FAIRBURN, GA-Locally based Taylor & Mathis has filed preliminary plans with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for a Development of Regional Impact that is expected to have a total 1.8 million sf of industrial and distribution space in this Atlanta suburb.

Area construction sources familiar with comparable projects tell GlobeSt.com the project's estimated development cost could reach $864 million. The general contractors base their estimate on a probable hard construction cost of $45 to $50 per sf. Duke Realty Corp. has built similar ventures in metro Atlanta for about $45 per sf, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

The development site is on Bohannon Road near Interstate 85, about 10 miles southwest of Downtown Atlanta. The site has 1,500 feet of frontage facing Interstate 85 and is next to the CSX southside transportation hub.

Hamilton Reynolds, president of Taylor & Mathis' Industrial Division, tells GlobeSt.com his company hasn't made preliminary ground-breaking plans because it is waiting to complete the DRI review process. "It's hard to say how long that could take but it could be up to six months," Reynolds says.

Area industrial brokers familiar with the project tell GlobeSt.com the spec-built park is expected to have three buildings with the largest totaling one million sf. The other two structures could have 450,000 sf and 350,000 sf respectively.

Fulton County sources in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com Taylor & Mathis would like to break ground by September and have the first building in the project completed by fall 2008. The entire park is expected to be completed by year-end 2007.