Lalani's Plan For Underground Atlanta Could Include Student Housing, Co-Living

For the first time since his surprise acquisition of the sprawling, subterranean Underground Atlanta property, Shaneel Lalani offered a glimpse of what could become of the Downtown Atlanta icon.

Lalani, the CEO of Lalani Ventures, is aiming to get a portion of the project, which is entitled for up to 11M SF in additional development, delivered in time if Atlanta's bid to be a host city for World Cup games in 2026 is successful.

Lalani told Bisnow that his firm is planning for the first phase of development, which could include student housing, co-living, office, a hotel and additional retail, rising above the 12-acre property bounded by Pryor and Alabama streets in the heart of Downtown.

“Our plan is to go vertical,” Lalani told Bisnow in an interview during the Atlanta State of the Market event Tuesday afternoon.

Lalani purchased Underground from WRS in 2020 after the South Carolina developer failed to deliver on its plans to bring Underground Atlanta back to prominence. In 2016, then-Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed agreed to sell the then-city-owned property to WRS for nearly $35M. Four years later, WRS sold it to Lalani's company, Billionaires Funding Group, for $31.6M.

The property today is a shadow of its former self. In the 1960s, Underground became one of the city's top nightlife destinations, especially along the subterranean portion known as Kenny's Alley, with formerly popular destinations Dante's Down the Hatch, Scarlett O'Hara, The Front Page and a wax museum.

By the 1980s, its heyday as a nightclub nexus faded and it was revived as a shopping mall. In the years since, Underground Atlanta all but stagnated.

In 2016, Underground lured the popular nightclub Masquerade. After Lalani bought the property, the purveyors of The Art of Banksy: Without Limits exhibit chose Underground as its venue.

Lalani, whose other businesses include running coin-operated amusement machines and owning the real estate for a number of convenience stores and gas stations, said during a panel at the Bisnow event that two prominent casino operators that have been lobbying state government officials to legalize gambling in Georgia told him Underground would be an ideal spot for a casino.

But Lalani said the state is unlikely to pass such legislation for at least five more years, so his firm is instead canvassing the local community and conducting a feasibility study to determine what mix of commercial uses should be in the first phase of Underground's redevelopment. 

"Part of our process has been something similar approach where we want to [create] a live-work-play place over there,” Lalani said. "And we can really look at the market on what's in demand today … and do that in the first phase, and then wait for the other industries to come back."

He expects the study to be finalized next month, with development plans established by the end of the year.

“That's something the feasibility study will determine,” Lalani said to Bisnow after his panel. “We have strong interest from other developers.”

Lalani is part of a group of developers looking to revitalize the Downtown Atlanta area, including Newport's South Downtown revitalization and CIM Group's redevelopment of the Gulch into the Centennial Yards megaproject.

“The goal really is to make a walkable live-work-shop-play-dine-be entertained, all-in-one, compact district right across from State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” CIM Group Vice President Nick Garzia said. “We're in advanced discussions with a great many tenants, both office and retail.”

CIM plans to break ground this year on 1,200 apartment units, a four-star hotel, a new office building and 100K SF of retail in its first phase of Centennial Yards, Garzia said. Garzia said the amenities that Centennial Yards is looking to provide will go a long way in keeping the fans attending games at both nearby stadiums Downtown instead of heading out to Midtown or Buckhead for entertainment and food.

“I think everybody will agree that Downtown Atlanta does a wonderful job of drawing people to it for all the major events that take place, but does a terrible job of holding them because there's never been a critical mass of food, beverage and entertainment that makes people want to come early and stay late,” he said. “People are coming to town, but then they're scattering. They're going to Buckhead. They're going to the Westside. A decade out from now, we think it's going to be one of the finer showplaces for the whole region.”

Franklin Street Senior Director Laura Stephens said the activation Lalani and CIM are going for will help office owners nearby attract tenants. Amenities are increasingly critical in their efforts to recruit and retain talent, she said, and companies are gravitating to places that provide a variety of experiences in their local communities.

“Those are things that are really connected to the community in different ways. Google did it a certain way, and then Microsoft did it a certain way. That's really driving people to come back,” Stephens said. “The cool thing about Microsoft is they grabbed onto the fact that Trap Rap was created in Atlanta, and put a recording studio in the lobby [of its new office building in Atlantic Station].

"I don't know about you guys ... I would fan out if, like, Outkast or T.I. walked through, I'd hang out in that lobby all day long. So, they're figuring out very creative ways to get people to come back.”

CORRECTION, APRIL 29, 2:30 P.M. ET: Lalani Ventures owns the real estate of convenience stores and gas stations. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Lalani also operates those businesses. The article has been updated.