The Atlanta Biltmore Hotel and Biltmore Apartments, located at 817 West Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, were developed by William Candler, son of Coca-Cola executive Asa Candler, with Holland Ball Judkins, and John McEntee Bowman. The original hotel building was converted to an office building in 1999.
History
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Opened on April 19, 1924, the 11-story hotel and 10-story apartment building were constructed somewhat away from downtown Atlanta, in an area that became known as Midtown. Designed by the New York firm of Schultze and Weaver, the hotel was operated by Bowman-Biltmore Hotels.
The Atlanta Biltmore is easily distinguished by the towering radio masts on each end of the building, with vertical illuminated letters that spell out "BILTMORE". The studios on the top floor broadcast WSB-AM from 1925 until 1956. The large radio masts supported the transmitting antenna of WSB-AM from 1925 to 1929, when output power was increased to 5,000 watts, and a suburban transmitter site was built in East Lake.
In 1967, the Atlanta Biltmore was sold to Sheraton Hotels and became the Sheraton-Biltmore Hotel. Sheraton spent $5 million on renovations before selling the hotel in 1979 to Biltmore Hospitality Partners. The hotel continued operating independently as the Atlanta Biltmore before finally closing in 1982. The hotel was sold again in 1984 to Renaissance Investment Corporation. They planned to convert both the smaller apartment tower and the enormous hotel tower to condominiums. They completed work on the apartment tower, but then went bankrupt in 1986 and had to sell the entire property. The newly renovated apartment tower was opened as the Biltmore Suites Hotel while the main building remained vacant for many years.
The complex was sold to Novare Group in January 1998, who gutted and transformed the main hotel building into office space, reopening it in 1999. Due to extensive renovations over the years, there were only two remaining historic public rooms, the two main floor ballrooms. They were fully restored and are used as public function rooms, known as The Biltmore Ballrooms. The adjoining Biltmore Suites Hotel was closed in 1998 and converted to condominiums known as Biltmore House, which opened in 1999.
On June 13, 2016, The Biltmore was purchased from Novare by the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Photo gallery
References
External links
- The Biltmore Ballrooms - official website
- Biltmore House Condominiums - official website
- Atlanta Time Machine's Then/Now photo #1
- Atlanta Time Machine's Then/Now photo #2
- Atlanta Time Machine's Then/Now photo #3
- Atlanta Time Machine's Then/Now photo #4
- National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places: Atlanta
- Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
