Underground Atlanta

Underground Atlanta is a historic commercial and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The complex occupies the lower levels of buildings and streets that were partially covered when Atlanta raised its street grid over the city's railroad corridor. Its physical setting is closely associated with the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot, completed in 1869 and regarded as the oldest surviving building in downtown Atlanta, and with the viaducts that transformed the area during the early twentieth century. The district's origins lie in Atlanta's post-Civil War expansion. Between 1866 and 1871, the city's population doubled and the railroad corridor became a busy commercial zone containing hotels, banks, offices, saloons, and transportation facilities. By 1900, the depot was serving trains linking Atlanta with cities across the Southeast and beyond. Increasing rail traffic led to bridges and street-level changes. The most consequential intervention was the 1928 construction of twin viaducts, which raised several streets by roughly one and a half stories and left earlier storefronts, alleys, and sidewalks below the new grade. These lower spaces gradually lost their commercial role. During Prohibition, some became associated with informal nightlife, including speakeasies and juke joints, but by the mid-twentieth century much of the area was neglected. In the 1960s, the surviving architectural fabric was rediscovered. Steven H. Fuller Jr. and Jack R. Patterson organized a private redevelopment effort focused on restoring the lower-level storefronts and presenting them as a distinctive urban attraction. Underground Atlanta, Inc. was incorporated in 1967, construction began in 1968, and the first version of the attraction opened on April 8, 1969. Restaurants, bars, clubs, boutiques, music venues, and historical attractions occupied spaces retaining features such as brickwork, granite arches, marble, cast-iron columns, carved wood, and old street lamps. The district rapidly became a major nightlife and tourism destination. In 1972, its strongest reported year, it recorded approximately 3.5 million visitors and $17 million in sales; in 1973 it contained about 65 businesses employing roughly 1,000 people. The original entertainment model proved vulnerable to changing regulation, competition, transportation construction, and public-safety concerns. Relaxed alcohol restrictions in neighboring areas created competing nightlife districts, while the construction of the MARTA East Line removed part of the complex and reduced parking. Crime and disorder damaged the district's reputation. Sales fell sharply, and Underground Atlanta closed in 1980 with only a small number of businesses remaining. The Underground Atlanta Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places that same year, but the site remained largely dormant until a public redevelopment initiative gathered momentum in the mid-1980s. The second major version reopened on June 15, 1989, after a publicly supported redevelopment costing approximately $142 million. Managed in association with The Rouse Company, it was designed more as a festival-style shopping mall than as a nightclub district. The project expanded retail space, added parking, organized entertainment around Kenny's Alley, and retained historic architectural elements. The reopening attracted 140 tenants and produced strong initial attendance, although critics argued that the sanitized mall environment lacked the character of the earlier district. A 1992 disturbance following the Rodney King verdict further damaged the site's image, and the complex struggled financially despite renewed marketing and tourism connected with the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Underground Atlanta has remained an identifiable downtown landmark while passing through periods of decline, partial vacancy, and redevelopment planning. Its significance is both commercial and urban-historical: it preserves evidence of Atlanta's railroad-centered growth, demonstrates how viaduct construction reshaped the downtown street plan, and reflects successive attempts to convert obsolete infrastructure into a tourism, retail, and mixed-use destination. The property is currently associated with redevelopment into a mixed-use complex rather than a single stable retail format.

The physical foundations of Underground Atlanta were created during the rebuilding and expansion of Atlanta after the Civil War. The railroad corridor through what is now the Five Points area became one of the city's principal economic arteries. The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot was completed in 1869, replacing a depot destroyed during the Civil War. Around it grew a dense district of transportation, commerce, lodging, finance, law, and nightlife. Electric streetcar service arrived in the late nineteenth century, and the depot was connected to a broad regional rail network by the beginning of the twentieth century. As rail traffic and automobile use increased, Atlanta sought to separate movement at different levels. Bridges were erected over the tracks, and in 1928 a large viaduct project raised portions of Pryor, Central, Wall, and Alabama streets. The work covered a multi-block area and left the earlier street grade below the new one. Former storefronts became basement-like spaces, while access to the lower streets became limited. The concealed spaces acquired a second life during Prohibition, when some were used for illicit drinking and music. They later declined as the city developed around the elevated street network. The lower district was largely neglected for decades. In the 1960s, however, visitors and developers recognized that many original architectural details had survived: decorative masonry, granite arches, marble, cast iron, woodwork, and historic lighting elements. Georgia Tech graduates Steven H. Fuller Jr. and Jack R. Patterson proposed restoring the area as an unusual destination marketed as a city beneath the city. Their company, Underground Atlanta, Inc., was incorporated on May 2, 1967. After assembling control of the company's stock and securing building interests, the developers began construction in November 1968. The first Underground Atlanta opened on April 8, 1969. Its formula combined historic surroundings with restaurants, bars, nightclubs, boutiques, souvenir shops, music, and attractions. The district benefited from Atlanta's then-distinctive alcohol rules and quickly became a center of nightlife. It reached its reported high point in the early 1970s, when it attracted millions of visitors and supported dozens of businesses. Notable venues included Dante's Down the Hatch, the Blarney Stone, the Rustler's Den, the Pumphouse, the Front Page, and Muhlenbrink's Saloon. Musician Piano Red performed at Muhlenbrink's under the name Dr. Feelgood and the Interns. The boom was brief. Changes in drinking-age and alcohol regulations reduced the district's competitive advantage, while new bars opened elsewhere in the metropolitan area. The removal of dress-code restrictions was followed by more disorder, and the area developed a serious crime problem. MARTA construction beginning in the 1970s removed approximately one-third of the underground blocks and eliminated or disrupted parking. By the middle of the decade, sales had fallen substantially. The district closed in 1980, with only a few businesses continuing before the remaining occupants departed by early 1982. The area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Underground Atlanta Historic District on July 24, 1980. Public officials pursued a second redevelopment during the 1980s. Mayor Andrew Young authorized a study by the American City Corporation, affiliated with The Rouse Company, whose festival-marketplace projects elsewhere in the United States offered a model. Underground Festival Development, Inc. was created in 1985. Legal questions initially delayed the financing plan, but a restructured bond issue was approved in 1986. Reconstruction ultimately cost about $142 million, including substantial municipal, sales-tax, and federal support. The property reopened on June 15, 1989, as a much larger shopping and entertainment complex. The new plan retained historic features but added modern retail, organized circulation, security, parking, and a dedicated entertainment zone at Kenny's Alley. The project received an American Institute of Architects award for excellence in urban design in 1990. First-year sales exceeded projections and visitor numbers were high, but the mall attracted criticism for replacing the informal character of the original district with a more controlled and commercialized environment. The complex continued to face reputational and financial problems. A major disturbance on April 30, 1992, caused damage and led to curfews. Marketing emphasized the area's entertainment identity, and the 1996 Olympic Games provided a temporary tourism opportunity. Nevertheless, Underground Atlanta did not achieve a stable long-term position comparable to its original nightlife peak. Later proposals have focused on renewing the historic site through redevelopment and mixed-use planning. Its continuing importance derives from the unusual relationship between preserved nineteenth-century commercial spaces, twentieth-century transportation infrastructure, and successive efforts to reactivate downtown Atlanta.

• 1996

  Atlanta Olympics bring renewed visitor attention

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The district participated in the city's Olympic-era visitor environment, although a nearby bombing caused an evacuation.

• 1990

  Urban-design award received

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The redevelopment received an American Institute of Architects award for excellence in urban design.

• 1989

  Shopping-mall redevelopment opens

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The complex reopened with expanded retail, dining, entertainment, security, and parking facilities.

• 1985

  Underground Festival Development, Inc. formed

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  A new redevelopment organization was established to coordinate the proposed revival of the site.

• 1980

  Underground Atlanta Historic District listed

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the original commercial operation was closing.

• 1975

  MARTA construction disrupts the district

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  Transit construction removed part of the complex and reduced parking, intensifying the district's commercial problems.

• 1969

  Original entertainment district opens

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The restored historic spaces opened with dining, nightlife, music, retail, and tourist attractions.

• 1967

  Underground Atlanta, Inc. incorporated

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  Steven H. Fuller Jr. and Jack R. Patterson formalized the private redevelopment company.

• 1928

  Twin viaducts raise the downtown street level

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The viaduct project covered the original street grade and created the below-street spaces later used by Underground Atlanta.

• 1869

  Georgia Railroad Freight Depot completed

  [1]Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org

  The depot was completed as a major railroad facility and remains the oldest surviving building in downtown Atlanta.

A heritage-led downtown Atlanta destination that combines preserved railroad-era architecture and below-grade streets with retail, dining, entertainment, tourism, and redevelopment potential.

• shopping and entertainment district · 1969

  Historic Underground Atlanta district

  The core offering is a multi-block downtown destination occupying the former street grade beneath Atlanta's viaducts. It combines preserved nineteenth-century storefronts, pedestrian passages, restaurants, shops, attractions, and entertainment venues. The district's appeal comes from the unusual experience of moving through an earlier urban layer while remaining beneath the modern street grid.

• entertainment area · 1989

  Kenny's Alley

  Kenny's Alley is the principal named entertainment area associated with the post-1989 redevelopment. It provided space for dining, clubs, and nightlife while connecting the modern shopping-mall plan with the site's historic lower-level architecture.

• public plaza · 1989

  Peachtree Fountains Plaza

  Peachtree Fountains Plaza occupies the north block of the redevelopment area. It replaced the earlier Plaza Park and functions as a public-facing component of the district's urban setting.

• 1992The Fun in Town is Underground

  Atlanta metropolitan area

  A marketing campaign was introduced after the 1992 unrest to improve the district's public image and encourage visitors to return.

  Outcome. The campaign supported efforts to reposition Underground Atlanta as a safe entertainment and tourism destination, but the complex continued to face longer-term financial and competitive challenges.

  Source

• 1989

  Reposition the attraction as a modern shopping mallStrategy

  Background

  The original nightlife-led model had failed, and planners sought a safer, more controlled, and more diversified visitor proposition.

  Action taken

  The redevelopment added modern retail space, parking, tenant infrastructure, and a formal entertainment zone while retaining historic architectural elements.

  Aftermath

  Opening-year attendance and sales exceeded projections, but observers questioned whether the new format preserved the original district's distinctive character.

  First-year sales. $75 million (First year after the 1989 reopening)

  Source

• 1986

  Approve financing for a full redevelopmentStrategy

  Background

  The original entertainment district had closed and the site had remained largely dormant, prompting a city-backed revival plan.

  Action taken

  After legal objections to the initial financing structure, a reworked bond issue was approved and reconstruction proceeded.

  Aftermath

  The project produced the 1989 shopping-mall reopening and a substantial expansion of retail and visitor infrastructure.

  Redevelopment cost. $142 million (1986-1989 redevelopment)

  Source

• 1967

  Convert historic below-grade spaces into an entertainment districtStrategy

  Background

  Previously neglected storefronts and streets beneath the viaducts retained substantial historic fabric but had lost their original commercial role.

  Action taken

  Underground Atlanta, Inc. assembled building interests, restored the spaces, and opened a combined retail, dining, nightlife, and tourism destination.

  Aftermath

  The concept became a major Atlanta attraction and reached its reported commercial peak in the early 1970s.

  Source

• Pursue mixed-use redevelopmentStrategy

  Background

  The shopping-mall format experienced continuing operational and financial difficulties and no longer represented a stable long-term use for the entire historic site.

  Action taken

  The property entered a redevelopment process aimed at creating a mixed-use complex.

  Aftermath

  The current direction presents Underground Atlanta as a broader urban redevelopment project rather than solely a retail and entertainment mall.

  Source

1. 1Underground Atlantaen.wikipedia.org