Local entrepreneur gambles millions to open performing arts theater in Tucker
Londzell Hardy has made most of his money through the decades running a building and maintenance company.
But his true passion is music.
After previously owning a now-defunct jazz and blues club and a separate martini lounge in Roswell, Hardy, 67, decided to go even bigger: a 1,200-seat theater in Tucker located in a long-abandoned 30,000-square-foot former Bally Total Fitness off Lavista Road.
Hardy, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said he could only book smaller acts at his Roswell venues. “I couldn’t afford to have the artists I really wanted,” he said. “So that’s why I wanted to build a theater at this level.”
On New Year’s Eve, he officially opened Londzell Performing Arts Theatre with a nearly sold-out show featuring two legendary old school funk bands he admired: Con Funk Shun and Zapp.
On Valentine’s Day, the theater sold out a concert featuring R&B star Stokley Williams, and a week later, it hosted a group of musicians covering the hits of Luther Vandross and Phyllis Hyman.
Hardy, a guitarist himself, hopes to eventually host shows weekly. “I love soul and R&B,” he said. “But I’m open to jazz, Latin and country.”
He also wants to book plays, comedy shows, corporate events, even boxing. He leased the space next door, a former Haverty’s Furniture, for a possible future music school. “I want to make a difference in this community,” he said.
Derek Harper, operations manager for Urban One Atlanta overseeing R&B radio stations like Classix 102.9 and Majic 107.5/97.5, is working on a “Majic After Dark” show at the theater next month featuring musicians Karyn White, Algebra and Shaun Milli.
“We’ve seen the venue, and it’s very impressive,” Harper said. “I think it’s going to have a big impact on the market.”
Hardy spent years searching for the right location for his theater while saving cash for renovations. Two years ago, he finally found his spot in an under-utilized strip mall that currently houses multiple empty storefronts, a sewing machine shop and an Armed Forces career center.
The space had been empty since 2011, when Bally shut down. Vagrants had broken in and stripped the place bare of copper wiring, plumbing and anything else of value. Abandoned mattresses were strewn about. Doors were off their hinges.
But Hardy saw a jewel amid the dust and detritus. He liked the layout and was able to envision a stage and seating, an ample backstage for talent and a cool wraparound second floor for VIPs where an indoor track used to be.
“With flashlights, I looked around and thought, ‘This is it!’” he said.
Hardy, who moved to Atlanta from Chicago in 1986, signed a generous lease deal with the landlord for 10 years and a five-year option for less than $10,000 a month.
He declined to say exactly how much he spent to build out the theater but acknowledged it was in the millions. He purchased 11 new AC units, built out a stage, installed marble flooring and chandeliers, filled in the pool with concrete for a VIP lounge on the main floor and retiled all the bathrooms.
Hardy turned a workout room into a spacious green room. And since this was an athletic club, the locker rooms feature multiple showers, which he decided to renovate and keep for the talent and crew.
The second floor features eight spacious VIP skyboxes with custom white vinyl seats, fireplaces and TVs.
“I designed it all myself,” Hardy said while leading a tour for media and Tucker city officials earlier this month. “I like design.”
The place is now largely finished, he said, except for a ballroom that had previously been racquetball courts. “I ran out of money,” he admitted.
Tucker Mayor Anne Lerner, after taking the tour, said she thinks the lushness of the space will draw artists and patrons. “He’s poured his heart and soul into this, and it shows,” she said. “DeKalb County is hungry for a space like this.”
Hardy said he likes the centrality of the location, which is off I-285 near Northlake Mall.
Comparable concert spaces in metro Atlanta are all at least 17 miles away, including the Buckhead Theatre, Center Stage in Midtown, Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points, Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs and the Gas South Theater in Duluth.
Sink or swim, this venue is Hardy’s baby. He has no financial partners.
“I never even considered that,” he said. “You never know what a partner is thinking. And his problems become my problems. It’s like a marriage. Things can go wrong.”
