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South Fulton’s Opportunity Zone conversation is getting fresher attention as Atlanta heads into a World Cup year and airport-adjacent corridors keep tightening. The catalyst isn’t hype. It’s utility. Airport District traffic, MARTA’s event operations planning, and steady small-bay demand create real tenants for right-sized spaces. OZ status can sharpen after-tax outcomes if the deal already cash-flows on today’s income. It can’t turn a weak pro forma into a winner. MARTA is already planning frequency and service changes for the 2026 surge, which means more eyes across airport-fed corridors and a premium on sites that are easy to reach and easy to open.
Start where the tenants are. Camp Creek continues to benefit from regional draw and hotel proximity; spaces that publish a believable “ready by” window and show two test fits convert more tours than slightly cheaper bays without dates. Virginia Ave/Main in College Park leans into walkability and hospitality spillover; service retail and wellness groups do well here when signage and venting paths are clear. Old National is mid-upgrade: the city approved Phase 2 sidewalk and safety work in October 2025 and regional media reported a roughly $4.1M scope to improve access from Jonesboro Rd to Flat Shoals Rd. That pushes foot traffic, clarifies drive paths, and reduces the “visibility anxiety” that kills deals.
Treat OZ correctly. An OZ location lets eligible investors defer certain gains and, on a ~10-year hold in a Qualified Opportunity Fund, exclude appreciation from federal capital gains. That’s a powerful after-tax enhancer, but only if you price the asset on current rent roll, a realistic tax reset at your basis, and a white-box or conversion scope tied to real lead times. If the numbers work before the OZ, the OZ improves the yield. If they don’t, the code won’t rescue the thesis. For College Park and adjacent areas, tract-level OZ mapping is public; use it as a check, not a crutch.
Watch adjacent city moves too. East Point’s downtown is adding transit-oriented density around the MARTA station via “The Fifty-Five,” while Hapeville’s Solis project along Porsche Ave is bringing new residents and ground-floor retail near the airport’s front door. College Park is advancing a Tax Allocation District to accelerate its Main Street and downtown reinvestment. These aren’t OZ programs, but they matter to demand and spend patterns at the edge of South Fulton’s OZ tracts.
The playbook is boring in the best way. Underwrite today’s income. Confirm tract status. Publish delivery dates you can keep. In 2026, certainty will beat a small rent cut because operators value time-to-open more than headline rent. If you want a quick OZ screen on a parcel—confirm the tract, sanity-check income, and outline a realistic path to “open”—send the address (via email) and I’ll return a concise read-through.
