New fire stations to be built with bond proceeds in Sandy Springs

Key Points:

• Candescent, a financial services company, announced it opened its new Sandy Springs headquarters on Sept. 17, which Mayor Rusty touted in his State of the City address.
• Paul said business leaders investing in Sandy Springs helped the city earn a Aaa bond rating that will save taxpayers millions of dollars in interest payments.

Mayor Rusty Paul announced during his State of the City address on Sept. 17 that Candescent, a financial services company, opened its headquarters in Sandy Springs because of an environment that has made the city a financial technology hub.

Candescent had announced in a news release earlier in the day that the cloud-based provider of digital and unified customer experience solutions for financial services had opened its new headquarters at 4 Concourse Parkway.

Paul told the business leaders attending the Greater Perimeter Chamber’s Signature Luncheon held at Sandy Springs City Hall that Candescent adds to the growing number of large financial services businesses relocating to the city. He said the company chose the area because of the fiber optic internet connectivity that’s available.

Business leaders at the luncheon were told that because of their investment, they are a large part of the reason the city has an Aaa bond rating, Paul said. The Aaa rating netted a 4.184 percent interest rate on $48 million in bonds sold on Sept. 16. The mayor said that the lower rate would save the taxpayers millions of dollars in interest payments.

The bond proceeds will fund construction of new fire stations on Roswell Road near Glen Ridge and replace a 1960s-era station at Roberts and Spalding drives. It will also fund a significant upgrade to the fire station at Raider Drive across from Riverwood High School.

“We are a teardown city, and we’ve got a lot that needs to be replaced,” Paul said.

Related stories:
• Sandy Springs approves tax abatement for Hillcrest development
• Sandy Springs gets AAA rating on revenue bonds for new fire stations
• Special master finds water surcharge unjustified

The mayor said that’s what is happening in residential areas, with people buying homes only to tear them down for new construction.

“Some of that’s good, but we’re also losing a lot of our housing stock that young families need when they come into this community to live,” Paul said.

Even though Sandy Springs United Methodist Church sold its activity center property for $2.4 million per acre to make way for Hillcrest, a mixed-use development, affordable housing can’t be built on property sold at that high of a price, Paul said.

Paul’s proposal to spur development involves the creation of tax allocation districts (TAD). He said he would start with the North End shopping centers that have been targets of the city’s redevelopment efforts for years. The city created a North End mixed-use zoning district classification in 2021.

Paul said COVID, high interest rates, and REIT (real estate investment trust) ownership have hindered redevelopment for the past four years. He said a TAD would fund infrastructure like roads, stormwater systems, and parks, giving the city leverage to negotiate with developers.

Infrastructure projects scheduled include a connecting road at the the north end of Roberts Drive linking it with North River Parkway. Paul said a traffic signal planned at the North River Parkway intersection will make access to Roswell Road easier and safer.

Two PATH 400 segments in Sandy Springs will be completed by 2028, with the third segment finished in summer 2029. Paul said the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) provided $18 million in funding for the trails project.

Paul said the Mount Vernon Highway and Johnson Ferry Road project across Roswell Road from City Springs should be completed in April 2026. The project involves widening both roads to give them additional eastbound and westbound lanes.

A center two-way left-turn lane on each road will transition to a left-turn lane at intersections. The project will add 12-foot-wide multi-use paths on the inside shoulders of Mount Vernon Highway and Johnson Ferry Road, and six-foot-wide sidewalks on the outside shoulders.

Immediately after that project is done, construction will begin on the Hammond Drive widening project. Paul said the project will expand the road to four lanes from Boylston Drive to Glenridge Drive, realigning an intersection, adding roundabouts, and a new bridge.

Paul said Sandy Springs has already spent $43 million to improve and modernize its infrastructure.

“But there’s one piece of infrastructure I wish we were investing in, but not a penny of investment has occurred. It’s the long-term functionality of the water system serving this city,” Paul said.

Residents, and later the city, have battled the City of Atlanta for 30 years over water rates and system maintenance, he said. Atlanta provides water for Sandy Springs and owns the water system.

A state judge ruled for Sandy Springs in April regarding a 21 percent water rate surcharge that Atlanta had been charging Sandy Springs.

However, Paul said Sandy Springs asked the judge to vacate the order after Atlanta officials asked to negotiate. The negotiations have not yet begun, but Paul believes they will in 2026. If the two entities don’t reach an agreement, both cities will lose all state and federal grants administered by the state.