UPDATE: On Monday, Atlanta Intown learned that there may be a way for Star Community Bar to co-exist with the forthcoming Third & Urban mixed-use project in Little Five Points.
It will just have to be underground.
Third & Urban, as previously reported, will preserve the Point Center building at Moreland and Euclid Avenues and wants to bring Star Community Bar along for the ride, according to Hank Farmer, a managing partner with Third & Urban.
The building housing Star Community Bar will be demolished to make way for a new three-story building mixed-use project that will include office space and restaurants. Here’s the kicker: that building will also include what is being called a “purpose-built basement space,” according to Farmer that has been suggested for Star Community Bar.
“Third & Urban is looking at creative ways to keep Star Bar here as part of the neighborhood and we are continuing to have conversations with them about potential options,” said Farmer.
“We would like for them to stay,” Farmer added.
Attempts to reach Star Community Bar ownership for comment were not returned.
ORIGINAL STORY
A landmark in the heart of the Little 5 Points neighborhood might go the way of the wrecking ball.
Star Community Bar will more than likely be a part of a mixed-use redevelopment of a 2.5-acre plot at the corner of Euclid and Moreland avenues.
Third & Urban, an Atlanta-based developer that specializes in mixed-use projects, and the developer that is teaming up with Point Center Partners, owners of Star Community Bar, has publicly disputed any rumors that they will demolish the adjacent 100-year-old Point Center building, which includes retailers such as Abbadabba’s, Stuff We Wanna Say, Native American handcrafts, art and jewelry, and Bear and Honey Candle Co. There is also a doctor’s office in the building.
Those existing businesses will be a part of the new development, according to reports.
“We love spending time in Little Five Points and recognize how meaningful this is to the community,” said Third & Urban co-founder Hank Farmer in a press release. “We are exploring creative ways of keeping the best parts of the site intact.”
Third & Urban plans to replace surface parking lots with greenspace in hopes of making an already walkable area even more pedestrian friendly. The project is scheduled to go before The Atlanta Zoning Review Board for a vote.
Point Center Partners, owners of Star Community Bar, is a group of six locals that bought the property from original owner Kahle Davis in 2020, and Atlanta-based developer Third & Urban recently announced plans to “re-energize” what is a cornerstone of the shopping nucleus of Little 5 Points.
The companies plan to add a combination of dining, housing, retail and workspace into the mixed-use space. That development will not include the 31-year-old bar, which opened on Halloween in 1991.
The location of Star Community Bar, which was formerly a bank, gives the bar a unique entrance that looked like a cross between a juke box and bank vault. The gold star above the door has been a beacon for partygoers in the popular nightlife district.
There are private meetings planned to discuss the business’s future, said a source close to Star Community Bar. The meetings will be closed to the public and will include the bars owners, the staff and potential new ownership of the space.