Marriott Snags Land Beneath Massive Atlanta Hotel

The land underneath Atlanta’s fourth-largest hotel has been acquired from the state of Georgia for $50 million.

An affiliate of hospitality giant Marriott has acquired a 1.3-acre site at 210 Peachtree Street, home to the Westin Peachtree Plaza, a 1,073-room hotel, the Atlanta Business Journal reported.

Marriott, which already owned the hotel, now owns the land beneath it, having terminated a decades-old ground lease as part of the deal, which closed on August 21.

The site’s history is deeply rooted in Georgia’s past. More than a century ago, the land was home to one of Georgia’s original governor’s mansions, a Victorian-style residence that housed 17 governors before it was demolished in 1923.

The mansion was replaced by the Henry Grady Hotel, which stood on the site until 1972, when it was razed to make way for the Westin Peachtree Plaza, according to the Atlanta History Center.

Designed by Atlanta architect John Portman, Westin Peachtree Plaza is an architectural icon with its unique cylindrical design soaring 723 feet into the air. Upon its completion, it was the tallest building in Atlanta, holding that title until 1987. Marriott acquired the hotel in 2016 through its merger with Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

In May, Governor Brian Kemp signed a House Resolution authorizing the sale of the land to Marriott, with the transaction taking several months to finalize.

Neither Marriott nor the Georgia State Properties Commission, which oversaw the sale, provided comments on the transaction.