Legends tell of a long-forgotten nightclub buried beneath downtown Atlanta.
For a decade, scalawags would shuffle down a speakeasy-style entryway onto a ship-shaped dance floor. Jazz and alligators, both live, filled the space. Patrons imbibed tiki drinks, and hot fondue flowed like gold.
To anyone who hadn’t experienced Dante’s Down the Hatch at Underground Atlanta before the downtown location closed for good in 1999, it sounds like a madman’s tall tale. Now the owners of another storied Atlanta club, MJQ Concourse, believe they found hidden treasure in one of Atlanta’s unique spots.
“The layout of this place was just insane. That guy, I’m proud to be in his spot,” Ryan Murphy, a co-owner of MJQ Concourse, said of the late Dante Stephensen and his shuttered Underground Atlanta nightclub.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
MJQ Concourse is set to open Jan. 29 following an extensive makeover of the former Dante’s location. First reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March 2023, MJQ was forced to find new digs after its longtime home along the Atlanta Beltline just off Ponce de Leon Avenue was sold for mixed-use redevelopment.
While Dante’s was themed after the high seas, the MJQ redo looks to transport late-night voyagers to a galaxy far, far away.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The club has been transformed from a pirate ship into a spaceship, trading sun-soaked decks for futuristic metal and neon lights. The AJC got an early look at the space before its maiden voyage, which acts as one of the largest new tenants to join Underground as it vies to remake itself into a culture and nightlife hub.
“They fit what Underground should be and wants to be,” said David Tracht, senior vice president of development for Underground’s owner Lalani Ventures. “The space was just this weird puzzling mess, and (MJQ) did a great job of figuring it out.”
‘Grimy and cool’
Since opening in the basement of Ponce de Leon Hotel in 1994, MJQ prided itself as a fixture of Old Fourth Ward’s gritty nightlife scene.
The club moved three years later to 736 Ponce de Leon Ave. But as high-end apartments and the Beltline transformed the neighborhood, MJQ found itself the bastion of a bygone era. Murphy said Underground reunites them with like-minded peers.
“Underground is just dirty as hell, and it reminds me of the old Ponce de Leon and Little Five Points,” he said. “It’s just grimy and cool.”
Murphy and his co-owner, Ryan Purcell, spent 21 months giving Dante’s space a futuristic makeover. The ship-shaped dance floor’s upper deck features a cage reminiscent of the “Mad Max” series. Wall art features “2001: A Space Odyssey” vibes. The former alligator moat — the gators left years ago — is now a sea of clouds with pulsing neon lights imitating lightning.
“We just tweaked what he already had,” Purcell said of Dante.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The location boasts multiple dance floors and four bars, including a more intimate cocktail lounge within Dante’s former kitchen. The only aspect that’s still a work-in-progress is a convenience-store-themed corner where the owners aim to sell slushies, nonalcoholic drinks and international packaged snacks.
MJQ’s final night at its Ponce de Leon location is Saturday. The Drunken Unicorn, the music venue attached to MJQ’s Ponce location, remains open, but its long-term plans are up in the air since it’s within the mixed-use development site plan. The owners said MJQ’s Underground location will roughly maintain the hours of their former home — 11 p.m. to late.
Murphy said he’s excited to come downtown at a time of rapid change. Downtown is seeing several potentially transformative developments like the $5 billion Centennial Yards project.
“That’s entertainment on purpose. That’s going to be the vibe of old Buckhead — money and all of that fanciness,” he said of Centennial Yards. “… No one is expecting 40,000 watts of lights (from MJQ). You come here for other people.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Hopes for underground
Underground Atlanta has had its share of reboots.
Shaneel Lalani, who bought Underground in 2020, has focused on leasing entertainment tenants and filling up artists’ spaces. The 400,000 square-foot property, which spans four city blocks, has the Masquerade music venue as its anchor tenant bolstering its event schedule. Lalani said Underground hosted about 3,000 events in 2024, including the Peach Drop on New Year’s Eve.
“So much has changed over the last couple of years,” Lalani said of Underground, which was less than 20% leased when he acquired it. It’s now close to 70% leased.
Given its proximity to downtown office buildings, Lalani said he’s focused on trying to lure more restaurants and tenants targeting a daytime crowd. His company is also focused on event planning for the 2026 World Cup, when Atlanta will host several matches.
Credit: Courtesy Lalani Ventures
Credit: Courtesy Lalani Ventures
Last fall, Lalani Ventures also submitted preliminary plans to build a 30-story apartment tower by Underground’s fountain plaza. The $160 million project, which will reserve about 40% of its 405 units at below market-rate rents, is contingent upon obtaining low-income housing tax credits to be feasible — an application that is currently undergoing government review.
For their part in revitalizing Underground, Purcell said he’s most excited to reopen Dante’s hatch for the first time in decades.
“Pop it up, and down you go!” he said.
Future of Downtown
This story is part of an occasional series by the AJC to look at the future of Atlanta’s downtown. Several high-profile developments are poised to bring billions of dollars into the city’s core while it continues to grapple with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and a challenging real estate financing market. Downtown will also soon garner international attention when the World Cup comes to Atlanta in 2026, providing a deadline for the city and downtown stakeholders to make promised improvements.
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