Here’s what could replace Midtown’s Cheetah Lounge strip club
The plan to demolish one of Atlanta’s most famous strip clubs to make way for a high-rise student housing tower is starting to come into focus.
Chicago-based developer Core Spaces this week filed a special administration permit application with the city with new details on its intention to tear down the famed Cheetah Lounge for a 27-story skyscraper. The 532-unit residential tower would offer about 1,600 beds designed for college students.
The two-acre strip club site at 899 Spring St. has been the target of development speculation for decades as Midtown’s high-rise district rose around it. Core Spaces in August confirmed it was pursuing the plan to redevelop the Cheetah Lounge site, aiming to finish it by 2029.
The Cheetah, an adult entertainment club popular among residents, convention-goers and businessmen alike, sits on one of the few remaining high-rise development sites in Midtown. It has sat relatively untouched as office and residential towers have risen all around it, including NCR Voyix’s headquarters and Georgia Tech’s Coda office project.
Renderings included in the permit application showcase a towering metal-and-glass facade in line with neighboring skyscrapers. Ground-floor retail space showcases greenery and an active sidewalk along Spring Street.
The development plan also includes a two-level parking structure with 119 spaces.
Student housing high-rises have become a popular development type in Midtown surrounding Georgia Tech’s Technology Square.
Core Spaces opened such a tower called Hub Atlanta two years ago near Georgia Tech. Capstone Communities also has a project in the area called Inspire Atlanta. The country’s largest student housing developer, Landmark Properties, also plans to build a 40-story skyscraper next to the iconic Varsity fast food joint.
Dwell Design Studio is the project’s architect, and Birmingham, Alabama-based Capstone Communities is also a partner on the development.
Special administration permits, also known as SAPs, are required filings for developments in certain parts of Atlanta, including those whose developers are seeking variances. Core Spaces is asking for six code variations, which relate to tree landscaping, fencing setbacks, curb cut locations and a parking buffer.
The northwest portion of the property located on the southeast corner of Spring and 8th streets is being reserved for a potential future development phase. Details on what that could entail were not provided “and will be based on future market demands,” the permit application said.
An Atlanta institution, the Cheetah has lived a long and headline-attracting life, facing challenges such as a state law targeting adult entertainment venues, ordinances banning dancers under 21-and-lawsuits from performers.
The club’s longtime owner, Bill Hagood, died in 2020, and left the lounge in a trust left to family members, who continued operating it. His trust partner, Jack Braglia, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time that his plans were to continue to run the business as long as feasible and sell it when the time was right.
— Staff writer Amy Wenk contributed to this report.
About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
