Old Grant Park auto shop, now the latest beer bar, once had ambitious architectural plans

For years, a decades-old transmission repair shop in Grant Park was sitting vacant, caught in limbo between its service-oriented past and Memorial Drive’s explosive redevelopment.

Now, the former Harp Transmission building has found new life as a self-serve beer bar.

Sited a couple blocks west of historic Oakland Cemetery, the new business is owned by Jarrett Gray and his sister Joy Gray Prince.

They recently had the aging building renovated to offer 3,000 square feet of space to eat, drink, and play games.

It’s called—aptly—The Harp.

But the revival of the old auto shop brings to mind the ambitious Grant Park mixed-use development that never was—a proposal that might have been ahead of its time.

Back in 2017, developers Pellerin Real Estate and Clark Property R+D had plans build up from the bones of the auto building.

The proposed $16 million overhaul would have produced new office and retail space and a restaurant.

Renderings: Square Feet Studio

Those plans, though, stirred controversy in neighboring communities because, among other reasons, early blueprints called for zero parking spots.

The project was billed as “Atlanta’s first park-oriented development,” but it never got off the ground.

Now, at least, the graffitied walls of a defunct building on a busy eastside corridor have been replaced with The Harp’s unique self-serve beer and wine options.

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