Peter Thomas, the husband of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" cast mate Cynthia Bailey, said he is trying to buy the property where he operates his lounge Bar One on Memorial Drive, in a brief interview Thursday.
Last month, one of the landlords for the property in Grant Park where Bar One is located filed a complaint saying Thomas hadn't been paying his rent to the tune of more than $100,000. (Details here.)
Thomas refuted this assertion at the time, saying he had discovered the two brothers (Al and Andrew Whittingham) he was paying his rent to (who were co-owners of the property) were not transferring his rents to the bank. Rather, he said they were pocketing the money, forcing another landlord Eloshua Elliott to file for bankruptcy protection. So Thomas said he has been keeping rent payment in escrow until that was straightened out.
The lack of mortgage payments forced Elliott to default on payments for the mortgage of 687 Memorial Drive, where Bar One is located.
A for-sale sign has been up for two weeks in front of Bar One.
Thomas said he's competing with several potential buyers of the property but since he's already there, he feels he has an inside track to win. Plus, he feels he gave a very competitive bid. He has been there for three years. (UPDATE: November, 2014: Ultimately, he didn't get it. It's unclear who even owns the property. There is no signage up front. I'm trying to figure it out.)
Through all the recent turmoil, Thomas has kept the bar open. It's business as usual, he said. (The bar closed in early November, 2014.)
Thomas also took up space last year across the street to house his wife's modeling agency and dubbed it Industry Space. It opened last summer and was featured a couple of times on the Bravo show.
But the building was shut down in November over permitting issues in a dispute with Cabbagetown. Heather Kenney, who handles Thomas' business operations, said they are seeking variances so they can open without enough parking spots. They had been renting out parking spots in the daytime at Bar One to handle the traffic.
In the interim, Thomas has continued to pay rent for the property at 670 Memorial Drive.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Fortunately for Cynthia, she never fully left her original modeling agency space at 924 Garrett Street in Glenwood Park. For a time last year she was using both spaces. So when Industry Space was shuttered, she simply stayed on Garrett Street, according to her spokesman Satchel Jester.
Derek Blanks Photography, which had also been at Industry Space, has since moved to a new location, Kenney said.
I happened to catch Peter shooting a possible spin-off show for Bravo featuring the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" husbands/fiances, including Todd Tucker, Gregg Leakes, Apollo Nida and him. They had all the windows blocked off because it was daytime and the shoot was supposed to be at night. (The magic of reality TV!)
The landlord's attorney Dana Tucker Davis did not return calls and emails for comment.
About the Author
