SHORT TAKES : Basinger, Firm Buy Ga. Town

BRASELTON, Ga. — Actress Kim Basinger hooked up with a Chicago company to help pay the $20-million price tag for this Georgia town.

Her partner is American Information Technologies, one of seven so-called Baby Bells formed in the breakup of American Telephone & Telegraph Co.

“We have invested in the property in and around Braselton,” company spokesman Steve Ford told the Gwinnett Daily News in an interview published today.

“We’re investing where we think there’s an opportunity for good long-term growth,” he said.

Neither the company, known as Ameritech, nor Basinger would disclose details of the partnership.

The founding family of Braselton, which is near Basinger’s native Athens, agreed last March to sell the actress about 1,700 acres--the bulk of the small town in northeast Georgia.

Among the property included in the deal is a bank, an industrial park, 50 other buildings and two miles of interstate highway frontage. Tentative development plans include a movie studio, said Charles Sheron, a local developer.