The Latest: Mayor says stadium deal will help neighborhoods

ATLANTA (AP) The Latest on plans to redevelop Atlanta's Turner Field for use by Georgia State University (all times local):

11 a.m.

Atlanta's mayor says the multi-million-dollar deal to redevelop Turner Field into a football stadium for Georgia State University represents ''a new beginning'' for several neighborhoods on the city's south side.

The Atlanta Braves plan to leave Turner Field after this season for a new stadium being constructed about 15 miles away in the suburb of Smyrna.

Mayor Kasim Reed said at a news conference Thursday that there's now a signed purchase and sale agreement between Georgia State and the real estate firms Carter U.S.A. and Oakwood Development Group.

Details of the financing weren't immediately available.

Georgia State president Mark Becker said the stadium will get its ''third life'' as a college football venue. It was built for 1996 Olympic Games, was home to the Atlanta Braves and will now become the home of the Georgia State Panthers.

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7:20 a.m.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed plans to make an announcement amid reports that Turner Field, the stadium built for the 1996 Olympic Games and later converted into a baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves, will be renovated for use by Georgia State University.

Reed's office said in a statement that the news conference is planned for 10 a.m. Thursday at the stadium just south of downtown Atlanta.

Reed tells WSB-TV (http://2wsb.tv/2b6sDat ) that Georgia State plans to convert Turner Field into a football stadium for the school in a project that will also involve building a new baseball field, student housing, shops and restaurants nearby.

Reed tells the Atlanta station that Georgia State has committed at least $200 million toward redevelopment of the 70-acre site.

The Braves will stop using the stadium after this season.

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Information from: WSB-TV, http://www.wsbtv.com/index.html