Hardie, a former Duke-Weeks Realty executive, and Hill plan to buy 63 acres along GA 124 in Braselton, GA from Gwinnett County land speculators Wayne Mason and Frank Hanna Jr. to develop two distribution centers about 50 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta. The deal is scheduled to close in July but the price hasn't been disclosed.

It probably will be far less than the $20 million Basinger and her partner, Ameritech pension fund, paid for the land at $11,111 per acre or 26 cents per sf, area industrial real estate brokers familiar with the property tell GlobeSt.com. County real estate records show Mason and Hanna paid Basinger-Ameritech $4.3 million or $2,389 per acre (five cents per sf) for the dirt. Basinger had planned to develop music and recording studios on the property but a recession, almost immediately after she purchased the property, killed the plan.

The Hardie-Hill team, corporately called Solution Property Group, plans to break ground on a 430,000-sf spec building immediately after the closing. Completion is scheduled for early 2004.

Hardie is familiar with the territory, particularly since he first brought Duke-Weeks to Braselton in the late 1990s. Duke-Weeks developed two spec buildings at that time. Sears Logistics Services leased the first structure. The second 515,000-sf building has been vacant since it was completed in late 2001.