Taller than a triple-bacon cheeseburger or a large frosted orange shake, a student housing high-rise could soon tower above the Varsity’s landmark Midtown Atlanta location.
The Gordy family, who owns the quintessential fast-food eatery, is under contract to sell roughly 2 acres of surface parking lots at 680 Spring St. NW to Athens-based Landmark Properties to build a tower with 560 student housing units, according to a recent permit application with Atlanta. The restaurant at 61 North Ave. NW — an Atlanta icon since 1928 — is not part of the sale and will remain open along with its adjacent parking deck.
“Landmark’s proposed development will not affect the daily operations of the Varsity,” John Browne, Varsity’s chief operating officer, said in an email. “The Varsity has served our loyal customers on North Avenue since 1928, and we look forward to continuing to serve them for many years to come.”
Further details on the sale were not disclosed, but property values around the Varsity have skyrocketed in recent years as Midtown’s development boom entered overdrive. The Gordy family in 2022 said they were weighing options for a possible redevelopment of some of the Varsity’s property, emphasizing the core restaurant wasn’t at risk of closing.
Seeger Gray / AJC
Seeger Gray / AJC
The parcel Landmark is under contract to purchase is the northernmost property within the Varsity’s footprint, and it currently houses a group of parking lots that are leased for external parking, Browne said. Neither the Varsity nor the Gordy family will be involved with the parcel’s redevelopment into a student housing tower. The redevelopment was first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and online real estate publication Bisnow.
A number of luxury high-rise student housing projects have been built in Midtown in recent years.
Landmark, which specializes in student housing, plans to offer a total of 2,000 beds at the new high-rise, which will overlook the Downtown Connector and Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. The company said the future building’s proximity to Georgia Tech’s Midtown campus — and famous late-night eatery — make it an ideal student housing spot.
“While still in the design phase, preliminary plans include top-of-the-line amenities such as an expansive pool deck with a resort-style pool and jumbotrons, an oversized fitness center, sports simulator, sauna, extensive study space and sky lounges,” Landmark said in a statement. The building will also include ground-floor commercial and retail space along with a new parking deck that wraps three sides of the tower, according to the permit application.
In the 95 years that Varsity cooks have slung burgers and hot dogs, Midtown has morphed into the business and high-end living epicenter of Atlanta.
North of the Varsity, the multi-block Technology Square project, which features academic buildings, a hotel and conference center, offices and research facilities, led to Fortune 500 companies planting their flag in Midtown to tap into the institute’s talent pipeline. The project’s first phase opened in 2003 and it altered the city’s innovation ecosystem, luring major corporations including NCR, Anthem and Norfolk Southern to build adjacent office complexes.
Tower cranes have been an omnipresent sight in Midtown since then. From 2018 to early 2024, the urban neighborhood has added 46 buildings to its domain with another 20 either being proposed or beginning construction, according to the Midtown Alliance, an influential civic and business group. Those delivered buildings, which are a mix of offices, apartments, condos and hotels, have a combined estimated value of $8.4 billion.
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