a letter to Chandler earlier in the summer. "DeKalb County feels that the fire station in this area needs to be located on Clifton Road, and the Clifton Child Care Center must be in this general campus area. The present location of each is the most desirable."
Chandler said he expects the first draft of the EIS to be completed by December, and that a notice of availability will be published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at that time. "GSA will conduct a public hearing to review the draft EIS and solicit additional comments after the holiday season in early January," said Chandler. "The final EIS should be available for review in late March 1996, and the Record of Decision should be published in early May."
--Dan Treadaway