City Hall to revisit Underground Atlanta lease, consider sale?
Current lease for shopping center and tourist attraction could be bought out, sold to third-party buyer
City taxpayers might no longer have to foot the tab for Underground Atlanta, the Downtown retail strip and tourist attraction that annually costs the city around $8 million to keep a-hummin’, should City Hall decide to buy out the lease - and potentially sell the 12-acre site.
Multiple sources have told CL that Mayor Kasim Reed is once again revisiting what should be done with Underground Atlanta. One option could include, we’re told, potentially ending the city’s contract with Dan O’Leary, the real estate executive who inked an 88-year lease in 1999 for $100,000 per year, and maybe later selling the properties. Rather than City Hall take the lead on Underground Atlanta’s redevelopment efforts - and spend millions of dollars in the process - it could instead make a deal with a third-party buyer for the site. Reed Interim Director of Communications Carlos Campos declined to comment on whether those talks were happening.
Fulton County property records show that Underground Atlanta is worth an estimated $4.5 million. The city also owns two parking decks adjacent to the retail, restaurant, and nightlife complex along Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Those lots, according to property records, have a combined value of approximately $21.3 million.
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The nearly 12 acre-complex comprising historic renovated storefronts and cobblestone streets opened in 1969, billing itself as a “city under the streets.” It became a hotbed for nightlife and featured the original Dante’s Down the Hatch. It closed in 1982, but was reopened after extensive upgrades in 1989 leading up to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. But for various reasons, it never recaptured its former glory.
For the past several years, multiple ideas have been proposed - some realistic, some not so much - about how Underground could be revitalized. Reed has previously mentioned that the complex could be turned into an arts district and a local businessman has talked about bringing the Black Music Hall of Fame to the site. And of course, a controversial $450-million casino project in 2009 failed to gain traction with Georgia legislators, who would have needed to change state laws to legalize gambling.
CL reached out several times to O’Leary Partners and Underground Atlanta about the potential sale and lease buyout. If we hear back, we’ll post an update.