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Abstract
This dissertation examines the impact of Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta, an innovative sports, retail, and entertainment complex that opened in 2017, on residential property values in Cobb County, Georgia. By focusing on the new genre of developments that enhance community engagement by integrating sports and various commercial elements, this research fills a gap in the existing literature on the determinants of residential real estate values. Moreover, it contributes to understanding the market's heterogeneity by examining the venue’s differential effect on the values of detached single-family houses versus townhouses and condominiums. Sports complexes are known to produce a mix of both positive and negative externalities, which creates theoretical uncertainty regarding their overall influence on nearby property prices. Guided by Rosen's Hedonic Pricing Model and employing the 2010-2020 data from Multiple Listing Services in the Atlanta metropolitan area, this study estimates difference-in-difference regressions to identify the impact of the stadium's announcement and inauguration on residential property prices. Properties in the stadium’s proximity were classified into three treatment groups, defined by 1-mile intervals, and their sales prices observed during the study period were compared to those of properties situated beyond the three-mile radius. Results revealed significant variations in house price trajectories following the venue's inauguration, with homes within two miles of the stadium experiencing higher price inflation relative to homes situated in the control area. Additional analyses of market segments indicated that, while the presence of Truist Park slowed the price appreciation for detached homes located within a one-to-three-mile radius, it accelerated value growth for attached properties in the stadium’s proximity. The robustness of findings was confirmed in estimations that adjusted for potentially divergent temporal price trends and further validated by fixed effects estimations conducted with a subset of properties sold twice during the study period. Findings are expected to guide policymakers by highlighting how such sports and commercial developments might influence neighborhood demographics, tax revenues, local business landscapes, and community cohesion. Additionally, the research offers predictive insights for homebuyers and real estate investors about the localized economic effects of sports venues, empowering them to make more informed property transactions.