Recognize this eyesore near Spaghetti Junction? It’s being redeveloped.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers pass through Spaghetti Junction’s web of asphalt each day, and many of them have likely had the same thought.
What’s that abandoned cylindrical tower peeking above the trees?
The 14-story eyesore used to be the Presidential Hotel before falling into disrepair, forming a solo skyline of blight off one of the region’s busiest interstate intersections. But hundreds of people may soon call that tower home.
DeKalb County on Monday announced it issued a key permit allowing multifamily firm Aramar Investments to convert the tower into 282 market-rate apartments. The $53.3 million project is the latest attempt to breathe new life into one of metro Atlanta’s most visible vacant buildings.
“This permit represents meaningful progress toward transforming one of DeKalb County’s most visible vacant properties into a productive residential community,” DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said in a news release.
Built in 1973 as the Presidential Hotel, the distinctive tower has lived multiple lives — but none have lasted long.
The original hotel closed in 1987, the same year Spaghetti Junction officially opened. In anticipation of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, the property was reopened as the Ramada Perimeter Northeast hotel, featuring a nightclub called Club Europe on its ground floor.
A 2010 auction led to a third lease on life as the Presidential Boutique Condotel, attempting a pivot to condominiums. The building shut down two years later amid evictions, unpaid utility bills and safety code violations.
Since then, multiple developers have unveiled plans to convert the tower, but none got off the ground. The tower has remained unoccupied for more than a decade.
Aramar Investments is an Atlanta-based firm that specializes in multifamily projects, including a few conversions, according to its website. Based on its public portfolio, the company’s projects tend to be low-rise apartments with only a few projects taller than a couple of stories. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The DeKalb County Department of Planning and Sustainability issued a land disturbance permit for the former Presidential Hotel and its surrounding 7-acre site, allowing construction to begin. The existing concrete structure has been gutted in preparation for the renovation as apartments.
The county said the planned apartments will consist of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units alongside four penthouse residences.
“Redeveloping this highly visible property will turn a longstanding challenge into a productive asset for DeKalb County,” Jacob Vallo, DeKalb County chief development officer, said in the release. “The project represents a significant private investment and demonstrates the market’s confidence in DeKalb as a place to invest, develop and grow.”