Underground Atlanta redevelopment gets green light

By Collin Kelley

The city’s economic development arm, Invest Atlanta, has approved a conceptual master plan for the redevelopment of Underground Atlanta.

At a March 9 meeting, the board signed off on the plan from South Carolina-based WRS Real Estate Investments, which hoped to finalize purchase of the property from the city by the end of March.

WRS plans to transform the historic site into a mixed-use development with 1,000 residential units and 345,000 square feet of retail.

During a public comment period, residents expressed concern about the 3,500 parking spaces in the plan and the abandonment of Lower and Upper Alabama Street and two blocks of Pryor Street, which were made part of the sale to WRS.

The redevelopment would also mean the end of Kenny’s Alley, the restaurant and club area of Underground that is currently the home of The Masquerade. It would become parking for a supermarket.

The City of Atlanta bought out the remainder of an 88-year lease on the Undeground property in 2014 and has been trying to sell it ever since.

The retail and entertainment district, best known for hosting the annual Peach Drop on New Year’s Eve, was created after the Civil War as bridges and viaducts were built over Downtown’s railroad tracks. The five-block section, containing about 12 acres, was eventually covered and forgotten as the street level was raised one-and-a-half stories by the end of the 1920s.

Underground was rediscovered in the 1960s and the original store fronts, brick streets and gas lamps were renovated and turned into a restaurant and nightclub district in 1969, including the original Dante’s Down the Hatch. The heyday was short-lived and Underground became home to vagrants until the late 80s, when it was resurrected again in 1989.

The second heyday didn’t last long either as the upscale retailers and restaurants fled and were replaced by small shops, chain stores and fastfood restaurants.