Macon, Mercer and movies
Macon and hundreds of extras will appear on the big screen as two major motion pictures shoot scenes here in May and July.
DC Studios’ will again turn Terminal Station into The Daily Planet newsroom for the next Superman movie, and Mercer University will host Universal Pictures next month as crews film a major motion picture starring Glen Powell.
A year ago, The Hollywood Reporter reported Powell and Director Judd Apatow were writing a comedy about a country music star in decline.
Visit Macon’s Aaron Buzza briefed the Downtown Macon Community Association about the upcoming films less than 24 hours after Powell announced “The Comeback King” will be in theaters Feb. 5, 2027.
Monday, the world learned the film’s title in Powell’s Instagram post, presumably of himself, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans with a big belt buckle depicting the film’s logo.
A production crew of at least 100 people will arrive in late April to prepare to film between May 3-15 on Mercer’s campus, Robins Financial Capitol Theatre, Capricorn Studios, and The Grand Opera House. During some scenes, extras will hang out at McEachern Art Center on Second Street.
At this time, street closings are expected to be restricted to a small portion of Cotton Avenue from May 12-14 to make room for catering trucks, but Buzza said more information would be released closer to filming dates.
Comeback King’s location manager worked in Macon during filming of The Color Purple.
“He very much likes Macon, very much appreciates Macon. Judd Apatow has said multiple times how much he likes Macon,” Buzza said. “They want to do right by the businesses, and they want to do right by the community, so they’re trying their best to minimize the impacts on businesses and your customers, as well.”
Anyone interested in applying to be a Comeback King extra should email submit.catrettcasting.com.
Dozens of crew members working on Superman’s “Man of Tomorrow” will arrive in mid-June to transform Terminal Station into the fictional newspaper as they did for the 2025 blockbuster film.
Downtown businesses also are preparing for hundreds of visitors for the April 22 Bob Dylan concert at the City Auditoriums, the Just Tap’d Craft Beer Fest on Poplar Street April 25 and the South of Atlanta Fest May 1-2 at the Capitol Theatre.
Mural dilemma prompts Design Review Board to defer to P&Z
When does a mural become a billboard?
That question stumped the Macon-Bibb County Design Review Board during Monday’s meeting, but the Planning & Zoning Commission ultimately will decide the matter Monday at its April 13 meeting.
A complaint filed against Georgia Peach Properties’ sprawling building art at 164 Franklin St. led the company’s director of operations, Will Peters, to seek an after-the-fact certificate of appropriateness for the paintings and metal awnings.
The DRB will allow Peters to keep the awnings due to the close proximity to a commercial district, and scale down his company name and logo on the first mural to comply with historic district regulations for sign size, but a second, building-long tribute to the Macon Mayhem could be viewed as more of a billboard under P&Z regulations.
“I would like the commission to make the recommendation on the mural, because I don’t believe that it’s clear to us in our guidelines. Signage is more of a commission decision,” said DRB Chair Will Stanford.
Peters bought the dilapidated building in 2024 and enlisted local artists who were renting space inside to beautify the outside with murals on the walls.
“I think that painting this building is an upgrade, because it certainly is without a doubt looking better. So, I think you have just unfortunately fallen into a very murky spot that is a little unclear,” DRB’s Carrie Robinson said.
The image of the hockey team’s mascot, Mac, and the team name could be considered advertising instead of artwork. Mural images and paint are not regulated, but a “sign” of that size is inappropriate under the regulations.
DRB’s approval came under the condition that the words “All out Mayhem,” be changed to something like “All out Macon.”
They recommended P&Z accept their decision and suggested it could go on Monday’s consent agenda.
DRB also agreed to rezone more than 11 acres along Riverside Drive as a Planned Development – Mixed Use District instead of being under historic regulations for the Central Business Districts.
Mercer University is not only building its new five-story, 42,000-square-foot School of Medicine on that property, but plans a 30,000-square-foot medical office building, a five story, nearly 50,000-square foot, 195-unit multifamily apartment building with 8,000 square feet of retail space and a parking deck of over 52,000 square feet with a recommended 689 parking spaces.
DRB’s Trey Wood, who is an architect, complimented the Mercer-like design of the brick medical school, but questioned the corresponding caliber of the design for the apartments.
“If the lofts could somehow be just maybe tweaked, softened a bit,” Wood said. “There’s a pretty big disparity between those two buildings in my eyes.”
Piedmont Construction’s Scott Thompson said they have retained architect Scott Holmes who is designing the medical school and can bring continuity in design.
“So on that plaza area between the two, our intent is for Mercer, when they look out their front door, to see something that resembles their building, too,” Thompson said.
Future development on the site would still need staff approval although the property would not have to comply with historic district guidelines if P&Z approves the rezoning Monday.
UDA seeks to rein in Dempsey budget
The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority needs to cut expenses at the Dempsey Apartments to maintain an appropriate debt service ratio for the 2018 bonds used to purchase the former hotel at Third and Cherry streets.
At Thursday’s meeting, the board learned the authority had a clean, unmodified audit and is maintaining its bond payments, but its operating income dropped due to increased expenses for utilities and insurance.
UDA Executive Director Alex Morrison said because the property is managed by the Macon Housing Authority under Housing and Urban Development guidelines, they cannot raise rent.
“Most landlords, if they were facing the issue, they would just raise rents. And we can’t. That’s not a lever we have,” Morrison said.
Since September, the Dempsey is no longer restricted to housing senior citizens and the handicapped, but now is considered traditional affordable housing for families, too.
Last month, the occupancy rate dropped to 89.6%.
Rent varies based on the annual gross income for the residents and whether they qualify as elderly, disabled or as a family.
Also from the April meeting, UDA’s parking program is now listed under See, Click, Fix, the online reporting system for the public to alert officials to issues with meters.
Park Macon maintenance crews currently struggle with meters “going out faster than they can charge them.”
The board approved ordering parts for repairs.
Industrial Authority reports progress at annual meeting
At its annual meeting Monday, the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority reflected on recent successes and benchmarks.
“And one of the numbers we’ve generated since 2017, for every dollar of public investment is generating $75 in private investment. That’s strong,” said MBCIA Executive Director Stephen Adams. ““Those are big numbers. We feel good about the taxpayer dollars that are invested into this organization, and what we’re able to return from that.”
The board discussed how the recent groundbreaking for Bob’s Discount Furniture distribution center in the 4000 block of Cavalier Drive reinforces the authority’s vision for Bibb County as a logistics hub.
A targeted industry study in the early 2000s grew its first fruit with the Kohl’s distribution center on Hawkinsville Road that opened in 2005.
“The industrial portion of our tax digest is growing significantly, and that goes back to that decadeslong strategy about trying to offset some of the tax burden on the average rate payer and the average taxpayer by having these industrial uses that pay for more than enough and more than their costs,” Adams said.
To further incentivize new industry, the authority offers tax incentives such as Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT program.
More than $320 million in annual payroll is associated with just those 14 PILOT industries.
Authority Chairman Robby Fountain noted that the industrial tax base has grown about 295% since 2010.
“About 19% of the (tax) digest right now is occupied by the industrial tax base, which I think that is extremely just unheard of,” Fountain said.
—Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
