Leasing just kicked off at 85 Peachtree St., the building considered to be Atlanta’s original department store, and the rebirth has officially arrived in South Downtown. Twenty-six loft apartments, zero parking spaces, and one very old building that somehow survived decades of bulldozer-happy Atlanta to see this moment.
If you’ve ever walked past this corner and wondered what was happening behind the scaffolding, here’s your answer: the 1899 Bass Dry Goods Building, now hitting the market right as the city gears up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
What's Actually Inside
According to Urbanize Atlanta, 85 Peachtree is scheduled to officially open this summer with units ranging from studios to two-bedroom lofts, roughly 650 to 1,100 square feet. The perks list reads like a developer’s love letter to the building’s bones: 14-foot ceilings, Bosch appliances in chef-ready kitchens, real hardwood floors, and historic detailing preserved throughout.
The apartments are being marketed as the most transit-connected rentals in the city, within a quick walk of both the Five Points and Garnett MARTA stations, protected bike lanes, and MARTA’s new A-Line Bus Rapid Transit route linking down to the BeltLine’s nearly finished Southside Trail.
If you’re the kind of person who needs a dedicated spot for a midsize SUV, this isn’t your building. If you’ve been waiting for Atlanta to act like a real walkable city, this is exactly the kind of project you’ve been asking for.
Why This One Matters More Than Another Lease-Up Announcement
Most cities Atlanta’s size lost their oldest commercial buildings decades ago. 85 Peachtree didn’t get torn down, didn’t sit empty until it collapsed, and didn’t become a parking lot. It got a second life. That’s the story, and it’s the kind of win this city has not given itself often enough.
What About the Buildings Around It?
Next door at 81 Peachtree, the building was hollowed out to become a courtyard and a public paseo connecting Peachtree and Broad streets. That’s a different kind of preservation, the kind where the building keeps earning its keep instead of becoming a plaque on a wall.
Is South Downtown Actually Becoming a Neighborhood Again?
That’s the question I keep coming back to. For years, this part of town emptied out at 6 p.m. Now you’ve got new residential units, a World Cup arriving, and adaptive reuse projects stacking up around them. Leasing is open now.
This is the project Atlanta needs more of, and I’ll say it plainly: a 127-year-old building getting a second life in 2026, steps from MARTA and the BeltLine, is exactly the kind of move that proves we can save what we have instead of flattening it. Atlanta has spent decades being called a driving city. Projects like 85 Peachtree are how that reputation actually starts to change. Pair this with the billions of dollars pouring into downtown right now, and it’s clear: downtown is about to look and feel completely different.
Would you live in a downtown apartment with zero parking if it meant you got 14-foot ceilings in a 127-year-old building?
