Sembler Co. wants to redevelop the site of the Doraville General Motors plant when it closes. It seems Sembler is one of four finalists being considered for the mega-project. Congratulations, Sembler, for making the short list. It's a relief to see Sembler is this time trying to develop the right project in the right place in metro Atlanta.

Unlike Sembler's ill-conceived Briarcliff Town Center proposed at North Druid Hills and Briarcliff roads, retooling the 165-acre Doraville property for a live-work-play environment will be the greatest thing since sliced bread for DeKalb residents. As pointed out by Dan Reuter, a land-use planning official with the Atlanta Regional Commission, "Its access to MARTA is such an advantage ... if you look at development trends in the coming decades, and gas prices that are likely going to keep rising during that time, this site's access to mass transit is a tremendous opportunity, and that's what makes it such an important site."

The Doraville site has all the assets for a great mixed-use development that the Briarcliff site lacks. The Doraville site is a grayfield, a soon-to-be-vacated industrial site that could have greenspace enhancing a community where parking lots now dominate the landscape. And the site has the perfect infrastructure in place to support such a project: a MARTA rail station, I-285 frontage with on and off ramps plus an access road, ample utilities and a location near multi-lane Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and along Atlanta's famed Peachtree Road, which could easily support a streetcar connecting Buckhead to the site.

Yes, it's a smart move for Sembler to turn its eyes toward Doraville. It's also a fine thing for the public's checkbook. The ill-conceived Briarcliff Town Center would have neither a MARTA rail station nor highway frontage with access roads. That site's utilities are designed to support housing and schools rather than commercial structures. Its primary egress is along a two-lane road. The infrastructure improvements required to support the proposed Briarcliff Town Center would require major investment of scarce taxpayer dollars. The Doraville site would not, since it has ample infrastructure in place.

Neither will redevelopment of the privately owned Doraville site require a questionable transfer of public property to private hands. Sembler would not have to acquire DeKalb publicly owned housing or school property in Doraville, as they sought for their Briarcliff Town Center project. And no nearby single-family residential communities would be encroached upon.

One size simply does not fit all when it comes to mixed-use projects. Metro Atlanta needs the right development in the right place. Let's hope Sembler can deliver the goods at the GM plant in Doraville. At the very least, this time Sembler gets an A for trying. Congratulations, Sembler.