Goodbye, City Hall East. Hello, Ponce City Market!
Atlanta mayor gives City Hall East keys to investment firm
- Joeff Davis
- Very impressive drawers, Mr. Mayor.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed handed over the keys to City Hall East this morning to the developers of Jamestown Properties, a real estate investment firm. Fittingly, the keys took up about half the space on what looked like a jailer's key hoop, a testament to the dozens of doors throughout the 2 million-square-foot building.
"I am thrilled that we have completed the transaction on City Hall East and I am pleased to welcome Jamestown Properties as its new owners," said Reed, standing under the hot sun on the six-acre roof of the largest brick structure in the Southeast. "This building has been one of Atlanta's signature landmarks for more than eight decades...I am looking forward to seeing City Hall East transform into a destination for residents and visitors."
Jamestown, which spent $27 million — about half in cash up front and the rest later, assuming revenue targets are met — to buy the former Sears, Roebuck & Co. distribution center, plans to pour another $180 million into restoring the historic building as a mixed-use development to be named Ponce City Market.