Milton just bought the Verizon campus
Milton's park district is no longer a proposal. The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to buy the 51-acre Verizon campus off Windward Parkway for $26.25 million, the deal The Roundabout reported Sunday. Nobody signed up to speak on the item during public comment.
The vote does not close the deal. The city puts down $100,000 now and has 60 days to do the homework it has not done yet: an environmental review, a demolition estimate, an independent appraisal. If Council votes a second time to proceed, another $500,000 is due within three business days and the sale closes on or before Dec. 1. Walk away before then, for any reason, and the deposit comes back.
Two related votes, same meeting. Council enacted a 30-day moratorium on new zoning, land-use and development applications in the area around the campus, bounded by Highway 9, Webb Road, GA 400 and Windward Parkway, while the city figures out what a South Deerfield park district actually looks like. Staff said no pending applications there would be affected. And Council authorized an application for a federal outdoor recreation grant that could cover up to $15 million of the land and park costs, matched dollar for dollar by the city; Georgia's DNR decides first whether to advance it, with a National Park Service decision expected by next May.
What happens next starts today. The Development Authority, the seven-member board the city will lean on to study selling parts of the land, holds its first meeting at 4 p.m. in Council Chambers. It is an orientation: introductions, the board’s duties under state law, and when it will meet again. The public is welcome.
Sources: City of Milton, City Council Regular Meeting, Sept. 21, 2026 (full video); the city’s Sept. 21 release on the Development Authority.
Reader poll · One tap Should Milton sell part of the Verizon land to private developers? The city’s plan keeps a recreation core and has its new Development Authority test whether other pieces could be sold to lower the cost and add to the tax base. Any sale would need its own Council vote.
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Results Thursday.
This story ran in Issue #61 — three mornings a week, free, Milton-only. The next one can be in your inbox.
