Bishop T.D. Jakes has big plans. The celebrity pastor, author and daytime television host revealed his latest plans for real estate development in Atlanta at the 2022 Hope Global Forums.
He’s bought land near Tyler Perry Studios in East Point, Georgia, on what was formerly U.S. Army Military Base Fort McPherson. According to a June 2021 report, Perry and Jakes purchased 132 acres in the area.
“[Tyler Perry] had the ROFO, which means nobody could buy the land without it first being offered to him,” Jakes said to John Hope Bryant during the conference. “I called him on the phone and said, ‘If you give me the ROFO for a certain amount of time and I don’t make it happen, I’ll give it back to you.
“Gentlemen’s agreement. Signed no contracts. We just made a deal.”
While scouting the land, Jakes noticed something disconcerting about the area.
“The neighborhood behind it is stuck between Tyler Perry Studios and Microsoft, and I can’t find a grocery store in miles,” Jakes said. “I can’t find a cup of coffee for miles. I can find payday loans places … they target the impoverished for the desperation they have to have money. You can find liquor stores, you can get a Magnum Gold, you can get strip clubs, you can get a whole lot of stuff, but you cannot get a cup of coffee.”
With the land, Jakes plans to build grocery stores, CVS pharmacies and affordable housing.
“These things have always existed, but they haven’t been grouped together,” he said.
Jakes said it’s a land model he plans to follow in as many cities as he can.
The pastor, who has over 4.6 million Twitter followers, said at 65 years old, he’s no longer going after ventures for his well-being, but for future generations.
“I want to leave this world better than I found it,” Jakes said. “I think all of us should leave this world better than we found it. If we do that, you can’t be so preoccupied with your own success that you don’t lift up others because it is impossible to be successful without a successor.”
In 2013, Perry gave Jakes’ Potter House church in Texas $1 million.
