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Photos: Replacing historic recording studio, downtown’s Margaritaville tower is on the rise

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The Jimmy Buffett-branded high-rise is expected to feature timeshare units and a 14,000-square-foot restaurant

An active construction site, with a crane hanging overhead.
Columns are rising from the ground where the recording studio stood.
Photos: Sean Keenan, Curbed Atlanta

Another tourist destination is on the rise downtown, across the street from Centennial Olympic Park.

Despite fierce opposition from local historic preservationists, developers succeeded late last year in leveling two historic buildings on Nassau and Walton streets—one housed a studio where country music’s first hit was recorded—to pave the way for a Margaritaville resort high-rise.

Expected to stand more than 20 stories, the tower is the brainchild of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Vacation Club and timeshare company Wyndham Destinations.

A trip this week to the site, which flanks Centennial Olympic Park Drive, reveals construction is well underway, the tower crane has been erected, and beams have sprouted from the ground.

An old building is flanked by a lot with construction fencing around it.
The building that once housed the historic recording studio used to stand next to the Keenan Law Firm (no relation).

The tower, slated to join the touristy ranks of neighboring SkyView Ferris wheel, the Chick-Fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is expected to feature a 14,000-square-foot ground level restaurant and timeshare units.

An updated construction timeline has not yet been announced, although general contractor Landmark Builders told What Now Atlanta in December that the project would debut in 2021.

Officials with the development team have not responded to Curbed Atlanta’s numerous requests for more details and renderings. This story will be updated if new information comes to light.

Construction fencing wraps around the project site, which houses a crane, and is next door to a Ferris wheel.
How the building will be situated on a prominent downtown corner.
Skyscrapers hover in the background of the construction site, which is wrapped in blue fencing.
Beams are shooting from the ground on the Walton Street side.