North Atlanta Today: Milton Nears a $26.25 Million Campus Decision

Milton City Council is approaching a vote that could commit the city to buying the former Verizon office campus in South Deerfield for $26.25 million, setting up years of decisions about public parkland and private development.

This North Atlanta Today edition covers reporting and official updates available through 12:05 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. Weather and air-travel conditions can change after that cutoff.

Milton’s $26.25 million decision

The council will consider authorizing City Manager Steven Krokoff to complete the purchase at its 6 p.m. Monday meeting. The decision is whether Milton should give up its right to withdraw from the agreement after final reviews, not whether to approve a park or redevelopment plan.

The 51.32-acre property at One, Two and Three Verizon Place includes three vacant office buildings totaling 433,326 square feet. Milton has already paid a $100,000 deposit. Moving forward would generally make that money nonrefundable, require another $500,000 deposit and leave $25.65 million due at closing, before adjustments and closing costs.

Under a companion agreement, the Development Authority of Milton would acquire the campus with city funds. Milton would select land to keep for parks and recreation, while the authority could sell remaining parcels for compatible private development and return net proceeds to the city. The amount of parkland, value of future sales and cost of demolition and site maintenance remain undecided.

The city’s inspection period expires Nov. 20, and closing is expected by Dec. 1 if the deal proceeds. Monday’s meeting begins at Milton City Hall, 2006 Heritage Walk.

Read the full North Atlanta Star report on the proposed Verizon campus purchase.

A Buford Highway taqueria plans a Johns Creek sister restaurant

Casa El Rey Taqueria is targeting a mid-January opening at 11305 Bell Road, in the former New York Butcher Shoppe space. The full-service restaurant will be a sister concept to El Rey del Taco, the Doraville taqueria Martin Macias opened on Buford Highway in 2002.

Macias plans tacos made with cuts including ribeye and sirloin, along with tortillas made from yellow and blue corn masa. A focused drinks menu is expected to include mixed drinks, tequila, wine and bottled beer.

The existing kitchen should shorten the conversion, but remodeling and final city approvals remain. Macias expects about 45 days of work; the January target is tentative. A final opening date, complete menu and hours have not been announced.

Read the full Casa El Rey report and its connection to El Rey del Taco.

Closer look: the books that stay with a bookseller

During a difficult stretch in her life, Kim McNamara of Read It Again in Suwanee would come home and listen to Robin Wall Kimmerer read “Braiding Sweetgrass,” a book joining botany, Indigenous teachings and the natural world.

“Honestly, I would listen to this woman read a shopping list,” McNamara said. The book became one of five personal recommendations she offered for holiday giving and cold-weather reading in the first North Atlanta Bookshelf.

Her list also includes Allen Levi’s “Theo of Golden,” which she described as “like reading sunshine”; Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’ illustrated “The Book of Birds”; Abby Jimenez’s holiday romance “A Married Little Christmas”; and the first volume of Beth Brower’s “The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion.”

McNamara finished the eighth Emma M. Lion book and immediately began the series again. She is now on her third reading. Her warning doubles as a recommendation: “Do not read unless you’re prepared to become completely obsessed with Emma M. Lion.”

Browse all five books and McNamara’s reasons for choosing them.

Flights resume, but the network is still recovering

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted Friday’s nationwide ground stop after communications failures disrupted air traffic control centers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. Friday, but warned that aircraft and flight crews would take time to return to their schedules.

Travelers using Atlanta or connecting through other major hubs should check their full itinerary with the airline before leaving for the airport. The end of the national stop does not guarantee that an individual flight or connection is operating on time.

Passengers whose flights are canceled may decline alternative transportation and request a refund to the original form of payment. A federal refund can also apply after a significant schedule change when the traveler rejects rebooking, credit or the changed trip. Hotel and meal reimbursement is not automatically guaranteed for an outage outside the airline’s control.

Read the North Atlanta Star’s traveler guide to rebooking and refunds, and review the FAA’s official ground-stop statement.

Sunday’s freeze warning now covers the region

The National Weather Service upgraded Friday’s watch to a freeze warning for North Fulton, Gwinnett and the rest of North and Central Georgia from 1 to 9 a.m. Sunday. The bulletin available at the 12:05 p.m. cutoff called for lows near 30 in North Fulton and Gwinnett and as low as 24 in parts of northern and western Georgia.

Saturday afternoon is expected to remain sunny, with highs in the lower-to-mid 50s across much of North Atlanta. Widespread frost is expected before sunrise Sunday. Move tender plants indoors or cover them before nightfall, protect exposed pipes and make sure pets have warm shelter and unfrozen water.

This forecast is fixed to the Saturday noon cutoff, not presented as live conditions. Check the latest National Weather Service warning bulletin before making overnight plans.