Peachtree Street nightclub plan faces fight

Par-tay!

But many Midtown residents aren’t dancing to this news. It has sparked a debate over what’s best for Peachtree Street — Atlanta’s best-known thoroughfare.

Opponents say this part of Peachtree is now residential and believe a nightclub will bring fights, shootings and rowdy folk playing loud music from their cars as they cruise along Peachtree Street.

That does not fit with the neighborhood motif, they say, although most condo buildings on Peachtree Street are several blocks south of the proposed site.

“It has no purpose [on Peachtree Street],” area resident and architect Shraddha Sriviastan said during a Midtown Neighbors’ Association license and permit committee meeting Monday. “This is not going to help the development [of Midtown].”

The Gidewons and their supporters counter that Atlanta, particularly this area, needs their brand of refined nightlife. They haven’t figured out what they’re going to call the venues.

“This is going to be a high-end destination,” said Q100 radio personality Jeff Dauler, who’s gotten a peek inside the buildings. “It is a venue appropriate for Peachtree Street ... It makes you feel you’ve been somewhere special.”

The Gidewons still need the city’s approval to get a liquor license, and they’ve made five presentations to residents in recent weeks seeking support for their plans. About 100 people attended Monday’s meeting. Opponents outnumbered supporters it seemed by a 3-1 margin at the meeting that got heated near the end. Race was part of the discussion as two white residents said their opposition to the plans was not based on prejudice. Much of the Gidewons’ clientele is black. The committee recommended its board urge the city not to grant the liquor license.

The city nicknamed “the ATL” a decade ago to mark its standing as one of the hottest places to party now has condos in many of those nightspots. Much of its nightlife has disappeared or packed up to the suburbs.

The transformation along portions of Peachtree Street is stark. The much-talked-about Midtown Mile, a high-end district along Peachtree Street, is coming closer to reality. Developers are building 12th and Midtown, a $2 billion, four-site project that includes a 425-unit condominium complex, a 38-story Loews Hotel and offices that are under construction.

Meanwhile, city leaders want to create a streetcar system that would run along this portion of Peachtree Street. City Hall is seeking $300 million in federal economic stimulus funds to get the project moving.

Once upon a time, three years ago, the four-block stretch of Peachtree between 10th and 14th streets was one of the hottest places to party in Atlanta, and perhaps the South. There was the Vision, owned by the Gidewons, near 12th Street. The club 112 was across the street. The Velvet Room was one block south.

Britney Spears hung out at Vision one night. Rappers paid homage to 112 in their songs.

Those clubs are gone. The Velvet Room, also owned by the Gidewons, is now in Chamblee. Vision and 112? The 12th & Midtown project is being built on those sites.

Atlanta’s population has increased by about 100,000 people over the past decade and the tolerance many homeowners have for nightclubs and bars has decreased. In 2004, the city moved up last call for alcohol from 4 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. partly in response to complaints about noise and crime.

The complaints continue. Centennial Place resident James Price has told Atlanta officials that some of the remaining afterhours spots, such as the Luckie Food Lounge, flout city rules on noise. A lounge official declined comment. Meanwhile, Dauler says some out-of-town friends lament there’s now less to do in Atlanta at night and are planning events in other cities.

One mayoral hopeful, Tiffany Brown, is pushing for an arts and entertainment district in Atlantic Station where nightclubs would get tax incentives to operate to solve such problems.

The Gidewons and their supporters say they run safe establishments. They were reminded during Monday’s meeting of a shooting that took place inside Compound, one of the spots they owned. Metal detectors were installed after that incident, they said.

Many Midtown residents base their opposition on bad memories of Vision. The Gidewon brothers say the club and lounge will be different than Vision. For example, they’re building two levels of VIP booths. Imagine South Beach sophistication, they say.

“Vision was for the masses,” Michael Gidewon said. “This is not really made for the masses.”

Some opponents are appealing to Mayor Shirley Franklin to block the Gidewons from getting a liquor license.

“I fear for the safety of myself and my family should this club reopen two blocks from our condominium,” resident Brooke Hempell wrote Monday in an e-mail to the mayor.

The city’s license review board is expected to review the case next month.

Critics have created a Web site that states their opposition to the plans. The Gidewons have countered the critics with a Web site of their own to combat what they say is “misinformation” about their plans. They say they’ll have 10 off-duty police officers working traffic.

“I’m making an effort to alleviate the [concerns],” said Michael Gidewon, who lives within walking distance of the planned nightspots. “Because at the end of the night, I’ve got to get home too.”