The long negotiation over one of downtown's largest public buildings has reached a price. Mayor Andre Dickens has agreed to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County for $68 million, accepting the county's terms on Sept. 8. Legislation authorizing the sale was introduced to the Atlanta City Council that same night, and Fulton commissioners are expected to take it up at their next meeting.
The number moved a long way to get here. Dickens first offered the building at $80 million, then withdrew that offer in July after commissioners declined to join the tax allocation district extensions that fund his Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative. Fulton countered at roughly $56.6 million, pricing in major renovations and attaching a deadline. The mayor answered at $68 million.
What stalled the final step was a list of add-ons. Along with his price, Dickens asked the county to commit $200 million over 10 years toward a new hospital in West End and to change how it handles commercial property assessments. In a letter dated Sept. 2, Commission Chair Robb Pitts said the board accepted the $68 million figure but would not agree to either request, calling them unrelated to a real estate transaction. The county gave the city until 5 p.m. Sept. 10 to respond. Dickens accepted two days early, without the hospital funding.
Pitts described the result as "strictly a real estate deal" and a win for both governments. Dickens, in a statement, called it an example of local governments working toward solutions that are "fiscally responsible, operationally sound and centered on people."
Several terms carried through the letters. Fulton said it is open to reserving a defined number of beds for the city through an intergovernmental agreement, with Atlanta covering the cost of housing, food, staffing and medical care. The county also committed to keeping the Center for Diversion & Services, which opened in unused space inside the building in 2024, and said it wants the deal closed by Dec. 4.
The timing is driven by a lease. Fulton has rented space in the building since 2022 while its main Rice Street facility undergoes improvements required under a federal consent decree, and that lease expires in December. Owning the building would let the county carry out that renovation work in phases.
The sale has critics. Members of the Communities Over Cages coalition spoke against it at the council meeting, arguing the city should follow through on earlier plans to repurpose the building for community use, an idea Dickens himself proposed while serving on the council.
For downtown, a vote would settle the future of a full city block on Peachtree Street SW, just south of Garnett station, that has sat at the center of city-county talks for years. Both Pitts and Dickens said their staffs are ready to start transition meetings right away.
Original reporting by Shaddi Abusaid for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with additional reporting by Kristal Dixon for Axios Atlanta.