Camden County’s development agency wants a court to force an Atlanta developer to repay a seed loan that was meant to transform the site of the former Gilman Paper Mill site into an eco-resort alongside homes, shops and restaurants.
The legal action comes amid bankruptcy proceedings by the owner of the site, JDI-Cumberland Inlet, a company formed in 2020 by the Atlanta real estate developer, Jacoby Development, and a minority partner.
The Camden County Joint Development Authority, a public agency, loaned almost $11 million to Jacoby Development in 2020 and 2021 to help clean up the polluted, 719-acre site to set the stage for the upscale development envisioned by the company’s CEO, Jim Jacoby.
Jacoby Development assigned the loan and the development to JDI-Cumberland Inlet, and, according to the county’s lawsuit, guaranteed Cumberland Inlet’s obligations.
Optimistic headlines and an appearance by Gov. Brian Kemp highlighted the groundbreaking of the project in August 2022.
Jacoby came to the Camden County venture with an impressive portfolio.
In metro Atlanta, he’d turned an old steel mill into the blocks of shops and high rises at Atlantic Station. He rebuilt a former car factory site into Porsche’s North America headquarters.
But glowing success is absent from more recent headlines.
Cumberland Inlet ran late on a 2024 loan repayment and then failed a payment in 2025. The JDA scheduled a sale of the site on the courthouse steps to recoup its money.
A day before the auction, Cumberland Inlet declared bankruptcy, sending the question of the land and the money and the disposition to a federal court.
Cumberland Inlet’s bankruptcy documents indicate the development authority has a $9.4 million secured claim on it.
The suit seeks $9.3 million in unpaid principal and interest as of May 21, plus attorneys’ fees and $3,172 per day in more interest.
The JDA’s suit hasn’t moved past the initial filing yet. As for the bankruptcy, Cumberland Inlet and its creditors are scheduled for a public telephone conference in a federal court on June 9.