Everyone calm down. The Atlanta Eagle is not going anywhere for now.
News that a group of buildings on Ponce de Leon Avenue were sold, including where the gay bar the Atlanta Eagle is located, was reported by Atlanta Curbed and also the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.
Robby Kelley, co-owner of the bar, told GA Voice that the new owners signed a three-year lease with the Eagle with an option to sign a five-year lease after that one expires. “And this one was better” than the lease from the previous owners, he said.
So in other words, the Eagle is not flying away.
Kelley said the new owners want to fix up the area that includes the infamous Kodak building but he was told there are no plans to move or demolish the Eagle or put in condos in the area.
A group called 300 Ponce De Leon LLC sold the properties to an unnamed investor, who has renewed the lease with the Eagle, Larry Culbertson, owner of The C Group commercial real estate team, said in the release. The sellers “are excited that this site will eventually be developed to fit the Ponce Corridor Overlay Plans,” the release states.
Culbertson said the Eagle has occupied its current location since 1985. As for the Kodak building, the original owner was Star Photo. Other uses of note: former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin once used the building as her campaign headquarters, and Whole Foods occupied it to interview potential employees for the nearby Midtown Whole Foods. The purchaser plans to hold the property for future development, Culbertson said.
A sales price was not disclosed. Property records indicate the parcels last sold in 2009 for a combined $700,000. The Kodak building alone went for $400,000.
In 2009, the Atlanta Police Department conducted a botched raid on the Eagle that resulted in a $1 million settlement from the city after patrons sued because their constitutional rights were violated.
(File photo)