Pullman Yard now officially belongs to Atomic Entertainment

The State of Georgia has officially offloaded a long-abandoned and neglected historic asset to a California firm poised to preserve the area’s heritage.

On Tuesday, the sale of Pullman Yard in Kirkwood closed for $8 million, making Atomic Entertainment the new owner of the old railworks, according to Decaturish.

The sale of the property is the culmination of a saga dating back to 1990, when the Georgia Building Authority (GBA) first acquired the turn-of-the-century facility, which was built in 1904 as a sugar and fertilizer processing plant and later used by the Pullman Passenger Rail Company.

Used as a filming location for the last several years, many groups made proposals to entice a sale for adaptive reuse of the facility, but the state didn’t bite. An attempt by the city to place historic protections on the property as the state finally decided to sell it also didn’t stick, as the GBA failed to recognize the city’s authority.

Interest was high when the property was listed for sale at the end of last year, but ultimately only five bidders submitted proposals.

Ultimately, the state selected the initial high offer of a mysteriously unknown bidder called Atomic Entertainment; the group shed some light on its proposal to create a studio complex.

Plans unveiled to Curbed Atlanta for the arts-and-entertainment district included an affordable-housing component—to include short-term rentals for people in the movie and film industry—other residences, retail options (emphasis on restaurants and bars), and offices alongside digital incubator, live performance, and film space.

With the sale now finalized, Atomic hopes to start work soon.

Atomic Entertainment

• Sale of Pullman Yard closes [Decaturish]
• Atlanta’s Pullman Yard sale gets green light from state [Curbed Atlanta]
• Touring Pullman Yard’s beautiful ruins in 60 photos [Curbed Atlanta]