200 Peachtree is a mixed-use retail center in

downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Davison's Davison's of Atlanta was a department store chain and an Atlanta shopping institution. It was the major competition to Rich's and it took the Macy's name in 1986. Founding Davison's first opened its doors in Atlanta in 1891 and had its orig ...

, the last department store in the building closed in 2003. The building later underwent an extensive renovation in the 2010s.

History

The idea for a large

department store in

was first put forth by

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

soon after their acquisition of the Davison's brand in 1925. The cost for the building was estimated at $6 million. On April 25 of that year, Macy's signed a contract with Asa G. Candler, Inc. for them to build the large brick building on

Peachtree Street Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points (Atlanta), Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown Atlanta, Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead ...

, between Ellis Street and the

Henry Grady Hotel The Henry Grady Hotel was a hotel in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building, designed by architect G. Lloyd Preacher, was completed in 1924 at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Cain Street, on land owned by the governme ...

. The location had previously been the site of the

Leyden House The Leyden House (1858 or 1859–1913) was one of Atlanta's most historic homes. It was located on 124 Peachtree Street NE between Cain (now Andrew Young International Blvd.) and Ellis streets. The architect was John Boutell. It was an unusual ...

, a historic home that was demolished in 1913. Atlanta-based architect Philip T. Shutze designed the building along with Starrett & van Vleck, a New York-based architecture firm that specialized in department stores. The store officially opened to the public on March 21, 1927. Upon its completion, it was the largest department store in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. In 1948, a five-story addition was added to the rear of the store, which also provided an additional entrance on Carnegie Way. In 1963, the building underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation, including the construction of a 700-car

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

adjacent to the building. In 1985, the store dropped the Davison's name and was rebranded as Macy's. This store, the last major department store in downtown Atlanta, closed in 2003. In 2007, the Atlanta Preservation Center placed it on their list of "most endangered" historic places. In 2010, the

Atlanta Development Authority Invest Atlanta is the City of Atlanta's Development Authority. It is also known by its previous name, the Atlanta Development Authority. Invest Atlanta consists of the Urban Residential Finance Authority, Downtown Development Authority and the Atl ...

authorized a $12 million

mezzanine loan In finance, mezzanine capital is any subordinated debt or preferred equity instrument that represents a claim on a company's assets which is senior only to that of the common shares. Mezzanine financings can be structured either as debt (typicall ...

from the

New Markets Tax Credit Program The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program is a federal financial program in the United States. It aims to stimulate business and real estate investment in low-income communities in the United States via a federal tax credit. The program is admini ...

to convert the building to a mixed-use retail and event venue. In 2015, the site was rebranded as Southern Exchange at 200 Peachtree. In 2018, several tenants filed a lawsuit against the building's owners, citing unsafe conditions and intimidation tactics used by the owners.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Atlanta landmarks Retail buildings in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures completed in 1927 Historic department store buildings in the United States