Milton Has Until December to Decide What the Empty Verizon Campus Becomes

If you've been waiting for the ball fields Milton has planned on Deerfield Parkway since 2024, the decision that shapes them is happening right now. It isn't on the park's project page. It's in the purchase agreement for three empty office buildings across the road.

On September 21, Milton's City Council approved an agreement that lets the city buy 51.32 acres at One, Two and Three Verizon Place for $26.25 million. City Manager Steve Krokoff said the vote was not a final decision. It opens a 60-day due-diligence period, and during that time the city can walk away. If the city goes ahead, closing could happen on or before December 1. Most coverage has stopped at "Milton might turn an office campus into a park." Read the money behind the deal and you find something closer to home. The Verizon purchase and the Deerfield athletic park now draw on the same pot of money.

What's sitting on that land today

The campus sits just west of GA 400 at the Windward Parkway interchange, between Deerfield Parkway and Morris Road. Its three office buildings total 396,000 square feet and were built in 1998. The second, smaller parcel is 7.9 undeveloped acres. Verizon told The Roundabout that no employees have worked there since 2020. The people once based there are hybrid workers assigned to Verizon's campus at 5055 North Point Parkway in Alpharetta, or they work from home. Verizon will keep an antenna on the property after any sale.

The city doesn't want the buildings. Its staff report calls them "liabilities that the City anticipates demolishing" and says the value "lies in the land, road frontage, location, and proximity to the City's two previously acquired Deerfield parcels." Fulton County values the two parcels at about $50 million for 2026. About $28 million of that is the buildings, and the land alone is valued at roughly $22 million.

The park Milton already planned across the street

The "previously acquired" parcels are what tie this to the fields. Milton owns 24.42 acres at 300 Deerfield Parkway, bought in two pieces in 2024 and planned as an active park with fields and other recreation facilities. In April 2025, the Council set field space as the priority. Based on athletic enrollment, the city said it needed two more rectangular fields and four more baseball diamonds.

The concept that followed in May 2025 matched that need. It showed two large rectangular turf fields and four baseball diamonds, plus two playgrounds, a splash pad, pickleball courts, restrooms and a bridge over a proposed internal road. The city's project page still calls that drawing the "latest (and potentially final)" concept. In July 2025, though, the city extended its designer's contract to rework the site plan around nearby development and the Deerfield Urban Design Manual.

In other words, the 24 acres already had a plan sized to the field shortage the city measured. The Verizon land would turn that single park into something bigger. With both sites, Milton would hold 75.74 acres in Deerfield, bought for a combined $35 million before any demolition, cleanup or construction. The city describes the result as a recreation-centered district with athletic fields, trails, open space, gathering places and "complementary commercial uses." So far, the agreement approves none of those facilities.

Where the money crosses over

The two projects meet in the city's capital budget. Milton expects to pay cash from its pay-as-you-go capital program, not borrow. Krokoff told The Roundabout that the money set aside for the athletic complex "will likely be an initial source of funding."

The city's own figures show how much that is. On June 30, Milton's Capital Projects Fund held $53.3 million. Of that, $22.9 million was set aside, and not yet spent, for a new active athletic complex in Deerfield. Much of the rest is already assigned to other projects, including Fire Station 45 and the trail connection to the Big Creek Greenway. A $26.25 million cash purchase would use up the athletic-complex money and then some. The plan leans on two other sources to fill the gap.

• Selling pieces of the land. The new Milton Development Authority, seated September 8, would test whether parts of the Verizon property could be sold to lower the city's net cost and bring in taxable businesses. Each sale would need its own Council vote.
• A federal grant. The Council authorized an application for an Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant of up to $15 million for South Deerfield park space, including athletic fields, courts, trails, inclusive play areas and gathering spaces. A full award would require Milton to match it with $15 million of its own. Krokoff called it "a potential opportunity to reduce the local cost of the project, not funding that should be described as already secured or even depended upon."

The staff report asks the city's Finance department to confirm where the money comes from and to model what happens if parcel sales come late or come up short. That has to happen before the second vote.

The mayor has said the fields would still come first. Peyton Jamison expects the athletic facilities to be built first, with land not needed for recreation sold to private developers and the buildings coming down. "Our goal is to start construction on the athletic complex in the first quarter of next year," he wrote. That's a stated goal, not a construction schedule. In August, the city described its South Deerfield master planning as early-stage concepts, with Deerfield Park development among its near-term capital priorities.

"Owning the land lets the city and its residents decide where recreation, trails, and open space go before private development decides it for us." Mayor Peyton Jamison, in a written answer to The Roundabout

Why the city picked Deerfield

Jamison's case for the site is about who's nearby. "It's the largest redevelopment site in Deerfield, which is one of the densest, most walkable parts of Milton and the area with the least access to public recreation," he wrote.

Today, the closest city park is Freedom Park at 13000 Deerfield Parkway, with walking trails and outdoor workout equipment. For fields, Bell Memorial Park has baseball and softball diamonds, rectangular fields, a playground and walking trails. The nearest Big Creek Greenway access is in Alpharetta, at North Point Parkway and at Marconi Drive near Windward Parkway.

The trail picture is also changing on a separate track. In September, a city contractor began building along Cogburn Road near King's Ridge Christian School and St. Francis High School. That's the latest phase of the Big Creek Greenway Trail Connection, which will add trails on Webb Road, Cogburn Road, Morris Road and McGinnis Ferry Road so residents can reach the Greenway on foot, with strollers or by bike. The connector has been awarded to Wilson Construction, approved by GDOT and cleared to start, but the city hasn't published a completion date. One trail segment runs along Morris Road, which also borders the Verizon campus. If both projects happen, Milton's busiest Greenway link and its biggest new recreation site would share a road.

What the next 60 days actually test

The September vote put $100,000 in escrow, and Milton gets it back if it walks away for any reason. Staff recommended a second public Council vote before the city commits. At that point, another $500,000 would go into escrow. During the review, the city plans to:

1. Get an independent appraisal. The city doesn't have one yet.
2. Complete an environmental review.
3. Estimate the cost of demolition and cleanup.
4. Evaluate the site's value for access, outdoor recreation, trails and public space, including which "marketable edges" could be sold.

Asked about the price, Jamison wrote that whether $26.25 million is right "is exactly what the next 60 days are for," and that the city can terminate "if the numbers don't hold up." Even if the city goes ahead, Verizon can push the closing back up to 120 days to put up a temporary antenna.

The same night, the Council passed a 30-day freeze on new rezoning, use permit, site plan and land-disturbance applications in South Deerfield, the area bounded by Highway 9, Webb Road, GA 400 and Windward Parkway. The city said no pending applications were affected.

The dates on the city calendar

Nobody signed up to speak on the Verizon item at the September 21 meeting. Here's where the decision moves next, based on the city's October calendar and its published targets.

Both Greenprint open houses are at City Hall, 2006 Heritage Walk. The Greenprint is a separate project. It's a citywide strategy for seven sites Milton already owns, balancing their use with conservation and the city's rural character, and it doesn't cover the Verizon land. The city is aiming to present it to Council on November 16 and adopt it on December 7. Residents can also send comments to [email protected]. So for the next two months, Milton is shaping its existing green spaces and weighing its biggest new one at the same time. The two land on the Council's agenda within days of each other.

At Local Loyalty Realtors, we'll be following the Deerfield decision through the second Council vote. Our commission rebate program can send part of each transaction to local causes, including the youth leagues and community groups that use Milton's fields. If you or a neighbor are planning a move this year, start with our rebate calculator: Calculate Your Rebate & Start Your Search.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.