Margaritaville high-rise now planned for downtown Atlanta

Since about 2014, plans for a Margaritaville concept in downtown Atlanta have been floating around like an oil-smothered tourist in a lazy river.

But now, the Jimmy Buffett-inspired brand’s ambitions for a site across the street from Centennial Olympic Park have gotten exponentially bigger.

Wyndham Destinations and Margaritaville Vacation Club recently filed plans with the City of Atlanta for a 21-story resort and restaurant that would include more than 200 “vacation ownership units.” That sounds like a first for the city—or a fancy description for condos.

The two-story restaurant component at the 154 Nassau Street site would span 14,000 square feet and face the park, as the Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported. Plans are expected to go before Downtown’s Development Review Committee this week.

All told, according to plans, the building would include 292,000 square feet and 22 stories (the 13th floor being excluded, as is common with hotels) with an outdoor spa and 18th-floor pool described as “totally open to the sky,” as What Now Atlanta uncovered.

(For a look at initial renderings, head here or here.)

Demolition at the site would reportedly include an unassuming brick building at 152 Nassau Street with a significant (if obscure) historical backstory.

Located between the park and The Tabernacle music venue, the building is widely regarded to be the birthplace of country music—where Fiddlin’ John Carson recorded The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane for Okeh Records back in 1923, which became the genre’s first hit record.

For years, the lingering Margaritaville plans have called for the Nassau Street building, and an adjacent structure, to be razed, although preservationists had managed to bring city officials on board with protection efforts—as of last summer, at least.

Google Maps; 2017

The Margaritaville brand made waves in metro Atlanta earlier this month with the announcement that two party yachts—The Landshark and The Margaritaville, respectively—would set sail on Lake Lanier, beginning on Cinco de Mayo.

The boat launches are part of the Jimmy Buffett-inspired makeover of the 1,500-acre Lanier Islands resort compound in Buford, which will be rolled out over a few years.

• Lake Lanier’s massive Margaritaville welcomes two new party yachts [Curbed]
• Downtown Atlanta building, birthplace of country music, threatened by Margaritaville demolition [Curbed]