Roswell’s once close relationship with Seer World is officially over. After months of public blowback and tense meetings, the City Council has voted to cut ties with the consulting firm that had been steering key real estate and economic development efforts while also supplying an outsourced chief operating officer.
City leaders say they are shifting most of that work back to their own staff and will bring in new hires to handle big-ticket projects directly.
How the split happened
At a May 26 council meeting, members approved terminating Seer World’s master services agreement after revisiting how the contract was awarded and how much had been spent. The firm has been paid more than $2.8 million since 2024, and the total amount the city contracted through Seer climbed to roughly $3.09 million, according to reporting. That money covered a long list of downtown and development tasks, as detailed by a breakdown of the Seer contracts.
Origins: a sports-minded consultant and big promises
Seer World arrived in Roswell in 2023 with an ambitious pitch. The firm was brought in to advise the city on potential land acquisitions and a proposed stadium-and-entertainment district, an aggressive development vision that quickly drew scrutiny from residents and watchdogs. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on early payments to the firm and highlighted public concern about how Seer was selected and paid.
Roswell Downtown Development Authority minutes later showed Seer founder Peter Sorckoff and city staff presenting a Hill Street letter of intent in December 2024, a snapshot of how deeply the firm was embedded in downtown negotiations (DDA minutes).
On top of the consulting work, the deal included an outsourced chief operating officer role for the city at about $340,000 a year. That arrangement poured fuel on existing concerns about vendor oversight and conflicts of interest. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution documented the contentious vote approving the pay package and the objections from council members who argued the setup blurred the line between public employees and outside contractors. City officials at the time defended the structure as compliant with local rules and said it was meant to keep projects moving while internal capacity was built up.
Bringing development work back inside
With Seer on its way out, councilors signed off on a plan to absorb most of the firm’s responsibilities in-house. That includes hiring an economic development project manager and an economic development specialist so that future deals are run directly through city staff, according to reporting. The Georgia Sun notes that Seer’s master services agreement had guided at least 25 completed projects, a reminder of how central the firm had become before the plug was pulled.
While it was working so closely with Roswell, Seer World was hardly an out-of-town mystery player. The firm’s own site lists founder Peter Sorckoff and a Roswell headquarters, underscoring just how local this now broken partnership really was (Seer World).
Transparency and next steps
Former officials and local advocates have been calling for tougher audits and clearer contracting rules after portions of the Seer arrangement unfolded outside Roswell’s usual bidding process. Some council members have also pointed to staff resignations and unanswered questions as reasons to unwind the relationship.
With the contract terminated, the city is expected to review any remaining deliverables and invoices tied to Seer as it takes over the firm’s project portfolio. Officials say they will report back to the council as new hires come on board and responsibilities are transferred to internal teams.
Council leaders are pitching the reset as a way to rebuild public trust without stalling development. Residents and downtown stakeholders now get to see whether Roswell can keep its growth plans on track while swapping high consulting fees for homegrown staff power.
